Play time for busy families

We are a busy family. A really, truly busy family. With 5 girls, 2 jobs, 5 school schedules, 3 sports schedules, 8 music schedules.....well you get the picture. It is very seldom that we have time to just sit back and play. It's important to fit it into the schedule, but I struggle to find a place for play. For instance, this evening after work we had a cross country meet, swim lessons, and a meeting at school. When we finally arrived home at 7:30 we still had some homework to finish and dinner and the whole bedtime routine. After an entire week of this, our weekends are comprised of house work, grocery shopping....all the other errands we should have done all week but didn't have time for. There is just no down time.  It's a really tough schedule. And often our family time and our health suffers because of it.  We have decide to make some changes, for the benefit of not only us but for our family. We are focusing on including fun activities as a family that will get everyone working together. This weekend we picked apples on Saturday and Sunday we had a fun game of soccer outside.   It is still a struggle though, but it's a project that we are actively working on.  I know it will get easier.

Do you want to play with your kids or do you need to?  I have a few tips for you to get started playing with your children.

• Have patience- It may be awkward for a while, especially if you have older children, for your kids to be comfortable with you. Have patience with them, be consistent, and keep trying.
• Have fun- It's play time. Relax, leave your cell phone inside, and focus on your kids.
• Make it a habit- It will take a little time but make play a habit with your family. It's good for the kids, it's good for you. It's just good!
• Be creative- Find new ways to play with your kids. Learn a new game or a new skill with your kids. Let your mind go and try something new (ask my husband about his ice skating experience). Play with out limits.
• Limit screen time- Limit TV time, game time, phone time. Limit distractions for you and for your children. Focus on the task at hand.
• Get your neighbors, family, and friends involved- The more the merrier. Playing outside is fun with more. A family soccer game, a neighborhood water balloon fight, the possibilities are endless.

A couple weeks ago I ran across a Clorox website, Play2Day, http://clorox2play2day.com . The idea is you take a pledge to get out and play with your kids for a little bit each day. After you take the pledge you can register activities, complete the activities and you are entered to win prizes PLUS you can earn coupons for Clorox products when you complete a certain number of activities. The Play2Day website has a ton of great ideas for activities to play with your family, instructions, clean up. It takes the guess work out of playing fun games with your children. The girls love logging in and adding their activities, it truly becomes a family affair. Play2Day is a great resource that will help instill a great new habit for your family. I cannot recommend it enough.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.