40 Ways To Show Your Child Love

by candace on February 5, 2010

girl eating ice cream

Displayed on a shelf in the entry way of my mother’s home is a book entitled To A Child Love Is Spelled T-I-M-E.  I have often thought about that statement and how much truth it holds.  It’s easy for us to say “I love you” but those three words, devoid of action and the gift of our quality time, are simply that—just words.  As we celebrate this season of sentiment and affection, let us show our littlest valentines just how special they really are.

40 simple ways to show your child love:

  1. Take them to a movie they want to see.
  2. Go on a treasure hunt (collect all the loose change around the house/car) together and then make a trip to the arcade with your findings.
  3. Take a long nature walk together, at their pace.  Let them lead the conversation.
  4. Find qualities about them that you genuinely love, and compliment them in front of others.
  5. Frame a photo of the two of you, and display it in their room.
  6. Put a few Hershey’s Hugs in one of their coat pockets, and Kisses in the other.
  7. Play a game with them.
  8. Let them win.
  9. Make bath time special.  Add lots of bubbles, colored soaps, maybe you could purchase a new tub toy or let them play with things found around the house.  I let my kids play with things like colanders and funnels from the kitchen—they love it.  Don’t forget to warm the towel!
  10. Send them a handmade card in the mail with a coupon to go get ice cream with you.
  11. Gather all the home movies that feature them as the “star” and have a movie night complete with popcorn and treats.
  12. Using blankets and chairs, or a card table, build a clubhouse together and have a picnic inside.
  13. Read “I love you” books together.
  14. Let them stay up past their bedtime with you and watch cartoon classics together.
  15. Do a chore that is normally reserved for them.
  16. Tuck an encouraging note inside their lunchbox.
  17. Give them your full attention.
  18. Tell them some of the ways they make you happy.
  19. Make them laugh.
  20. Laugh with them.
  21. Make their favorite treat to welcome them home from school with.
  22. Show them your joy when they arrive.
  23. Ask for hugs and kisses.
  24. Listen, and let them make their own decisions whenever possible.
  25. Make them a coupon book filled with things they’d enjoy doing, or things they’d like to get out of doing.
  26. Take a day off from everything: work, household duties, technology, etc. and focus entirely on them.
  27. Cook together.
  28. Write them a poem using the initials of their name.
  29. Decorate their room for no reason.
  30. Create a sign that lavishes them with praise.
  31. Kidnap them from school and take them out for lunch.
  32. Make home a fun place to be.
  33. Make a treasure box from an old shoe box, fill it with “gold” (chocolate coins) and make an official looking treasure map with clues for them to locate the hidden treasure with.
  34. Go to the store and let them pick out all the ingredients to make banana splits.  Make and eat them together.
  35. Wrap up in a warm blanket together and take turns making up stories to tell each other.
  36. Make a list of things you love about them and put it on their pillow before bedtime.
  37. Talk about what they did in their day at dinnertime.
  38. Sit down together and write a list of fun activities to do in a day.  Write each idea on small slips of paper, roll up the papers and stick them inside balloons.  Blow up all the balloons and then pop one balloon at a time until you’ve completed all the activities.
  39. Play back rub/tickle games—ie; Spider crawling up you back…
  40. Make a CD with all their favorite tunes and have a dance party.

What are some ways you show your love?

Shared this post on We Are That Family’s WFMW, loved her post today.

{ 2 trackbacks }

40 ways to show your child love « Menschenskind Blog
June 21, 2010 at 5:28 am
Thrifty Homemaker
July 9, 2010 at 4:50 am

{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }

MakingTime February 5, 2010 at 6:38 am

What a nice idea for a list!

My son loves pancakes and he loves to cook them with me. (Definitely love on my part – and dedication to keep my cool with a not-yet-three-year-old chef in the kitchen!)

Reading a bunch of books for “no reason” (i.e. outside the bedtime routine).

In warmer weather – picnic lunch at his favorite playground on the way home from preschool. :)

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Tina February 5, 2010 at 7:36 am

This is one of my favorite Mom topics! What a geat list! I blog every week about parent/child play. As a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor I feel like we have forgotten how to truly be present and engage our children with play. In my work, I often have to teach parents how to put away the “stuff” and play with their kiddos.

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Lyndee June 3, 2010 at 9:55 pm

I loved your comment. I have a hard time spending quality time with my 5 year old. I don’t know how to play fake-believe and I tend to just take my “stuff” out and send him on his way or something. Help!

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Kim February 5, 2010 at 8:18 am

We play a lot at our house. My son actually told me and my husband last week that he doesn’t want to grow up and be a daddy. He wants to be a mommy. His reasoning was that because daddies go to work and mommies play all day. If that is what he thinks, that is just fun by me. :-)

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tiffany February 5, 2010 at 8:58 am

candace, darling, we are on the same wave length here. i have a post set and ready to go for next friday about how to love your children! and of course it includes a list, too. ha. i guess i’ll wait until my post publishes and i’ll link my ideas here. we should collaborate since we think so much alike! :)

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Destri February 5, 2010 at 9:05 am

love this post, and so many little ideas I had never thought of. I want that book….I bet it is a good one.
Ways I show love….whenever they want to cuddle, I drop what I am doing and scoop them up and cuddle, sing, dance, rock, whatever it is they need at that moment.

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Amy February 5, 2010 at 9:27 am

Love this! Even though my daughter only turns 1 this month, I changed YOUR CHILD to her name and printed this list off. :) Thank you!

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Lynette February 5, 2010 at 12:18 pm

And it doesn’t matter if your child is 19 mos. or 19 years (dear Lord going on 20 next month) they still need to be hugged, told they’re loved and learn to make their own decisions (and mistakes) and praised so when they are that 19 year old you know you’ve done a better than good job with them! I’ll share a for instance here if y’all will let me –
Y’all have probably picked up from some of my other posts that I’m about 9 mos. into a separation and heading toward a divorce in May. He and I dated for 10 years and were married for almost 7 years. My girl was 2 when he came into our lives. About 3 mos. ago my girl, Meghan repeated a conversation to me that she’d with my mother about how Meghan was dealing with the way things were going at home. She told my mom that while she knew she could always depend on him to be there if needed him to be and they would always be friends, that I was both her mother and father all wrapped up in one and that no matter what happened, she knew that I would always be there for her.
To me, that is what a parent lives for – those moments when your child makes you think you’ve done a really good job and they “re-pay” ten-fold!
Oh, I waited to start crying until she left the room!

Didn’t mean to spoil the moment or bring the mood down – but that – to me – was a very proud “mommy moment”!

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Lynette February 5, 2010 at 6:02 pm

OK – since I was such a party pooper earlier (didn’t mean to be really – I guess I was just feeling a little “blue”) hop on over to my blog – we’re having a little bit of fun over there and I y’all will enjoy it! It will only take a second!

See ya there!

Happy Friday -

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Megan February 5, 2010 at 7:38 pm

I love this! I think some parents would be so quick to be like, “ugh, I don’t need help showing my child I love them!” but these ideas are just so cute and I doubt most Mom’s/Dad’s would think of them on their own. Love it! Thanks for sharing!

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Maria February 6, 2010 at 6:19 pm

Candace-
Will you be my mommy? I love this list. Thank you so much for compiling it. There are so many things I would have never come up with on my own that will be so fun to do for/with them. Interestingly enough, a lot of these ideas are things that would also make a husband feel pretty loved.

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thegypsymama February 9, 2010 at 11:19 am

Oh, I love this! I am bookmarking this page especially since we are snowed in in the DC area and looking for ways to entertain our kiddos!

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amanda February 9, 2010 at 11:54 am

love, love, love this list! thank you so much for sharing! as a homeschooling mama to four i spend all my time with the kids and this is a great reminder that sometimes i need to just do kid things with them. bookmarking this fab list and then tweeting it so other mamas can be inspired.

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Brianna February 9, 2010 at 1:50 pm

Love this! Thank you.

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Sarah @ For the Love of Naps February 9, 2010 at 7:59 pm

I love this list.
Thank you for the reminders!

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Margo February 12, 2010 at 1:57 pm

I love to occasionally do something we call “King For A Day.” Of course, if you have little girls, Queen for a day is perfect too. I pull out the special plate and mug set, and the child who gets to eat off these at breakfast knows this day is all about him. He does not have to do his chores that day, as I do them for him. He gets to choose what I will make for dinner and dessert. He gets one day of being the boss of the remote (within reason of course) and we try to lavish compliments and praise to really make him feel special and loved. this is a lot of work for mom, so each kid is lucky if they get this once a year, but it sure makes each boy feel special.

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niki February 18, 2010 at 12:24 am

Wow, what a great idea!

I should totally put this into practice with my son. I especially liked #10.

Thanks for sharing!

:)

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Lain Ehmann February 20, 2010 at 3:56 pm

I just wrote a piece about how to be an artist mother that has some similar topics — but in a bit more detail.
http://knitandpurlgrrl.blogs.com/five_things/2010/02/seth-godin-on-the-art-of-motherhood-five-ways-to-be-a-parenting-artist.html

The one thing I forgot — LISTEN! That is the number one, I think. Thanks for a thought-provoking post.

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'Becca February 23, 2010 at 9:02 am

Thanks for the many wonderful ideas!

One thing I have done since my son was born is to travel by public transit whenever possible so that I can focus on him instead of on traffic.

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Jane March 22, 2010 at 3:24 pm

What a great post. Lovely. Gives me great ideas.
Thanks so much!
One thing my daughter loves doing is coming to my work with me. I think a visit to mom’s work is great too.
Take care!
Jane

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Maura May 18, 2010 at 12:41 pm

What an incredible list! I can’t wait to try some of these with my boys, especially now that summer vacation is almost here. Thanks for offering such fun, special, memory-creating ideas!

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Melanie July 9, 2010 at 4:15 am

This is fantastic post! Very creative. My children are 5 & 8 and one of our favorite things to do is to build “forts” out of old sheets and pillows. We climb inside and tell “scary” stories, which are never really scary and always end up making us laugh until our sides hurt. I’m anxious to try the balloon idea! That one will surely make for a great time! Thanks for all the wonderful ideas!

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