We’re living in a society that is technology obsessed. Quality time gets interrupted by Facetime. Family meals are often dominated by the tone of messages coming through. And when you watch a film your checking your emails. It’s a safe bet that a lot of families want to spend more time with their family and less time fretting over technology. So here are my 5 suggestions to try this week.

1) Get creative. Let your IMAGINATION run free. And I’m not talking drawing or painting. I’m talking use your imagination be a big kid and PLAY as a family.

Use your bed sheets and duvets and build dens and ‘tents’ in your living room and pretend you are camping. Sit in a circle and tell stories. Make shadow puppets when it gets dark. Make hot chocolate and make some stovetop smores. Involve the children in the cooking/preparing if possible. Sometimes all it takes is one idea to spark a lot of ideas. Keep a notepad around to jot down ideas for future play days.

2) Go SPLASH in puddles and take photos; CREATE memories. No really. We put so many rules and regulations on children we forget they need to be children too. They need to explore. So next time the forecast says rain don’t turn the TV on straight away. Get your rain macs out and dust off your wellies and go have FUN. Take plenty of photos. Trust me some of the photos you will end up with make you smile everytime you look at them. In the day of Social Media photos can become somewhat forced. Let children have fun and capture that moment. That’s what makes a picture some to life.

3) Have a board game tournament. Got board games gathering dust? Dust them off and get (a bit) competitive. Prepare some snacks (these can be as simple as vegetable sticks with hummous or push the boat out and make some posh popcorn).

4) Look at family films and photos together. Learn about your family tree. Why not ask your parents if they wish to help teach your children about your family history? Children often love looking at old home movies.

5) TURN off wi-fi and TALK. That’s it just talk. Talk about School. Where the children want to go on holiday. What your child wants to be when they grow up. Sometimes we forget to listen to our children. We should all be in the habit of talking to our little ones so we nurture an open communication method. This is vital as our children grow. Open communication from the start will encourage your child to talk to you openly and honestly. And when they hit their teenage years you will be thankful for such a relationship.

It’s fascinating listening to children talk about how they see the world. If you have access to a camcorder (and most phones have great cameras on them) film your child talking. If you do it every year you’ll be able to document their growth in an interesting way.