Fun Activity Ideas For A Mother-Daughter Bonding Day

Recently, my husband and son went away for a weekend together on a boys’ adventure, leaving me and my daughter at home. We wanted to do something special but didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so we decided to have a girls’ bonding weekend at home. These are fun to do periodically, and the activities that you enjoy will change as your daughter gets older. Here are some ideas for you and your daughter to enjoy:

• Nail polish creations. All little girls love having their fingers and toenails polished, and this works well for moms with daughters who are preschoolers, as well as with those who are well into their teens! Little ones will probably be happy to sit for the five minutes it takes you to put on a quick coat of a solid color. My nine-year-old can sit for more elaborate creations, including nail stickers and other nail art. Teens might be excited to show off their own nail-art skills, and might even be willing to give you a pedicure!

• Tea party. Get dressed up (or not), put on hats and make some tea to enjoy with your daughter. Cookies, homemade or out of a box, make a great accompaniment. The most important thing is to focus on her, and what she wants to talk about. Don’t answer your cellphone or check your email; just let her talk. I’m often surprised by what my daughter comes out with during relaxed teatimes with Mom!

• Makeovers. This one is always a huge hit with my daughter. She gets to put makeup on me and fashion my hair into all sorts of unique arrangements, then I do the same for her. Recently, we discovered hair chalking: Use chalk pastels (NOT oil pastels!) to make colors in your hair. Take small sections of hair and twist it several times. Use the chalk to color the strand on all sides, then untwist. If you have dark hair, you may need to spritz the hair first with water, but don’t do this with blonde hair, as it will stain it temporarily. Also, the chalk can rub off on your furniture, so use caution. We found it fun, and it worked well on my dark hair and her red hair.

• Special foods. What are your daughter’s favorite foods? Our favorite bonding meal is fondue: we heat up cheese and spices in our fondue pot and dip bread, apples and raw veggies. Then we do the same thing with chocolate chips in the pot, and marshmallows, strawberries and Rice Krispie treats as dippers. It can be a lot of prep work and cleanup in comparison to simpler meals, but this is a great mom-daughter bonding activity to do together!

Each mother and daughter will have special activities that bond them together. For some, it is shopping, and for others it’s cooking together; think about the types of things that the two of you like doing, and plan a special day or weekend to do them together!

What types of mother-daughter bonding activities do you enjoy?