Fun Ways To Spend More Quality Time With Your Kids

 

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Being a busy and working parent is a tough job to have. You likely have a lot of important to-dos on your schedule on any given day.

Even though you may be a busy person, you also should make sure you set aside family time. You and your children will look forward to these moments where you can grow a deeper bond. If you’re searching for some ideas then you’ve come to the right place. Here you can review some fun ways to spend more quality time with your kids.

Traveling & Sightseeing

One idea is to get out of the house and travel and go sightseeing with your kids. There are many options for doing so such as taking a road trip or getting on an airplane and going somewhere new and exciting. You may also discover that you and your loved ones enjoy camping and being outdoors. No matter what you choose to do it’ll feel good to go exploring together and to switch up your normal routine. Make sure that no matter where you go you bring your camera to capture all the memories you’ll be making as a family. 

Cooking & Baking

You may also want to get busy in the kitchen with your kids and spouse. Be glad to know there are many ways to get your children involved in cooking. There are simple and tasty options for what you can cook or bake. For example, if you all are beginners in the kitchen, then you may want to try making this no bake cheesecake recipe. It will be a great starting point for you all to try and you’ll have a delicious treat to enjoy when you are all finished. You can try more challenging recipes and foods as you gain more experience together. 

At the Playground & Getting Exercise

One healthy habit you can teach your kids is to move more and exercise. Set a good example by working out together such as doing yoga at home. You can also spend more quality time with your kids by playing at the playground. It will feel good to run around and burn off some steam and energy. Playing at the park with your loved ones will be a good time and you’ll all sleep better at night after getting some fresh air outdoors. 

Doing Arts & Crafts

If you want to spend more quality time with your kids then pull out the arts and crafts. There are many different types of projects you can do when you get creative. This is a fun way to be with your children and it gives you a chance to deepen your connection with each other as you work as a team. Be sure to hang their projects on the refrigerator when you’re done to show them how much you appreciate their hard work. 

Conclusion

It can be difficult to balance being a working parent and your home life. However, it’s vital that you make time for one another. These ideas will give you a starting point as to what you can be doing when you have the free time to spend with your kids.

Coastal Cruising with City Experiences - Poole/Swanage Sightseeing Cruise

 I might be a bit biased but I think Dorset is one of the prettiest places in the UK - I've lived here all my life and can't imagine living anywhere else. I adore living by the sea and one of our favourite things to do in the Summer is hop on a boat and see Dorset from a different perspective.

One company who offer these trips is City Experiences who have a wide range of cruises departing from Poole Quay. Last weekend I was invited to take the family on the Poole/Swanage Sightseeing Cruise. 

Throughout the Summer months there are three different departure times from Poole Quay - 10:30, 13:00 and 15:45. It takes around an hour to cruise over to Swanage and you can just stay on the boat for the return trip or you can get off and catch a later boat back. Departure times from Swanage Pier are 11:45, 14:30 and 16:45. 

Swanage Bay, Dorset

We wanted to spend a few hours in Swanage so we decided to catch the 10:30 boat from Poole. Check in was easy - our tickets were scanned and there were plenty of areas to sit, both inside/outside and under cover. You can also move freely around the boat which is handy if you want to try a different view! The boat also has toilets and a bar. 

Luckily for us, the weather was glorious and we couldn't have picked a better day to travel by sea! Leaving Poole Quay we headed out into the Harbour and past Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, Brownsea is a lovely place to visit and one of the very few places you can spot Red Squirrels in the UK. 

Brownsea Island, Poole

Past the golden sands of Studland Beach (did you know part of the beach is strictly for nudists?!), we sailed by the famous white stacks of Old Harry Rocks. This is the start of the Jurassic Coast - a 95 mile stretch of coastline which is the only place on Earth where you can see rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods in one place - pretty impressive if you ask me! 

Old Harry Rocks, Dorset

Soon we were heading for Swanage Pier and time to disembark the boat. Our return boat was 14:30 which gave us 2.5 hours to explore. We love Swanage, it's such a lovely little seaside town and definitely worth a visit if you are coming to Dorset. We had a nice stroll up to Peveril Point which gives you a fantastic view over Swanage Bay followed by fish and chips on the seafront. You can't come to Swanage and not get fish and chips! 

Walking towards Peveril Point, Swanage

We had time for a quick trip to the arcade (again, another essential Swanage must do if you're my kids!) and then as the weather was so lovely we sat on the beach for a bit and enjoyed the Autumn sunshine. It was so warm that the kids decided to have a little swim! 

Soon it was time to head back to the Pier and catch our boat back to Poole Quay. We had a lovely day out and it felt like the perfect way to round off our Summer. 

Thank you City Experiences for inviting us - for more information regarding all their trips from Poole and further afield, check out their website here. 

*Disclaimer - City Experiences kindly gifted us a family ticket in exchange for an honest review