“The family that plays together, stays together.”
We’ve all heard this twist on the old adage, and there is no doubt that “play” is important to building family relationships.
While children are young, it’s not hard to find ways to play together. But as they edge closer to adolescence, kids hit a stage when their eyes start to roll when we try to do to the same fun things we’ve always done together, whether it be heading to a pumpkin patch, a nature center or the community Easter egg hunt.
When our kids hit that inevitable “eye-roll phase,” it is more important than ever to find ways to relate to each other. To counterbalance the electronic influences and distractions surrounding
our tweens and teens, it helps to make the “play” as active as possible.
One antidote to the eye-roll
phase is to expose your children to a “life sport” — a sport they can continue to play well into adulthood, such as skiing or golfing. Having a life sport to share with your family has many benefits. For example, when your child hits the stage of grunts and one-word answers, you will be pleasantly surprised by the way a dis-traction- free ride up a chair-lift or a walk along the fairway gets a tween/teen to start talking — and listening — to you.
Locally, Tussey Mountain ( www.tusseymountain.com) offers lessons and programs for skiers of all ages and abilities. It also offers golf lessons and junior golf camps, as do the Penn State golf courses ( www.pennstategolfcourses.com), State College Elks ( www.statecollegeelks.com), and Toftrees ( www.toftrees.com). Another fun way to build a relationship while being active is to train for a 5K race together. Whether you and your child are couch potatoes or experienced runners looking to improve your race times, there is something about working toward accomplishing a goal together that lends itself to bonding. Check out the Nittany Valley Running Club at www.nvrun.com for beginner running groups and youth programs. Or follow your own program, such as the Couch-to-5K running plan at www.coolrunning.com.
Like younger kids, tweens and teens still sometimes need to escape their everyday environment and get silly to blow off steam. When they have outgrown the likes of Chuck E. Cheese, try taking them to a place where they can bounce off the walls, literally, on wall-to-wall trampolines: Bounce Funplex ( www.bouncefunplex.com), less than 90 minutes away in Shamokin Dam. From recent personal experience with a group of teens, I can tell you that this place definitely passes the teenage “cool” test. If you are brave enough to try jumping along with them, you will be sure to share some laughs, create some long-lasting memories and get a great workout to boot.
Of course there are many other ways for families to spend time together, through religious affiliations, shopping, attending sporting events, visiting family, etc. Some will elicit eye rolls; some will not. Don’t let the eye rolls get you down. No matter how old your kids are, don’t stop “playing.”
Karen Walker is managing partner at 4KidsinPA. com and has two boys in the eye-roll phase (ages almost 12 and 16). She can be reached at Karen@4kidsinpa.com.
