Receiving messages is just as important as sending them, according to Family and Human Development specialist Sandra J. Bailey. Word choice, body language and tone of voice are all part of a message. Failure to recognize and decode messages can lead to misunderstandings and conflict. Families that communicate effectively have stronger ties than families that avoid working through conflicts and fail to create family-strengthening moments. These moments are especially important when busy schedules keep family members apart.
Board and Table Games
When growths on Rhea Zakich's throat kept her silent for several months in 1969, she worried that she and her family were drifting apart. She wrote out 200 questions that she thought would help her reestablish family ties. Some were frivolous, while others required a willingness to be vulnerable and admit fears, discuss goals and solve problems. She decided to use the cards in a non-competitive board game, which she called the Ungame. If you make your own game board and each family member creates a set of questions, the activity will be even more relevant.
Totika, which also uses question cards, begins with a stack of alternating rows of blocks. Totika is based on the Maori concept of hauora, which refers to balance between the mind and body, according to the Te Kete Ipurangi Online Learning Centre in New Zealand. Players take turns answering questions and removing one block at a time. The physical balance of the blocks is reflected by the emotional balance created by strengthening family communications and bonding.
Make your own Totika game, with any variations you choose, to strengthen your family's communication skills.
Progressive Parties
Progressive parties work best when family members live within a 25-mile radius of one another. Each family member prepares a light snack, and chooses a game or craft that encourages conversation and interaction, according to instructions from the Parent-Further Activity Generator. Weather and space permitting, plan team-building activities like getting the group from one side of the yard to the other using paving stones and boards, or figuring out how to get each family member through a different hole in a rope web. These activities encourage creative problem-solving through communication and cooperation, while encouraging physical fitness.
Be Your Own Publisher
Provide family photos, paper, cardboard sheets, crayons or colored pencils, glue, scissors and magazines to make your own family coloring, comic or story books. This activity works best when younger children pair with older siblings or parents.
Use your photos to discuss family memories and special occasions. Help children write stories in their own words. They can also make line drawings or magazine and photo collages to illustrate their stories. Swap books with distant family members or give them to grandparents.
