Building Strong Families: Recreation

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and 
wholesome recreational activities. 
The Family: A Proclamation to the World ¶7
You have a SUPER FAMILY!  
Your family can become super strong!

Prophets teach us one of the things that helps your family get stronger is "wholesome recreational activities," or doing good, fun things together.  What are some things that you and your family can do together? Maybe you can draw or paint a picture of things you do with your family, and send a photo of your picture to Grandpa and me. Or you can write a list of things you'd like to do with your family. Ride bikes? Hike? Camp? Play games? Serve other families?

 During family home evening or a family council can your family make a plan to do some wholesome recreational activities together? 

You can make some masks for your super family.You can be a super hero that helps your family become super strong!




"Our free time should be used wisely to create the best possible life, to promote individual growth and strengthen families. Meaningful recreation does not just happen; it must be prepared for, cultivated, and privately defended (Csikszentmihályi, 1990)." 

"The components to wholesome recreation include opportunities to verbally communicate, develop skills, face challenges, create memories, share traditions and beliefs, and spend time together in the family setting" (Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives Edited by Alan J. Hawkins David C. Dollahite Thomas W. Draper)

 “Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work. . . Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one’s life and further consecrate it” Elder D Todd Christofferson "Reflections On a Consecrated Life," Ensign, November 2010.

 "Remember that our Savior Jesus Christ always builds us up and never tears us down. We should apply the power of that example in the ways we use our time, including our recreation and our diversions. Consider the themes of the books, magazines, movies, television shows, and music we in the world have made popular by our patronage. Do the things portrayed in our chosen entertainment build up or tear down the children of God?" Elder Dallin H. Oaks "The Atonement and Faith," Ensign, May 2010.

What research tells us about the importance of wholesome family recreational activities, taken from my textbook (Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives Edited by Alan J. Hawkins David C. Dollahite Thomas W. Draper):

"Lyubomirsky (2008) differentiates between experiences of gratification due to personal effort and experiences of pleasure that are provided by the environment (like watching TV or eating pizza).  Gratification results when we invest rather than consume. For example, when we spend our free time interacting with our families by reading to our children, teaching them to ride a bike, playing a board game, gardening together, or going backpacking, we build knowledge, relationships, memories, and skills. These forms of family recreation promote social and psychological growth.'

"Orthner and Mancini (1990) described three types of leisure: (a) parallel, (b) joint, and (c) independent."  Parallel activities, where family members are "doing the same thing but not interacting with each other very much" have some benefits, where independent activities have very little benefit to strengthening family relationships.

The most beneficial kinds of family activities are "joint" activities (Orthner and Mancini (1990)) - those that require family members to be actively involved with one another, technology aside, communicating and working together to accomplish something good.  Camping, hiking, playing board games, playing together inside or outside.  Also, "Research suggests that joint activities lead to the highest marital satisfaction."  (Holman & Jacquart, 1988; Orthner, 1975).  

"Play is reported as one of life’s most enjoyable experiences by fathers, not because of the activity, but because of the joy of being together (Dollahite, Marks, & Olson, 1998). It is a powerful tool to facilitate parent–child connection because it allows the parents to interact on the child’s level. Young children love to play not only because it is fun, but also because it makes them feel loved." 

"While outdoor family activities are not the only forms of wholesome family recreation, our research suggests that as families participate in challenging outdoor adventure activities together, communication patterns are strengthened (Huff, Widmer, McCoy, & Hill, 2003). When families are together for an extended time in the outdoors, they are able to reconnect with each other. The absence of cell phones, Internet, and television allows family members to interact. 

"Family experts have warned against what they call “the overscheduling of children” (Anderson & Doherty, 2005). . . . Among many measures of this disturbing trend are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week and unstructured outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent." 

"Families who regularly engage in core leisure activities “depicted by common everyday, low-cost, relatively accessible, and often home-based activities that many families do frequently,” such as playing board games or playing catch in the yard (Zabriskie & McCormick, p. 168), have higher levels of family cohesiveness than those families who do not regularly engage in such activities (Zabriskie & McCormick, 2003). "