EMPOWERING WELLNESS
FAMILY FUN!
By Matt Edwards (Primary Chaplain)
The Miriam-Webster dictionary describes the word ‘culture’, as “the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time”.
Essentially, what we do, is deeply tied to who we are.
This is encouraging because we can be the positive change in the culture that surrounds us!
Playfulness, laughter, fun, enjoyment.
It might sound odd, but these things can become cultural to a family. A part of what a family is. To be honest, I think that is a fantastic invitation! It is clear that laughter and positive connection with others is wonderful for helping building and maintaining good mental health. If you agree with that last statement, then this is a great opportunity to make this a part of who we are as individuals, and the families that we belong to.
As our children and young people develop, they are constantly learning. Consciously and subconsciously. And having fun together, is actually a learnt skill for many of them. So having shared fun together is a wonderful aspect of life that can support and nurture our kids.
There are two ways that this can be done. Probably the more tangible one is having a regular shared time of fun as a family. Even just one hour a week! It could simply be having dinner together. But with the focus on each other around the table and enjoying their company. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It can be a games night, or a movie together with no phones allowed 😊
The second one, which can take a lot of practice, is to bring fun and enjoyment into our everyday life. It can be done while we make dinner, take the kids to their sports, and getting ready in the morning. If our kids only see serious people in their life, they may believe that life is only serious. I assure you, it does not have to be!
And as you consider doing these things together, spending time enjoying each other’s company will no longer be something that we only do, it will also become a part of who we are.
Here is a short list of things that you can do together as a family:
- Going to the park and play ball games.
- A board games night.
- Do drawing, painting, colouring-in together.
- Building things with Lego or other blocks.
- Making birthday or Christmas cards together.
- Playing hide and seek or something similar :)
- Having a Saturday morning special breakfast.
- Going for a walk.
- Looking at family pictures together.
- Reading a book out loud together.
See below for some great resources on building connection in families!
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY CONNECTION
STRENGTHEN YOUR FATHER SON RELATIONSHIP
WELLBEING RESOURCES
We know that it can sometimes be hard to find the necessary resources in relation to mental health, bullying and family violence, especially when things are tough. For this reason, the School has a small webpage with links related to health and wellbeing resources. This can be found on the School's website under Other Resources or can be found here.