Every good parent has a desire to engage with their kids in positive activities, creative conversations, and productive play. To engage with your child means to attract or capture their attention with your words, actions, or heart. It is also the act of captivating your child in such a way that you have an opening for positive action to take place.
Once the TV is off and the iPhone is put away, a parent can engage a child in many different activities that will have a positive impact on your relationship. Invite them to do something with you. Here are a few ideas: take a walk outside, exercise together, sing songs, look at God’s creation together, tell stories, do an art project, cook something together, organize their room, watch a movie and discuss it, have a contest, look at a family photo album or home videos, visit and help a neighbor in need, or simply play a game. It’s also important to spend time in conversation with your child. Asking them questions and allowing them to express themselves with their words helps your child develop very important social skills. In addition, talking with your child encourages development in spoken language, early literacy, emotional maturity, and cognitive development. During meaningful conversation with your child they learn new words and learn how to think through complex situations. They develop larger vocabularies, become better readers, learn how to develop sentences, become more creative, and improve on properly expressing their emotions. The goal of a parent in this arena is to be a good example. Besides all of these reasons, its just fun to have conversations with kids. For a parent, it becomes a mode of entertainment. Having kids is such a blessing. God has created them with their own skill set, passions, and personalities. Only when you begin to regularly engage with them will you have the appreciation of how they have been uniquely designed. Ric Callahan Pastor of Families, Westwood Baptist Church, Alabaster, AL Check out these verses that found in the Bible: Ephesians 6:4, I Corinthians 13:4-7, Proverbs 127:3-5, and Proverbs 22:6 2-1-17
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AuthorRic Callahan has served the Church as minister to youth, children, and families for 37 years. He and his wife, Carla, have a passion for motivating and encouraging parents to activiely pursue Godly leadership in their homes. They have raised two daughters who use their gifts in minsitry as well. Archives
May 2018
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