Even though I don’t like the circumstances behind this social distancing, and I do not take how scary this virus is lightly, I do believe that God makes all things good. And the good I see already happening is that we are getting back to the basics…family time. Not always on the go, not frantically running around from activity to activity. Just taking time to breathe…to connect…and for some families…to reconnect.

I believe that we’ve all been sucked into this “rat race” of busyness and have been made to feel that this is how our lives should be. In a sense, over the years, our society has gotten into the habit of family-distancing. We’ve been running around pouring our energy into our work, into kids’ activities, and even into volunteer activities instead of pouring our energy into our families and into building close relationships with our spouse and with our kids.

So again, even though I do not like that something like this virus is the reason behind families being forced to spend time together, I do believe that God is going to bless this time for all of us…if we make the most of out it. I’m seeing families out on bike rides…I see families walking around our neighborhood together. And I think–“Yes, this is how things should be more often.”  Maybe this time can be spent not only reconnecting but also reprioritizing our time and learning to put more time into our families.

Together, let’s turn this social-distancing into family-connecting!

Here are a few ways (thank you to our board members who helped with this list) to put The Connection Tool to good use and connect as a family—

• Have a family movie night and pizza night.
• Create a new family recipe.
• Design a Family Flag.
• Come up with a new family motto.
• Start a new tradition—the crazier, the better!
• Play Board Games.
• Build a fort and watch home videos.
• Make a family photo album or scrapbook or picture video.
• Make up a family rap, poem, song, or rhyme. Bonus points for coming up with hand gestures. Extra bonus points for performing it! Extra extra bonus points for posting it on Social Media!
• Have a “Taste the Rainbow Night”—where you buy fruits and vegetables of every different color of the rainbow and try them together (healthy food = healthy bodies)
• Pretend to travel to another country—make food, listen to music, learn some new words, and imagine you are there! (We recently went to “Jamaica” as a family)
• Have a dance party and each make requests of your favorite dance songs.
• Put on a family concert (with actual instruments or with pots and pans and other household items).
• Make up a skit and perform it.
• Take donations to your local food pantry.
• Have a Nerf Gun fight (Please wear your safety goggles)
• Go on a Weird Nature Walk where you try to find weird things.
• Have a family devotional time.
• Design a family t-shirt. Come up with a team name, logo, and motto. Bonus points–order shirts for the whole family!
• Get a head start on yard work or plant a garden – start with seeds in a cup.
• Take turns letting each family member be the “teacher” where everyone gets to teach something they enjoy doing.
• Do a “Show and Tell” time where everyone gets a few minutes to share their favorite item in the house.
• Make a list of how your family can make the world a better place.
• Start a “Wall of Gratitude” where you write down everything that you are grateful for.
• Have a pillow fight. (Have safety rules in place—no heads or necks).
• Come up with a secret family handshake.
• Do a big “I love you” family hug every day.

Here’s a print-out 27 WAYS TO CONNECT AS A FAMILY in case you want to use this as a checklist. 🙂

Put on love which binds them together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14

Here’s to building better families together–

Christine