Helping your children to have a great relationship with your parents or grandparents can prove to be a huge benefit in the lives of your children. Not only will they have a stronger connection to your family as a whole, but the experiences your children can have sharing moments and memories with their grandparents and great-grandparents can help them to become more caring, compassionate, and patient people.
If your kids don’t already have a stellar relationship with your parents or grandparents, there are some activities that you can facilitate to help them better get to know each other and connect. To help you see what these things are, here are three fun activities kids and grandparents can enjoy together.
Arts and Crafts
For most kids, getting to be creative with arts and crafts projects is an opportunity to have fun and get messy. This can also be a great way for your kids and your parents or grandparents to work together to create something beautiful or just have fun together.
In addition to giving your children and your parents a common piece to work toward creating, Alexandra Sifferlin, a contributor to Time.com, shares that elderly people who get creative with arts and crafts are 73 percent less likely to experience the mild cognitive impairment that often comes with age. So along with helping your kids learn to be more creative and building a lasting relationship between these two generations, you’ll also be helping your elderly loved one to stay mentally fit.
Sharing Their Favorite Music
Another fun activity that your kids can do with your parents or grandparents is to share some of their favorite music with one another.
Music is something that can cross generations. It’s also a great way to show that you care about and what touches you. So by having your kids and your elderly loved one share with each other what music they like, they can begin to gain more insight into one another and learn about music that they may not have been exposed to before. And if your elderly loved one lives in something like an independent living community, you may be able to have other parents or grandparents join in, too.
Play Games Together
Choosing games that your kids and parents or grandparents can play together can be a great way for them to either work together or experience some good-hearted competition between one another. Games like card games, table games, and even computer games can be a great way for your kids to connect to their elderly loved ones.
In fact, Kalhan Rosenblatt, a contributor to NBC News, shares that more and more people aged 50 and over are playing online video games as a way to stay connected with their families when they can’t be physically together. Also, having your child teach their grandparents online video games can also help that grandparent get social interaction with others around the world, too.
If you’re wanting to find some activities that your kids and your parents or grandparents can enjoy doing together, consider using the tips mentioned above as a good starting point.
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