Posted by 
May 16, 2019
The bond a parent has with their child is something special. You’re going to cherish this connection for as long as you live, so why not have it start off well? Your newborn might not be able to communicate with you directly, but your baby still appreciates everything you decide to do with it. You will want to strengthen that bond and show your baby that you love it. Here are some activities that have been shown to further improve the wonderful bond between parent and child.
1. Reading books
Newborns aren’t the most avid readers. You can’t expect them to understand the depth and nuances of a good Dostoevsky book before their first birthday. However, they love it when their parents read books to them aloud.
A lot of parents don’t see the point in reading to their newborns, considering the fact that their brains haven’t yet developed enough to comprehend the words that are written. However, this completely misses the point of reading with your kids. Their minds are very malleable and any kind of exposure to new stimuli and information is going to leave a positive lasting impact. The sooner you start exposing them to the joys of reading, the sooner they’ll want to do it on their own when they learn how to.
Let’s not forget, it’s a great way to build a good connection with your child. If you read fun and interesting stories to them, they’ll always think of you when they start reading on their own.
2. Listening to music
Music is something people can appreciate at all ages. Yes, that includes newborns to an extent. You can play all of your favourite music to your child and have them listen along with you. They might not be able to sing along or understand the lyrics, but even newborns can enjoy rich melodies and chord progressions. They might not know what it is, but the smile on their face will tell you that they enjoy it.
Without even knowing it, music is helping your child practice a degree of mindfulness. There’s some element of music that gets us closer to independent thought and emotional development. This makes it ideal for playing with your children.
If you play an instrument, practicing with your child would be a great way to make the activity fun for both of you. The guitar you have laying around and collecting dust could be better utilized during playtime with the kids. However, keep in mind that your child might not be as forgiving as other people are when you miss a note or two.
3. Cooking
Making food for your family is one of those activities that are both fun and tiresome. It’s an art that is masquerading as an everyday chore, which is why your opinion of it may vary from day to day, depending on what kind of mood you’re in.
Your child might be right at your heels any time you’re preparing food in the kitchen, which poses an additional problem. You can’t exactly let your kid help you make food, so how do you include them in this activity? As with any other thing their parents do, children will develop an innate fascination with what you’re doing in the kitchen. You should humor this interest and give them some hints that they’re helping
Obviously, you’re not going to let your child near the cutting knife or any kind of raw meat, but small details will make their day and further their fascination with the kitchen and cooking. Let them touch vegetables and feel their texture before you put them in the pot. Children have a very tactile way of interacting with their environment. If you’re making something particularly aromatic, see if they’re fascinated by the individual smells during the cooking process.
They can’t help you in the cooking department, but you can help them experience a whole world of new sensations just by letting them stay near you. Eventually, they’ll figure out that the individual ingredients make for something that is even more delicious than the sum of its parts. It’s a valuable learning experience.
4. Enjoying nature
There’s no better way to spend time with your child than the great outdoors. Keep in mind, your baby has been spending nine months cooped up in a tight space, so it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that they might want to see some of the outside worlds.
Walking around parks would be great if your baby could walk on its own. For the time being, you should consider carrying it, at least until your baby grows old enough to be able to walk alongside you. Don’t hesitate to take your baby on a remote country destination as this is where they would be able to experience the clean air and have fun with the local farm animals. Feel free to pack all the essentials for a longer trip and tuck your baby in a comfortable Maxi Cosi car seat. While in nature, new parents can find it a bit difficult to walk for long periods of time with a baby in their arms, especially once it gains some weight. This is why chest carriers make for a great solution in that period right before the child starts trying to walk.
5. Playing with toys
They say that play is the language of children and there’s quite a lot of research to back that up. Children have a pretty limited set of ways they can communicate with you. Crying and laughing are just about the only types of input you can expect from your newborn. On the other hand, they might try their best to express themselves using toys and playthings.
By playing with them, you enter their own personal world of imagination and wonder. Their toys aren’t just pieces of plastic and cloth, to them they’re parts of an entire imaginary world. Keep that in mind if you start playing with them, you might not have the same view and you could be ruining their vision of playtime. On the other hand, your baby will certainly love playing with you no matter how you contribute to playtime!
Conclusion
As a parent, you’re going to want to spend as much of your free time with your child. They mean everything to you and you want to show them the love and care they deserve. Finding the most interesting ways to spend that time should be your next step. Making the most of your fun and bonding is a great way to further your connection with your child.
