The successful family home evening - It does not always have to be television

Time spent with each other within the family strengthens the bond between them and can serve as an energy source, in which one refuels and draws new strength. That can also be with a cozy TV evening. But there are many more ways to spend an evening together.

Regular evenings with the family create an anchor in everyday life - for parents and children. What one spends the time with depends on the taste of all. However, to make sure family home evening succeeds, there should be a few rules, regardless of what you plan for the evening.

Really be there!

To make family home evening a pleasure for all, it is important that everyone is physically present as well as mentally. This time belongs to the people you love. This is especially true for the parents. Incidentally, hang up the laundry or check the mails briefly, disturbs the atmosphere and a sense of togetherness can be difficult. Even if one of the participating adults mentally rolls over the problems of yesterday and participates in the family home evening only half-heartedly anyway, this affects the mood and also the positive effect of the time together. The phone should also be kept out of the way if possible - this also applies to the children.

Get ready for the evening and also for your loved ones. Your problems are still there after this evening and you can spend a lot of time later. This sometimes needs some discipline, but if you manage to be fully involved, you will find that it is a pleasure and a source of energy to move from and to the family.

The right planning

It is best to set regular appointments for family evenings. It is very good to schedule such an evening once a week, but once a month it is often easier to implement organizationally. What is done this evening is determined either together or in turn. If larger children are involved, then the organization can also be taken over alternately. If you have the idea, you also implement it. Depending on what is on the respective evening, good preparation is everything: If a television evening is planned, then you should watch the program in good time and if necessary borrow a DVD. At the game night the matching games have to be ready and complete. If you want to cook and eat together, then the purchase must be regulated. It is especially important to schedule the appointment for yourself, otherwise there will always be something in between.

What can you do?

Especially if you organize family evenings regularly, it does not always have to be something big and very special. However, it needs an incentive, because the family home evening should stand out from all the other evenings, which are often spent more or less together. Ways to spend the evening with all family members include:

TV evening with subsequent discussions about the film; However, it should be noted that television is not particularly communicative. The danger is that everyone will watch the movie and then it is time to go to sleep.

• Game night Board or other board games are best suited here. Keep in mind that you choose games that are exciting for everyone and that no new games are introduced with difficult rules that may be hard for the child to understand. It is also conceivable common console or computer games, but there is again the danger that the communication falls asleep, since anyway a high degree of external stimuli (by the PC game) is present.
• Crafts evenings Even a creative evening can be fun. However, it should be noted that especially smaller children in the evening are often tired and therefore impatient. Things like this would be better on a Sunday afternoon.
• Night out From time to time it can be a great event to have a family dinner or go to the cinema. Again, there is the possibility that the actual meaning of the evening, namely the contact among the family members is too short.

Use the family evenings as a quiet island in everyday life and as a way to strengthen the bond with your children, but also to your partner. The feeling of having a family and thus a reliable retreat can provide a lot of stability and security for both adults and children. This, in turn, strengthens life and the many challenges we all face daily.

Did I forget something? Can you think of any more points?
I´m looking forward to your experiences and additions.

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