How to Bring Your Family Closer Together Without Spending Lots of Money
- 1). Prepare meals together. The kitchen is usually the hub of a home and becomes abuzz with activity at meal times. There are plenty of opportunities for families to talk and spend time together while gathering ingredients, stirring pots and setting the table. Take advantage of it.
- 2). Eat meals together. Actual meal times present a huge, but often missed, opportunity for families to spend time together. Make the necessary adjustments for your family to eat as many meals sitting down at the table together as possible. This may mean leaving the office a little earlier, spending a little less time with buddies and eliminating the habit of "grabbing" a meal on the go. However, the bonding you'll do over meals will make the changes well worth it.
- 3). Do chores together. Performing household tasks together makes the work go faster while giving your family an opportunity to spend some together-time with one another. Try it with tasks like doing the dishes, cleaning out the attic and raking leaves.
- 4). Go shopping together. Shopping presents opportunities for talking, sharing opinions, debating and even bargaining. Get your family to tag along during grocery and mall shopping excursions so you can partake in these dynamic exchanges together. Even though shopping, by definition, involves spending money, if you plan your shopping trips in advance and stick to a predetermined budget, you need not spend a lot of money when you take your family along.
- 5). Participate in social activities together. Many social activities, such as parades, street festivals and concerts in the park, are absolutely free. Round up your family and enjoy these fun activities together.
- 6). Spend leisure time together. There are plenty of family-oriented leisure activities to pursue, from playing board (or video) games to riding bikes to watching a television show. Share these activities with your family and grow closer in the process.