Family Bonding – The Importance of Family Outings

If we have learned one thing in the past year, it is the importance of connection. Creating moments of family bonding helps to strengthen your connection to each other. The easiest way to create these moments is to plan regular family outings to new places. By switching things up and getting out of your normal routine, you get to experience something new together and bond over the memories (good or bad).

Make it Regular but Switch Things up

When I say regular family outings, I don’t mean to the same pond or the same restaurant each time. Go somewhere new. Try something different. A family outing can be anything as long as you do it together. Switching things up and exploring new places makes sure that one memory doesn’t blend into another. Experiencing new things together is a great way to make sure the memories stick around for years to come.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have favorites. We have certain trails that we love to hike and particularly fun parks. I like to rotate these favorite family outings into our schedule whenever we are feeling slightly uninspired. Some weeks, we struggle to do much. It’s those times that our family outing can be a simple walk in the neighborhood or a visit to the woods.

When it Doesn’t Go as Planned

Some of my favorite memories growing up were from spontaneous adventures or planned adventures “gone wrong”. Like the time that we were driving to Minnesota and got caught up in the traffic from the Sturgis motorcycle rally by mistake! We didn’t know it was going on and ended up in an area with no hotel rooms available. FOR MILES! We drove late into the night calling everything we could find ahead of time in our AAA travel book (keep in mind this was before smartphones). Finally, we found an RV park with one trailer available for the night. We slept on wood boards with itchy blankets and a sleeping bag that had glow-in-the-dark eyes, scaring my sister in the middle of the night.

By choosing to drive to Minnesota from California instead of flying, my parents created a family bonding experience for us that we’ll never forget. Things didn’t always go to plan, but that is what made it so memorable and fun!

Family Bonding and Making Memories

It is through the creation of these memories that family bonding occurs. It’s the shared experiences and discovery that brings us closer. Family outings break up your day and get you to focus on family bonding. It is the anticipation of the unknown that makes these outings so special. Nobody knowns what will happen and as long as you all are committed to enjoying yourselves you will do just that.

When those adventures go wrong, they can bring you even closer than when they go right. It teaches kids to be open to new possibilities and to “roll with the punches”, making the most of any situation. So, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.

Family Outing Ideas

Explore the grounds at an old estate.
Go for a walk around town.
Hit the trails and go for a hike.
Throw rocks into a creek
Make a list of all the parks within an hour of your house and try a new one each week.
Visit a museum. Try out some smaller, local museums. There are so many hidden gems.

This list will look different depending on where you live. I like to make a list which browsing the internet of different places to check out and work our way through the list. We have a travel book for our local area that helps a lot when we are looking for something to do.

Tips for a Family Outing

These are supposed to be about having fun and enjoying each other’s company. Here are a few tips to optimize family bonding during your outings.

Make up some games or print out a scavenger hunt to take with you to engage kids.
Bring ALL the snacks. I always have way more than we eat but I learned the hard way not to run out of snacks.
Research the outing a little bit. Is it stroller friendly? How much does it cost? etc.

TIP: Find something to get kids excited about there. Our son loves statues so we told him we were going to go find some since they were mentioned in the description at the Vanderbilt Mansion. He was so excited when we found one in the formal garden.

Have a backup plan. I’ve gotten to a new park just to find it over run with a birthday party. You always want to have a backup outing just in case.
Bring a camera but don’t focus on it too much. You’ll want to capture the fun, but also make sure that you are present in the moment and not just behind the camera.

Check out this family bonding video from our outing to the Vanderbilt Mansion.

Don’t fight about silly things. If your kid wants to bring the tape measurer to measure things, just let them. Such simple things can be the difference between a whiny kid and a happy one. Happy kids make for better family bonding!

Make Family Bonding a Habit

Just like family dinner, family outings should become a habit. Making these things habit ensures that you continue to create moments for family bonding. It might seem like a lot at first but the more you do it, the easier it will get. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t, what you need to bring, and what you can leave behind. The most important thing is to relax and enjoy yourselves.

How will you create moments of family bonding?