6 New Year’s Resolutions You Can Share With Your Kids

The new year offers an opportunity for new beginnings. Resolutions made as the ball drops on New Year’s Eve help us focus on our individual goals. But it can also help families find new hobbies together, a healthier lifestyle, and an appreciation for what we share.

This holiday season, resolve as a family to do and share more. The new year can offer a new beginning to pursue goals together. Here are some resolution ideas that will serve your family and yourself.

Give back together

New Year’s resolutions often focus on what we can do to improve our own lives. But an important goal is finding ways to help others. This is something that a family can do together. Find ways to give back to the community, school, church, or any way that suits your family.

This is an excellent opportunity to teach your children the importance of volunteering. Discuss causes that you want to support as a family. Respect each family member’s choices, even if it isn’t a cause you support. This is an opportunity to keep your family’s interests and learn more about each other. While some family traditions include occasional work in soup kitchens, this can be a more considerable commitment.

When you volunteer as a family or work together to support a cause, you share a meaningful lesson. The act of giving is more rewarding than receiving.

Seek adventure together

As a family, you do many things together. But like most families, you are probably not pursuing enough adventure together. What would be a fun escape for your family to enjoy? Give everyone in your family an opportunity to identify an experience they would like to do. Set aside time each month to pursue at least one adventure together. Check each one off the list as you complete it together.

This can be a trip together or an activity together. Set some ground rules about cost, distance, and time, whatever helps. Keep adding to the list throughout the year. This is an excellent opportunity to give each family member the adventure they like. It also opens up more chances to learn about each other and share new experiences.

remote working, and virtual learning, nature remains safe. There are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors as a family without worrying about masks or crowds. Consider a weekend getaway to a cabin, an overnight camping trip, or an evening stroll through a nearby park. Make the time to enjoy the great outdoors together, away from family and friends, electronics, and work.

Resolve as a family to spend more time together outside. Cook once a week out together. Play a game in the yard, anything from football to croquet. This is an excellent opportunity to leave your and your kid’s phone inside.

Start a family book club.

We all need time to disconnect. It’s not just about the time spent on your kid’s phones. Share the joy of storytelling as a family. Let each person pick a book the family can read together and discuss. Schedule time as a family to read and discuss chapters of the classics. Keep it fun and light to feel less like homework and more like game night.

While the books you choose can be limited to family-friendly reading, allow the kids to offer their ideas. Learn what motivates and inspires them through literature. The more your children see you reading together, the greater appreciation they will develop for books.

Schedule family game night

Family time should be fun, so playing games together is always good. This is one of those resolutions that can cover several bases. Play games outside. Allow the kids to pick their favorite delivery food for game night. Commit to removing personal electronics from the evening, meaning phones for adults and kids.

Each family member can have a week to pick their favorite game for all to play. Be open to ideas and discover more about each other on these special nights. The only rule is everyone must have fun.

family mealtime together for granted. But there are ways to make the experience less about eating and more about sharing. Try a New Year’s resolution that allows your family to explore healthy eating and spend time together. As a family, you can commit to finding healthy food options. As a parent, you can help your children learn how to cook.

This resolution goes beyond the tired idea of a New Year’s diet. Instead, resolve to come together as a family to commit to eating healthier. Select healthy meals that allow you to spend time together in the kitchen. Allow the kids to pick some meals, with rules requiring that they fit your family’s resolution. Each child can partner with a parent to prepare the meal together.

Coming together as a family can be difficult. The children have school and their activities. You have work commitments. You find yourself running from one commitment to another. The new year offers you and your family a new beginning to carve out time together. Take advantage of that opportunity to find new ways to come together.