5 Tips for a Stronger, Happier Family [Friday’s Fast Five 1st Edition]

Building a stronger, happier family is at the top of most parents’ list. However, we are busy! These weekly Fast Five ideas and tips are a quick way to brainstorm, check-in, and create the family relationships you really want.

* These ideas are NOT meant to be a checklist or guilt trip of things we “should do.” Rather, they are intended to inspire you to find what works for YOUR family to learn, laugh, and love together. Remember to stick to the Simple Side of Parenting.

What is Friday’s Fast Five?

Each Friday, we will share five simple ideas for families under the following categories:

1. Something Fun

This is an activity, game, entertainment recommendation, or simple outing for family fun.

2. A Little Lesson

Here you will find a simple lesson to help teach kids important ideas. Examples include life skills or personal qualities like kindness and patience.

3. A Service Idea

Volunteering is good for our mental and physical health. Serving together strengthens relationships with those we serve and those we serve with. Service can be fun and eye-opening. Service is an important way to learn, laugh, and love together.

4. Something Random

This is a random thought, idea, quote, or meme, typically to help you smile. 🙂

5. A Quick Tip

Here you will find a quick parenting or family tip for peaceful parenting or building a stronger, happier family. These come from research, personal experience, or those common sense reminders we all need to hear once in a while.

With that, here is the first edition of Friday’s Fast Five.

1. Something Fun: Flour Tower Game

This simple, budget-friendly game is a hit with all ages.

Fill a small cup with flour and flip it onto a plate like a flour sand castle. Carefully place a quarter on the top of the flour tower. Take turns cutting away part of the flour with a butter or plastic knife, being careful not to knock down the quarter. Whoever makes the quarter fall has to retrieve the coin using only his or her mouth.

I recommend playing this game outside where the flour mess is a non-issue, or be prepared to clean up some flour afterward. It’s smart to wash the quarter before playing, and of course, supervise your children with knives.

This game is really fun when everyone plays along (you too parents!). You could also play it during a birthday party or gathering with friends.

Our kids laughed and really enjoyed Flour Tower!

2. A Little Lesson: Apple Stars

Using a few apples as visuals, briefly discuss how each person looks different, just like these apples. Take one apple and cut it in half across the core. And just like this apple, each child is a star inside. We have unique gifts, talents, and traits that make us shine. We each have inherent, individual worth.

You can connect this lesson to both cultural and diversity awareness and appreciation of siblings and individual family members. Discuss questions that are relevant to your child’s age and understanding.

Finish off by taking turns sharing what makes each family member a star.

If you want to add more to this activity, consider using the cut apples as fruit stamps for paint. See this post for pictures and more ideas.

A Simple Apple Activity to Decrease Sibling Arguing

Wondering how to fit Little Lessons into your busy family schedule?

The two main ways to fit important lessons into your busy family schedule are to find spontaneous teaching moments throughout the day and to schedule family learning time each week. These two posts go into detail about these two ways and tips for making it happen with your family.

How Busy Parents Can Teach Important Life Lessons

6 Tips for Family Time that Teaches Life’s Most Important Lessons

3. A Service Idea: Write Snail Mail

After my grandpa passed away, several of us cousins each took a box of momentos to sort. In my box, I found a stack of letters my grandparents had written to each other while my grandpa served overseas during World War II.

Reading these letters was taking a peek into the everyday lives of these two people I had known and loved. I also couldn’t help but think how much each must have looked forward to receiving the next letter from the other.

Even with the advent of email, video messaging, and all the other ways we have to communicate all these years later, we all still love snail mail. (Bills and penny savers excluded! 🙂

So the simple service idea for this week is to get out the paper, markers, or other craft supplies and write a good old-fashioned letter. Send one to a family member that lives far away or to someone who might be feeling lonely.

Related: Staying Close to Family Far Away

This idea is inexpensive, personal, and ideal if your family is following strict social distancing.

4. Something Random: Parenting Meme

As life starts back up in some parts of the world with school and other activities opening, the Great Parenting Shoe Hunt begins again.

To those who are going back to school, good luck! And to all of us, good luck with the Hunt!

Related: Best Back-to-School Routines for Families

5. A Quick Tip: Connect with Your Kids

We can build stronger relationships with our kids as we connect with them.

Connection happens when we share more than common space. It comes when we are joined emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Connection comes when we share a moment of vulnerability or create a memory together.

Our relationships will flourish when we find various ways to connect with our kids, when we show our kids that our relationship is good for the serious and the silly, the difficult and the fun.

Related: 25+ Ways to Connect with Kids [How to Strengthen Your Parent-Child Relationship]

And that is Friday’s Fast Five!

You can also see Friday’s Fast Five on Instagram.

Building a Stronger, Happier Family

It takes time and intention to build a stronger, happier family. I hope Friday’s Fast Five helps you find the ways that work for YOUR family to learn, laugh, and love together.

We will never regret the time we devote to our families and relationships with our kids.

Have a great weekend with your family, know that you’re loved, and keep on lovin’!

Do you have a great idea for a future Friday’s Fast Five? Have a question or parenting struggle you want help with? Share in the comments or shoot me an Email.

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