How family adventures bring you closer together
Every Memorial Day weekend, our family tradition has been to go camping. However, this year, we had to skip the trip as our beloved dog was recovering from surgery.
While I often dread the effort of organizing a camping adventure, especially during the busy "Maycember" season, this weekend made me realize how much we missed having that family adventure in our lives. We all felt a bit "off" without it.
I truly believe family adventures, whether multi-day camping trips or smaller outings like hikes or bike rides, are a great way to bring families closer together.
I think it is something about just getting away from it all and doing something together that doesn't revolve around school or an organized sport or a pre-arranged play date that opens everyone in the family up to enjoying each other's company a little more.
Ways family adventures can bring your family closer together
Quite often there is limited cell service when you are "off the grid". This enables everyone to temporarily disconnect from devices, internet, and social media, allowing more time to engage with each other.
Collaborative Problem-Solving
Family adventures inevitably present situations to figure out and work on as a family - finding a trail, pitching tents, starting campfires, meal prepping. This is also a great way to have some "special" time in different kiddo/parent combinations. When you have a chance to work together toward a common goal it often brings you closer together.
Unstructured Play Opportunities
The sad reality is kids these days don't have nearly as many opportunities for just plain old playing. Even bigger kids thrive when they have a chance to use their imagination and engage in some to unstructured, imaginative and pretend play. Family adventures present many opportunities for open-ended and imaginative play. And if you need some hands-free time so you can focus on your bigger kids, the Lay and Play Adventure Mat is a perfect solution for hands-free parents and happy babies.
Downtime for Quality Bonding
With fewer structured activities, there's freedom to simply enjoy each other's company through games, storytelling, exploring nature, and unhurried quality time.
By removing the usual tech and schedule constraints, camping immerses families in an environment conducive to bonding. You're fully present, working as a team, making memories through shared adventures and uninterrupted quality time together.