The Best Bonding Activities that Reconnect You with Younger Generations
Healthy living is associated with communal living. Senior citizens who live with their children and grandchildren are likely to remain alert and active for more extended periods. The role of the elderly in the family is essential. The young generation needs experienced seniors to educate them and help solve their problems. Many seniors are essential and reliable people. In a house with older adults, younger adults can share responsibilities and ask for help whenever they need one. Moreover, this can reduce loneliness, a problem that many seniors face. The relationship between the elderly and the youth is also a valuable way to promote understanding and respect.
A good relationship with the elderly has many advantages. Grandchildren can also benefit from spending time with grandparents. Spending time with older adults can improve grandchildren’s self-esteem and social skills. Besides giving kids a deeper understanding of their family history, it is also an excellent way to develop a positive attitude toward ageing.
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How Does the Older Generation Make the Connection?
The older generation has decades of experience to share with the younger generation. You can spend years slowly gaining experience – and making the same mistakes – on your own, or you can draw on the wisdom of those who have already made the same mistakes. There are too many life lessons we can learn from the elderly. Though they have their unique insights, it is up to young adults today to listen to those life lessons.
Top Bonding Activities for Younger and Older Generations
Relationships between generations can promote an overall feeling of caring and acceptance for older and younger people. Research indicates that intergenerational programs can boost participants’ self-esteem and happiness. Keeping communities strong is possible through relationships between the elderly and young people. But the question is, how to strengthen this relationship?
Here is a list of top ideas that can provide both parties with the opportunity to learn new skills.
1. Make a Garden
Gardening is one of the activities that can connect people, and every age group can enjoy it. Gardening can be a way to grow something together, whether it is a container garden full of flowers and herbs or a raised bed filled with vegetables. There are also numerous health benefits of gardening for the elderly and the youth, including protecting the heart.
2. Participate in the Event of Cultural Interest
Cultural activities can bond family members together. Participating in festivals, fairs, and classes create social cohesion and foster community empowerment, capacity-building, confidence, pride, and tolerance by bringing people together.
3. Do Your Favourite Exercises Together
Whether you like nature walking, yoga or dancing, doing them with a family member can double the fun. Besides, you can have a better life through exercise, and the best thing about group exercise is that everyone has less risk of injury.
4. Arts and Crafts
Starting an art project is one of the top hobbies for seniors. Several generations can also enjoy arts and crafts projects together. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re artistic. Activities like painting rainbow roses and making bracelets are fun to do and can bring family members together.
5. Listen to a Podcast Together
Listening to podcasts is an excellent way of spending quality time. Podcasts provide inspiration and a way to explore new interests and ideas for seniors. Some podcasts can help you discover new ways to grow personally and professionally. Listening to a podcast as a group activity has the advantage of talking afterward.
Read More: Top 10 Podcasts For Seniors 2021
6. Read Together
Reading is one of the best activities that can improve the relationship between the elderly and the youth. It has many health benefits for people of all ages, including reducing stress and improving brain connectivity. Reading in the group can improve attention to detail.
7. Cooking and Baking
Cooking and baking are among the top hobbies for seniors. Families can bond through cooking together, sharing, and working together. It’s also an excellent opportunity for younger family members to learn new skills.
8. Attend a Class Together
The learning and growing of a family go hand in hand. When children are learning alongside their adults, they feel empowered. If seniors can share their wisdom and knowledge about a subject, everyone benefits. You can attend many classes with your family members based on your favourite subjects.
9. Play Some Board Games
If you’re thinking about strengthening the relationship between the younger and the older generations, playing board games is something you should try. In addition to that, playing board games can increase brain function. There are many board games you can play with all your family members. If you like word games, Big Letter Bananagrams is a great choice. If you like chess, Hive can be your board game.
10. Go on a Picnic
Picnics are a great way of strengthening the relationship between the elderly and the youth. Family picnics can improve mental health and reduce stress.
11. Play Card Games
Playing card games is one of the top hobbies for seniors. There are several mental health benefits to playing games, including socializing, reducing stress, and keeping the mind sharp. The game card can also encourage teamwork and friendly competition, allows the conversation to flow smoothly.
12. Play a Musical Instrument
Playing or listening to music has numerous health benefits for people of all ages. Playing a musical instrument increases memory capability. Learning how to play one of the musical instruments by one of the grandchildren can strengthen the relationship between the two generations and lessen the stress in the elderly.
13. Watch Movies
Watching movies with family strengthens family bonds. Watching movies is an easy and inexpensive recreational activity that you can do with your family. A movie can effectively inspire seniors to act more positively, spark emotional responses, and improve their mood states.
14. Use Online Tools
You can always avoid loneliness by socializing and using technology. For example, you can use your smartphone to bond with your family. Taking pictures, making videos, and playing online games are good ways to connect with your loved ones. And if you live away from each other, video calls and online messaging can help you.
Final Words
The role of the elderly in the family is an essential one. Therefore, the relationship between the elderly and the youth is a valuable way to promote understanding and respect. There are also so many life lessons that younger generations can learn from seniors. In conclusion, in a society that values older adults, elderly abuse and neglect will become unacceptable to younger people.
More than anything else, I think most older adults need to talk, and that’s because they have a lot to share. My neighbour is a 76-year-old man. He’s been my neighbour for about six years, and he is the best man I’ve ever known. He’s so caring and thoughtful. He has taught me to play chess; most of the time, I get checkmate! About once a week we go walking together. He always has the best stories.
I love to play with my grandchild. When we spent time together, we always have fun times. Sometimes I get tired or angry because he has more energy than me, and I can’t tolerate it! But I think we should have a good manner with our relatives at home. Because the key to a happy life has a happy family. I am sure if my same age fellas do the same, they never feel lonely during their life and have a healthier life. Because loneliness and sadness are important factors to destroy our life quality.
I wanted to be a good mother and a friend for my kids since their first day. But now that they’re all grown up, I think we have grown apart from each other. I think they find it hard to connect with me. I’ve been sad over not being as close to them as before for a while now. So reading this article was very nice, thank you.
My grandpa is grumpy all day, and I am somehow afraid of him :))
However, I found out that he likes to tell us his childhood memories. I can see that my grandpa is so proud of himself when he talks about the hardships and challenges he was forced to face and pass as a child. So, I try to listen to him and show that I’m eager and thankful for the life lessons and memories.
Well, my experience with my own grandparent, when they were alive, was that I used to send a card at least once a month with some news about my life (it doesn’t have to be more than a couple of short paragraphs) that they found interesting, and I always attached a couple of photo to it. If you have a spouse or kids, include them in the news and pictures.
They just loved it. They used to keep the cards to read over and over again.
I also called them on the phone a lot and visited when I could….
One of my favourite activities that I always do with my grandmother is cooking and baking. I’m learning so much from her because she is patient and always teaches me different recipes. And also talk about other things while cooking, which makes a great connection between us. I tell her about my life goals and worries, and she helps me make decisions. Grandmothers always have recipes and techniques based on what tastes good, and they’re cooking for people they love, and it’s so essential for us to be thankful.
Playing an instrument with a parent is beyond fun. The connection that music establish between people is so strong and emotional. If you’ve played some notes with somebody special, you know what I mean. Even if your parents don’t play, you can play for them and enjoy the time.
Though it’s an excellent and informative article that can really help the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, I guess it doesn’t work for all. The grandparents should be willing and have the required character and attitude to put these ideas into action. I’ve never experienced such things, either from my paternal or maternal side. They always keep their distance and don’t like to connect with younger ones.
I am sixty-five years old, and my favourite bonding activity is watching birds. Watching birds with your grandchildren can be a relaxing and affordable activity. I always suggest to my friends and loved ones to do it.
Nothing compares to spending time with your grandkids and sharing your life experiences. I used to take them to parks or cafes and talk about finding happiness in every small thing around them even when they faced hardships and difficulties in life; this is exactly why they always come to me for help.