Read to them at Night

Reading books to your child before they go to sleep has incredible benefits on both the way your child develops and the way in which they bond with you. By creating a specific time each day where you and your child spend time together, it creates a routine and will have your child excited looking forward to it. 

Reading aloud helps develop your child’s brain by expanding their vocabulary and understanding of the world around them, not to mention, by concentrating on listening to you read, it tires them out and makes bed time all that much easier for your little one to relax and fall asleep, saving you precious hours which would be spent trying to put them into their pajamas and calm them down.

When it comes to reading, you want to make sure that your child is both engaged and interested in each of the books you read, but finding good books can be difficult with so much to choose from! Well never fear, check out our article on the [Top 10 books to Read to your child] and worry no more.

Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts with my parents is one of my fondest memories as a young child, and I feel like it should be the same for every child. While it can be a little bit messy, nothing feels better than when you’re making a mess with your parent. Be it from just colouring in, sticking some pompoms on a page, or having a real craft project to pin on your fridge to display, creating with your child is a great way to have fun and create that bond.

Here are some easy to make crafts with your little ones which I’m sure that they will love to create with you and show off to everybody!

Cooking

Cooking with your parents can make any child feel like a real chef! Even if it is something as simple as letting them mix up the batter or grabbing the butter from the fridge for you, these little tasks make any child feel even closer to you by helping you in making your own goodies.

Cupcakes, brownies, cookies. We all know how to make these sweet treats with your little one, but something savory to make your child feel like they’ve made their own dinner is perfect! These English muffin pizzas are super easy to make, and your child will be eagerly looking into the oven to watch the cheese bubble ready for their dinner!

Physical Touch

Playing pretend is a child’s bread and butter, whether they’re running around pretending to be a knight to fight a dragon, or pretending to be dora the explorer, this is something that your children will love for you to join in on. 

By playing with them, it not only boosts their creativity and imagination, but it makes them feel closer to you because you’re imagining with them! In their mind, you can see that the floor is lava too, and so knowing that they’re not alone and can be themselves around you creates a special time with your child, and most importantly, special memories.

Listen

While listening may not seem like anything out of the ordinary, it can be one of the most important things that you can do to your child. From listening and responding to their babbles when they are first learning to talk, to paying attention about the drama at school between Lucy and Beth, it will make your child feel like they can really depend on you no matter what.

Not only does it strengthen your bond with your child, but it will also develop their communication skills, because while they talk to you, you can talk to them about your day too! It will really start to feel like they can talk to you as a friend and understand that there are no barriers between the two of you, which is something that every parent wants with their child.