In the hustle of everyday life, finding the time to spend with your children often finds itself to be a greater chore than the activity itself. Throw cell phones, social media, television, and video games into the mix and it’s a wonder how parents ever find the opportunity or time to spend an evening meal with their children. Studies show that parents who make the time to spend with their children, particularly fathers and sons, raise children that become better adults.
Outdoor activities between a father and his son promote a greater sense of independence while serving as a catalyst for the son to learn the many lessons in life necessary for adulthood. These types of activities also generate a stronger bond between the father and his son. Here are five great outdoors activities that support that father and son bonding experience.
1 – Fishing
Fishing is primarily a quiet activity that promotes patience and can be considered a survivor skill. A father and son can spend the time waiting for the fish to bite by actually conversing with each other without major distraction. This creates opportunities to learn more about each other and supports positive communication skills.
A typical model rocket during launch
A typical model rocket during launch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2 – Bicycle Riding or Running
These healthy activities mutually benefit both father and son by promoting better health. Adding in some friendly competition, it allows both to set goals and achieve them. They can also set common goals (such as marathon training) while strengthening that bond through teamwork. After the workout, they can then discuss their performance and future goals.
3 – Landscaping or Gardening
Working with the earth allows the father and son to enrich their lives by working with their hands and getting dirty. This activity can fluctuate between active to sedentary is a single project. This allows for fluid communication as well as teaches strong work habits. When the job is complete, an immediate measure of success can be assessed and used to teach the value of hard work.
4 – Building a Model Rocket
For the more technical savvy father/son combo, building a model rocket allows each partner to provide their own creative flair to an activity that promotes scientific learning and logical thinking. The results of which include igniting the rocket for launch into the air. Which could be quite exciting and climatic for both father and son.
5 – Attending a Sporting Event
Since the beginning of competition sporting events, fathers and sons have always found a way to connect through them. Rooting for your favorite team cooperatively is a display of community spirit. In the instance where father and son are on opposing sides, this can provide for a lesson in friendly competition. Watching and discussing how the team (or player) is performing is an opportunity to discuss logical thinking and teamwork.
Finding the time to spend between father and son is often something that is pushed aside because of the pressures of modern life. For as much as many have tried, this time is forever lost and cannot be made up. Outdoor activities provide for a perfect outlet for quality bonding time between father and son. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be the outdoor type, there’s an activity that can be done to strengthen that father-son bond.
