Time with your grandkids is incredibly precious. You’re making memories that will last a lifetime and teaching your grandkids more about the world around them. Grandparents support their grandchildren in a way that research is only beginning to understand.

Although they’re a blessing, grandchildren can also be challenging at times. You may have different rules at your house than your grandkids have at home – less screen time, for instance. Your grandchildren may be hyperactive or difficult to discipline.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to make the most of time with your grandkids. With the right preparation, meltdowns can be averted and you can build strong emotional bonds. Here are seven ways you can spend quality time with your grandchildren.

1. Ditch the Screens

Many grandparents today worry about the amount of time their grandkids spend on screens. Typically, screen time goes up when parents aren’t around and the children don’t have school or other activities. Unfortunately, more screen time means less time connecting with you and the outside world.

The next time your grandkids come over, plan bonding activities that fill most of your time. For example, you could take a walk, play a board game, cook dinner together, go to the zoo or take your grandkids to an art gallery. Let them know you’ll be doing this activity for a while and they can have some screen time later.

2. Tell Them Stories

When your grandkids are old enough to understand, start telling them stories about yourself and their parents. Kids will be delighted to hear about their Dad’s favorite hobbies in high school and what their Mom did when she was five. These stories will create a relationship that’s unique and treasured between you.

You are a valuable resource for your grandkids, connecting them to a time and place they know nothing about. Storytelling is a great way to fill the time on a walk, long drives in the car and the evening before they go to bed. Don’t use so much entertainment that your grandkids never hear your stories.

3. Do Things Together

Although your grandchildren will no doubt appreciate any gifts you give them, the best gift you can give is quality time. Kids learn through modeling and they crave respect. When you give them your attention and let them do life with you, they grow in self-confidence and their sense of self-worth.

You have the unique opportunity to teach your grandkids valuable life skills simply by doing life together. Activities as simple as baking and cleaning can prepare your granchildren for the future. You can also take your grandkids on special trips to the zoo and the beach to give them new, exciting experiences.

4. Choose Age-Appropriate Games

As your grandkids grow, they’ll be interested in different kinds of games and activities. You can take this journey with them by planning age-appropriate activities for when you’re together. For example, a one-year-old won’t be interested in flying a kite. However, a five-year-old might really enjoy it.

Age-appropriate games teach your grandkids new skills and expose them to exciting experiences. These games advance their knowledge while still being simple enough to understand. For example, older children will enjoy climb monkey bars while younger kids have to be pushed in a swing on the playground.

5. Be Silly Together

Good relationships are built on laughter. When you spend time with your grandkids, find as many ways to laugh together as you can. Plan a dance party, watch a funny movie and find ways to be silly throughout the day.

Many kids are naturally silly – they make animals out of food and know how to have a good time wherever they are. This ability to see the funny side of life is well-matched in grandparents who have developed a sense of humor through life experiences. You can have a lot of fun being silly with your grandkids.

6. Plan Rest Time

You can protect your grandkids from emotional overload by planning moments of rest during your visits. Very young children won’t function well without a nap partway through the day. This is a good opportunity for you to rest and reset as well.

When grandkids get older, try dedicating a half-hour to quiet time. They can spend this time on their screens, reading or even playing quietly by themselves. Having a regular break in the day will help your grandchildren stay calm and feel refreshed when they leave your house.

7. Connect When You’re Apart

Your relationship with your grandkids will be stronger if you connect with them while you’re apart. For example, some grandparents send birthday boxes or personal letters to their grandkids. You can also use technology like Zoom and Facetime to connect with your grandkids on a regular basis.

If you stay up to date with each other’s lives, it’s easier to relax and have fun when you’re together. Your grandchildren will know you care about them and are thinking about them even when you’re apart. Forging this relationship while they’re young will help to build a bond that continues when they’re older.

Enjoy Every Minute

Spending time with your grandkids is a precious opportunity. You can tell them about your life, engage them in fun activities, give them new experiences and teach them life skills they’ll need for success later. Being grandparents is one of the best jobs in the world.

If you’re unsure how to engage your grandkids, use these seven tips as a starting point. The more you enjoy your grandkids and listen to them, the more fun you’ll have together. Whatever you do, enjoy every minute you spend with them – kids grow up much faster than you expect.

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You need solid intel on how to play hard to get with your crush.

You’re unsure where the sweet spot is between acting desperate and being a detached ice queen. 

How do you know if you’re playing hard to get or just pushing him away?

And if you don’t know the difference, how will he?

All you want is to be yourself and get to know him better, too.

So, how can playing hard to get help you with that?

Or can it? 

What Does It Mean to Play Hard to Get with a Guy? 

Playing hard to get isn’t about torturing your crush or letting him think you’re not interested. In fact, the best way to play this is to offer some encouragement. 

You’re not interested in mind games. So, you won’t do the following: 

• Set up a date with him and leave him to wait until he realizes you’ve stood him up;
• Call him up in the middle of the night just to see if he’ll answer and how he’ll react;
• Do everything you can get him revved up for something and then walk away. 

The goal here is to see if this guy is willing to put in the effort and take some risks to show you how he feels about you. 

Treat him the way you want to be treated.

How to Play Hard to Get: 11 Fun and Flirty Idea to Make Him Want You 

Read through each of these examples of how to play hard to get and picture yourself in each scenario. Which ones sound most familiar? And which are the most challenging for you? 

1. Don’t be available 24/7. 

You’re not a machine. And if you’re okay with waiting for his response, but you expect him not to be, that’s a problem.  

The playing hard-to-get texting rules are about boundaries. You have a life, and so does he. Unless his message is super-urgent (or unless he’s controlling ), he won’t write you off if you can’t respond right away to every text. 

If he does, thank him for showing you how little you’re missing. 

2. Leave your phone in another room. 

Or turn it off for part of the day. If you see a  text from him when you get back to it, chances are good he’ll understand that you were busy with something. 

It’s great when you both have time to chat back and forth in person or via text or phone call or whatever. 

But sometimes you need a break from your phone. Make it a regular thing. 

3. Keep living your life. 

Even if every fiber of your being wants to check your phone a hundred times a day, make yourself do something that puts the phone out of your mind. 

Remind yourself that you’ve got a life and purpose beyond your interest in him. You both need that. Do something just for you. And enjoy it. 

Even if he does text you, give yourself some time to breathe and think of the best response before you tap one out. 

4. Let him wait a bit. 

You probably did. That’s the beauty of texting: you can send each other messages without worrying that you’re interrupting something important, and the receiver can answer when it’s convenient for them. 

If you’ve always taken longer than a few minutes to respond to texts—because maybe you didn’t see it right away, or you were busy with other day-to-day life things—this is probably a non-issue for you. 

And if he’s really interested in you, this won’t be a deal-breaker for him.

5. Make an effort—without going overboard. 

Use a 2:1 interaction ratio to make sure he knows you are interested. For every two calls or texts he initiates, you initiate one.

Let him know the interest is mutual without blowing up his phone with random texts. 

It’s an ominous sign of things to come if you call him out for taking longer than a few minutes to respond to your “Whatcha doin’?’”  texts. Let him make the first move twice as much as you do. And give him a chance to miss you. 

Once you both know the interest is mutual and strong, you can step it up to a 1:1 interaction ratio. 

6. Spend time apart (doing your own things). 

You don’t have to spend all your time together. More to the point, you shouldn’t. 

If you send the message that your time with him is the only interesting part of your day — the only thing you look forward to — the pressure is on to spend more and more time with you and to make sure every waking moment lives up to your expectations. 

That’s not fair to either one of you. You need to be able to enjoy your time apart from him, just as you need him to be able to enjoy his time apart from you. 

7. Work on your self-confidence. 

Confidence is sexy. And it’s way less stressful than the opposite. If you can enjoy your own company, chances are good he’ll pick up on that and want to spend more time with you. 

You don’t need his validation and affection 24/7 to know that you’re awesome, etc. That’s your job. Don’t make it someone else’s. 

There’s nothing wrong with your wanting him to notice and be proud of you. It’s another thing, though, to base your self-esteem on what he thinks.

8. Make time for self-care.

Self-care isn’t just warm baths and facials. Do the things that nourish you physically, spiritually, and emotionally. If you don’t honor your own needs, don’t expect anyone else to.  

Check out Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and make a checklist if it helps.

As for wants that go above and beyond the basic, universal stuff, don’t expect him to figure that out for you. He’s not a mind-reader (any more than you are). If you want him to take the time to get to know you, do that yourself, first. 

Knowing yourself will make it easier for him to know you, too. 

9. Give him a chance to chase you.

Even if you pride yourself on being a modern woman, if you’re doing all the chasing, at some point, you’ll wonder, “If I hadn’t chased him, would he have bothered chasing me?” 

Let him find out for himself whether he wants you badly enough to go after you and take some actual risks to win you over.  If he doesn’t have to, he probably won’t. 

If he thinks he’s got you in the bag, you won’t know if he’s with you because he wants to be or because you want it more than he wants to be alone. 

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10. If you go somewhere together, work the room. 

If you go to a social gathering together, don’t stay glued to his side, even if you don’t know anyone else there. Show your independence and look around for people who look like they might appreciate some company. Mingle. Find some common ground. Repeat. 

Show your date you don’t need him to hold your hand throughout the evening. You’ve got untapped people skills. Use them. 

Give him a chance to call you back to his side so he can introduce you to other people—not because you’re right there already but because he wants you there. 

11. Get to know him better before having sex. 

Don’t be in a hurry to get naked with this guy. If you want more than casual sex with him, slow down. And see how he takes it. 

Even if you feel like you two have a special connection, give yourself time and enough distance to figure him out when you’re not looking at him and thinking, “Now’s good. Thinking is overrated. C’mere!” 

If you’re not 100% sure you’re ready, save it for another day. If he’s a jerk about it, say goodbye and high-five yourself for dodging a bullet. 

Does Playing Hard to Get Work? 

If you play it the right way, and if this guy is really into you, yes, this will work. 

As long as you don’t take his interest for granted and play games with him, he’ll be intrigued if he sees that you’re definitely interested in him but that you also have a life you fully intend to keep living — whether he likes it or not. 

Maybe you want him to be a part of your life, but you’re also independent and confident enough to be okay if he doesn’t want that the way you do. You’ll take the hint and move on.  

Keep in mind that might be precisely what you need to do. Trust that if the interest is mutual, he’ll find a way to show you. 

You can both take it from there. 

Now that you know what it means to play hard to get — in a way that actually works — what points in this post stood out for you? And what will you do differently today? 

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As a society, we can often write off “playtime” as unimportant, or find ourselves thinking of education and play as two completely separate things. But for young children, play is a vital part of learning and development — providing a safe space for ideas to be expressed, creativity to flow, social skills to flourish, and problem-solving to be developed.

That’s why it is so important that children are allowed the opportunity to learn through play at home, especially at a difficult time like now when other social stimulations such as playdates or preschool are not an option. But how exactly can you help to educate your children through play as a parent?

To be honest, you’re probably doing it already. Lots of different types of play — whether it’s solitary play, play with siblings or a parent, pretend-play, or guided play — can teach children all sorts of valuable skills and lessons.

In the post below, we’ll be going over some of the great ways that you can encourage learning and educate children through play. Read on to find out more:

1. Encourage Creativity And Experimenting With Crafting

Planning some crafting activities is a great way to educate your children through guided play. You might wonder what your kids can learn from making greeting cards or pasta necklaces — after all, crafts with preschoolers tend to just be a lot of glitter and mess, right?!

Well, wrong. Arts and crafts activities can teach all sorts of useful, modern skills to little ones, whether it’s social skills such as sharing and communicating ideas, or critical thinking and problem-solving to work around a mistake.

Creative play like arts and crafts also give kids a chance to explore their ideas and express themselves creatively — allowing them a safe space to test stuff out without fear of judgment or repercussions. That’s how kids learn how to make mistakes, build up confidence, and establish their own identity with personal likes and dislikes — all incredibly important things to learn.

Of course, it can be hard to come up with a constant stream of crafting ideas without repeating yourself, so if you’re stuck for ideas, then you can always look at monthly subscription boxes for kids like the Sago Mini Box. Boxes like this are specifically designed for learning through play and child-led discovery — packed with make-and-play craft activities that kids will love.

2. Teach Them About Science & Nature In The Backyard

Playing in your backyard is the perfect way for preschoolers to learn while still having plenty of fun. Whatever the weather, small kids love being outdoors and exploring — especially at a time where we’re all a little cooped up and feeling restless.

Getting out in your garden is the ideal opportunity to blow those cobwebs away and introduce some interactive, touchy-feely fun activities, where your little person can learn all about local wildlife, plants, and weather. There are tons of fun and educational activities you can put on in your backyard, so it really depends on how brave (or squeamish) you are as a parent!

For example, creepy crawlies can be found everywhere, so why not have a sort of bug hunt around your backyard? How many different bugs can you find in the backyard together? Introducing your preschooler to minibeasts at a young age will help them to learn more about the natural world — including different bugs and their habitats under rocks or plants — as well as improving their vocabulary. You could ask them to describe the bugs they find, or even draw some of their favorite creepy crawlies once you’re back inside.

If bugs aren’t really your style, you could do some “gardening” together (of course, keeping it suitable for small children). You could try some weeding, or dish out watering cans for kids to water flower beds, or just have some fun digging holes together in the dirt!

3. Practice Problem-Solving & Teamwork Through Den-Building

Kids love dens; it’s a fact. And giving your children the opportunity to make their own den — whether it’s in the living room, garden, or garage — provides plenty of opportunities to practice problem-solving and teamwork!

Building a den is a super easy and exciting way for kids to learn through play. Think about the skills it develops: your child has to get creative and think logically to sort out things like the structure of their den and fix problems. How will it stay up? And what if something keeps falling down? What will they use as an access point or door?

Den-making may not seem like education to the untrained eye, but actually your child is testing out and applying all sorts of mathematical and engineering skills to work around problems.

It’s not just critical thinking that den-building encourages, either. Den-making with siblings (or you!) helps kids to work on their teamwork and cooperative skills as they work with someone else to construct their perfect den. Plus, they have to communicate their own thoughts and ideas to other people for this teamwork to work out properly! This can help with all sorts of things, like communication and language development.

As a parent, there are a few ways you can get involved and guide den-play. You can suggest appropriate materials and tools, such as old sheets, clothes pegs, and cardboard boxes. Or you could input some helpful suggestions and your own den-building tricks.

However, the important thing is to let your kids take the lead. This is their opportunity to make their own decisions, explore their own ideas and creativity, and boost their confidence.

4. Teach Them About Fun Food And Textures In The Kitchen

Whether you’re cooking dinner, baking a cake together, or carrying out daily chores like washing the dishes, you can have a lot of fun in the kitchen with your kids — plus, it’s a great way for parents to educate through play.

Encouraging your child to take a more active role in the kitchen will get them excited about food (especially if they get to make decisions!), more enthusiastic about trying out new dishes and flavors, and help them to become more comfortable with household chores (which is a handy skill to teach before they become terrible teenagers!).

There are all sorts of fun recipes you can try out with kids and make together, such as cookies or cupcakes, or pizzas and fajitas. Let your children choose a recipe or idea that they’re excited about — it will boost their confidence and help them to feel like they’re valued.

Whatever you choose, your kids will really see the benefits: smaller children like toddlers will have multi-sensory fun though touching, tasting, and smelling new ingredients and different foods. And older children will be able to practice their weighing and counting skills as you measure out ingredients together, as well as learning to follow a recipe.

It doesn’t just have to be cooking either; you could also involve your little ones in mealtime prep by giving them small tasks like washing vegetables in the sink or chopping fruit. While they’re doing that, you can talk about where these ingredients have come from — it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the food on our plates!

There are so many ways that you can educate your children through play as a parent. Try to strike a balance of providing kids with activities and ideas for guided play, as well as letting them loose with their own imaginations for pretend play; it’s healthy to have a mix, and all types of play will teach your children valuable skills. Most of all, remember to have fun!

*collaborative post

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