Why is it important to bond with my child?
Bonding with your child is the most valuable gift you can give them. Positive attention communicates to your child that they are valuable. This may be as simple as a smile, a encouraging word, or sitting down and playing their favorite game with them. Spending time with your child shows them they are loved and promotes their self-confidence. Having a sense of connection with their parents, will help to promote their sense of belonging and build a positive identity and sense of self.
Building strong relationships is an important facet of well-being throughout people’s lives. Treating your child kindly and respectfully will teach your child how to have healthy relationships as they grow.
Building a strong bond with your child will give them a sense of safety and security. That means when they go through hard times, they will feel able to talk with you about what is concerning them.
Talking about feelings
Talk with your child about how they are feeling. Ask them how they feel about certain experiences. Ask them what made them feel that way. Children will feel listened to and their experience validated, which is a big part of bonding with your child. It will also help them to make sense of what they are feeling.
Explore together ways they can deal with their feelings. If they are feeling angry, you might suggest going and jumping on the trampoline or kicking a ball together. Maybe they might like to listen to some music or doing a drawing or reading a book together.
Talking with your child about their feelings and helping them find ways to express their feelings in a healthy way, will help your child learn valuable skills that will serve them well for their entire life and give them a sense of mastery.
Most of all, give your children the sense that you will love them no matter what. You may at times be disappointed with their behaviour, but you will always love and accept them for themselves.
The importance of play
Play is a child’s way of learning, of trying out different ideas and understanding their experience, and above all, it is fun! Playing is one of the easiest ways of bonding with your child. Play can help your child to:
- Relax and wind down.
- Release positive creative energy, and have some control and sense of mastery in their lives.
- Express their ideas and understanding of themselves and the world around them.
- Help them to make sense of their experiences.
- Try out different ideas.
- Build their capacity for creativity and imagination, which helps to provide a foundation for their problem-solving skills.
- Learn how to interact with others, and build their expressive language skills.
Playing with my child — where do I start?
Playing with your child does not need to cost money and does not need to be difficult. The main aim for playing with your child is to have fun and enjoy each others company. It will give you a chance to relax, be creative, use your imagination and give you the opportunity of strengthening your relationship.
It can be as simple as saying yes to their request for you to join in one of their games, or offering to kick a ball outside, pull out the play-doh or drawing materials, or bake a cake. The list is endless.
Another idea would be to do something that you enjoy together. This might be taking your remote control car to the bike track, going fishing, going to the beach and building sandcastles, doing some craft, baking or listening to some music. Chances are they will love it too! They will enjoy your company and might even gain an appreciation of your interests.
Above all, enjoy each other. Laugh, be silly and have fun.
More information
Also take a look at
External link: Why Play is Important.
Still need help?
Access the Anglicare SQ Family Support Service (Brisbane), the EPC (Inala) or OKC (Riverview) if you think you would benefit from some parenting counselling or support.
