I have mentioned before how important I think it is that Dads take the intiative in planning family bonding times. It doesn’t have to be elaborate but it has to be regularly done.
With that said, here’s an idea for great family bonding. Plan a nature walk for your family to enjoy. You should try to find a path or a park that your kids aren’t familiar with. If you go to your customary park, the kids’ interest might wane, and you will generally find that their enthusiasm disappears. Even if you live in the biggest city, there is often a hidden gem of a hiking path to be found not too far away. My family lives in New York City, and there are wonderful places to get back to nature less than 20 miles outside of the 5 boroughs.
When choosing a path, there are a few things that you may want to keep in mind. Make sure that you don’t pick a trail that is too difficult for your family. If your children are young, you will not want to have to carry them over difficult portions of the trail. In addition, you will also want to make sure that there are bathrooms or rest stations for little ones. Even if your children are older, you don’t want to over do things the first time that your family goes hiking. The goal is for this to pleasant walk with your family along enjoying Mother Nature. You don’t want to be struggling along a difficult, steep path, trying so hard to catch your breath that you can’t even talk to each other.
Keep the hiking on an easy, appropriate level, and your family can enjoy looking for wildlife, taking snapshots with a camera, admiring the sunset over a valley, take along sketchbooks and draw a landscape, and the members of your family will be talking and growing closer to one another. Plan the hike so that there is a little something for everyone to really enjoy. Have everyone in the family turn their cell phones off; you don’t want to ruin the feel of the hike. If your family is a little more adventurous, then you could try a little bit of mountain climbing instead.
Be safe, and have fun.