In a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press and MTV, a questioned was asked of America’s teens. The poll question was, “What makes you happy?” The replies to the Youth Happiness Poll were surprising and not what parents would think their teens would answer. It was not new clothes, a big screen television or their first car. The teens overwhelming said what makes them happy is spending time with their parents.

Connecting with your child does not come overnight. It has to done gradually and starting when your child is a toddler, then continuing through grade and high school. In this busy life most parents lead, it sometimes becomes overwhelming to go to work, care for the home and then find quality time to spend with family members. The rewards for spending time with your children are immeasurable. It can be fun, filled with love and can create a strong lifetime foundation that will never be broken. Naturally, when your children are small, most of the time spent with them is as a caregiver. As they grow older the activities, trips and adventures can be rewarding for both the parent and the child.

When the weekend comes, many families look for activities that are mutually enjoyable for all family members. Many of these trips turn to educational themes with visits to museums, the aquarium, the zoo, or historical sites. Sometimes it can be tied to the child’s school studies and other times it might be connected to a parent’s interest or hobby. A friend of ours, for instance, loves all things early American and with a colonial twist. Liz and her young daughter, Katie, enjoy visiting the historic homes, especially those with connected tours and special events. Some of the homes have holiday tours or arts and crafts sessions that show guests the way early American settlers used to live and care for their homes.

After these tours are over, Liz and Katie try their hand at these crafts at home. They have made paper, their own brooms and have peeled apples with an old time apple peeling device and dried the skins for Christmas tree décor. I was invited over to watch the paper process and was amazed at how easy it is to do. Check out craft stores to find a kit that will make the process easier if you do not want to make the screen frame yourself. To make their paper extra special, Liz has added lavender scented or other dried flowers to the mix so the product is nicely blended. This coarser paper is perfect for photo album backing or as a cover for their home made scrap and collectible albums.

During trips to Van Cortlandt Manor, Sunnyside or Philipsburg Manor, in Westchester, there are exhibitions and demonstrations about colonial life. During one of these outings, Liz and Katie received seeds to plant broomcorn. When the long, straw like product is fully grown, it is dried and used to decorate craft items or wrap gifts for friends. Add to these fun activities, candle making and scores of baking and cooking recipes and you can imagine how much time Liz and her daughter Katie spend time together. What is even nicer is that Katie is welcome to have friends over to join them and learn these old world crafts, while spending time with a caring, attentive and loving adult, her mom.

Joining in with this theme of teaching young children old time crafts or hobbies, reminds me of a phone call we just received from dear friends of ours. Most of the time I keep in touch via email with my friend, Gudrun, since she lives in Germany and frequent phone calls can become costly. However, she and her husband just returned from vacation to a resort island located in the north of Germany and she wanted to share all the details. Our phone call lasted an hour! This was the first time both of their daughters, their families and their son all enjoyed a vacation together, as a treat paid by Gudrun and her husband, Joachim. It was an enjoyable two weeks, despite a few days of rain that put a damper on any outdoor activities and kept the children indoors.

Coming up with good ideas has always been easy for Gudrun and she took this opportunity to take her three young granddaughters under her wing. She described how she took them to a small yarn shop on the island and bought each granddaughter a set of knitting needles and the color yarn of her choice. Once back at the condominium, the knitting lessons began! The next few days of rainy weather went by quickly and each of the girls were enthusiastic about their new skills. By the time they were finished, one girl had completed a scarf and was starting another. The other two were comfortably beginning a small throw blanket for the sofa. This was certainly a lesson in patience, hand eye coordination, listening to instructions and duplicating them. Best of all, the three girls spent quality time with grandmother and learned a new skill that will last them a lifetime. It will give them years of enjoyment and pleasure as they move on to more complicated and sophisticated patterns down the line. Each time they knit, they will remember this wonderful vacation where “grandma taught me how to do this”.

As it was discovered in the Youth Happiness poll, spending time with their parents was the number one answer for teens today. Complicated crafts or intricate cooking recipes do not have to be the only way to spend time. Walks in the park, going for a bike ride, going bowling, or just taking a trip to the mall and going out for lunch can be a nice bonding time, too. A quiet day at home, playing cards, pulling out a board game, or watching a movie together can be some more fun ideas. The important thing for both parent and child is to spend the time together, building a bond. This will make it easy to talk to one another and know that whenever there is a problem or question, mom or dad is there to listen. Wouldn’t that make you happy, too?