There’s a day every year that celebrates and honors moms and dads, but what about a holiday that celebrates and honors children? I started this tradition in our family during the pandemic and have kept it going because my kids love it so much.

What you’ll need:

• A couple of hours to a full day, depending on your family’s schedule
• Your child’s favorite snacks/games/activities/meal
• Anything else (decorations, movies, etc.) you can think of to make this day special!

How to do it:

Decide on the day you want to make Kids Appreciation Day. You can do this as frequently as you like. We do it quarterly, but you could do it as often as you like!

Decide how you want to celebrate your kids by selecting activities, special meal/s, outings, or other things that would allow your child to feel seen and celebrated (remember: this can be accomplished without spending much, if any, money and can be done without leaving the house)

If you’re able to wake before your children that day (I realize that’s not always possible), decorate your breakfast area with whatever you have on hand to create an extra festive atmosphere for their special day.

Depending on how much structure your child prefers, I suggest creating a mix of creating some predetermined activities you know they would love as well as letting them take the lead on what they want to do with you that day!

And, if you aren’t able to commit an entire “day” to this event, just do whatever is best for your schedule! Even a one-hour party for them would make any child feel special.

Personally, I love to make this day a surprise so the kids have no idea it’s coming. Of course, you know your kids best, so if you think having this day to look forward to would make it more fun for them, then you do you, friend!

I suspect your child knows that you love them. But, do they know that you like them, too?

What you’ll need:

• Post-it notes or index cards
• Pen/pencil

How to do it:

Carve out time to jot down all the traits and characteristics you genuinely admire and like about your child. Then, transfer each trait to an index card, post-it note, or whatever medium you prefer and leave one of those notes in their bedroom, inside of a book they’re reading, by their cereal bowl at breakfast – or wherever you like – for one week and witness their hearts warm at being seen, loved, and LIKED for being exactly who they are.

One of the best ways to see and hear your child is simply by getting to know their preferences, interests, and favorite things.

You can accomplish this in countless ways, but one of my favorite ways to know my kids better is to have ready-made questions sitting in a jar or glass on the dinner table that they can answer at the end of the day (if you want to include the entire family with this activity, parents can answer these questions, too!)

What you’ll need:

• Paper
• Pen/pencil/marker
• Scissors
• Jar/container/box

How to do it:

If you’re looking for some inspo on what to ask your kids, simply click the link below to download a wide variety of questions that you can ask your kids at dinner (or anytime) every night.

> Connection Questions

Then, cut out each question, fold it up, and stick in a jar that can be accessed every day at the same time (you can do this activity for as many days, weeks, or months as you like – let your child take the lead based on how long their interest lasts with this activity).

Each day at the same time (consistency makes this a fun ritual that the entire family can look forward to), ask your child/ren to pull a question from the jar and answer it. Explain that you love getting to know them better and hearing their answers to these questions is a fun way to do that!

Note: if daily seems like too much or not possible, just pump the brakes and choose a frequency that works for your family! You get to set the rules for all these activities.

As parents, we’re constantly juggling a huge mental load that makes it difficult to know or assess how connected our children feel to us on any given day. One of the most effective ways to find out if your child is feeling emotionally connected to you (as in safe, seen, secure) is to simply ask them.

What you’ll need:

• Two fingers – that’s it!

How to do it:

I like to do this with my children (six and 11 at the time of this writing) by opening up a conversation where I say something along the lines of “you know, it’s so important to me that you and I feel connected. I was wondering if you could show me with your fingers how connected or disconnected you feel from me today.

Then, demonstrate what you mean by this question by bringing your pointer fingers together and saying – “do you feel *this* connected to me today?”

Then, bring your pointer fingers far apart and say, “do you feel *this* disconnected from me today?”

Or, bring them somewhere in between those two distances and say: “maybe you feel somewhere in between?”

Whatever they reveal to you by how far apart (or close) their fingers are, ask them what they would like to do with you (either that day or schedule time for the next day, if necessary) to feel more connected.

Kids want to feel connected to their caregivers, but sometimes don’t have the words to articulate this to us. This activity gives them a simple way to do this without having to wrap a lot of words around it.

You can do this activity as frequently as you like; but, I would always recommend integrating this one into your days when your child feels particularly grumpy. You may be surprised to see the correlation between their answers to this question and how they’re feeling that day. Often (not always), the two can be very connected.

When our kids are “acting out,” or misbehaving, as parents, we may sometimes get stuck in seeing only the “bad” behavior in our children. You probably already know that what we focus on expands, so if we’re focused on their negative behavior, then it’s likely we’ll get more of that.

What you’ll need:

• Pen or pencil
• Index cards
• Paper, collage, scrapbook, poster board, or photo album – your choice!

How to do it:

If you want to turn that ship around and begin to see the good again, I would invite you to spend a few minutes each day noting all the wonderful ways your kids show up. Then, jot those things down on your phone, on a note card, or somewhere you can keep track of all the wonderful things they do and ways they are.

At the end of every week, capture each moment on an index card and tape/glue them onto a piece of poster board to create a collage, include them in a scrapbook, or insert them into a photo album. However you choose to convey these celebratory moments with your child, know that they will feel seen, loved, and appreciated because you took the time to do this.

A powerful and engaging way to peek into your child’s heart is to ask them if there was one thing they could change in the world, what would it be?

What you’ll need:

• A pretend microphone (spoon, pencil, etc.)
• Some silliness
• Journalist “notebook” (optional)

How to do it:

Set this exercise up by pretending to be a journalist and grab something like a spoon or a pencil that can act as a microphone.

When I do this exercise with my kids I always include the call letters of our family “station” when I begin the interview. For example, this is Shelly Robinson with WROB (ROB = short for our last name) and we are absolutely dying to know: “If you could change one thing – just ONE THING – in the world to make it a better place, what would it be?” (be as dramatic or animated with this as you like…the sillier the better).

You can record their answers on video or jot them down in your “journalist’s notebook” (with your child’s permission).

It’s okay if they say something silly like “let kids eat all the candy they want.” 😉 Let them take the lead with how they answer and simply let them know that you’re genuinely interested in knowing them better this way and that you’re there to support them in using their voice to create change.

Bonus: If you want to take this a step further, ask your child/ren how they would like to use their voice/body/mind to help create a positive change in what they care so deeply about and schedule a time to research opportunities in your area where you can make a difference.