One of the things that I love about the school holidays is the amount of time we get to spend together as a family and it reminds me that I need to make time for the kids during term time.

Over the summer I have been working with Direct Debit to streamline our finances and I have learned that by having my payments on Direct Debit it frees up time to do other things. If you are unsure of the benefits of paying by Direct Debit, then do check out my first post here. This month I am planning to reap the benefits of extra time not doing family admin by spending it with the children now they are back at school.

It seems that we are all super busy, so these simple tips can make a real difference to the amount of quality time you get to spend with your children now they are back at school. By using Direct Debit to pay my bills I have more time to spend with the family.

8 ways to spend time with the kids during term time

Do not overschedule after school

It can be tempting to set up loads of after school activities for your kids, but I am a big believer that children need to have the freedom to unwind after the regimented school day. Plus for the first few weeks, they will need to reacclimate to school timetables.

Prepare meals and cook together

One of the times that I love most is when me and the boys or one of the boys spend time in the kitchen together. I cook at least one meal a week with each of them, more and more they are taking charge and I am just directed by them as to what to do. We menu plan together too. We have some great chats whilst we are preparing dinner.

Eat together

This is one of the most important parts of parenting in my opinion. We eat together as a family as often as we can. Mealtimes, do not have to mean dinnertime. There are so many benefits to sitting at the table together without interruptions (we have a no electronics at meal times rule). We have conversations, debates, chats and tell stories. Even one night a week makes a big difference. I have some great tips for connecting with your kids at mealtimes.

Screen free time

We have a rule that screens are turned off at 6pm until the boys bedtimes (apart from movie night). This gives us quality time for reading, listening to music, gardening, walking, baking, playing games, jigsaws, arts and crafts or just chatting.

Insist on family time

This is easy for me as my boys are only ten and eleven, but when I was growing up at least one day at the weekend was designated family time. We have continued this tradition and spend the weekend as a family. We try and go out and have an experience one of those day. Mini and MadDad has football season tickets and love the bi-weekly quality time they spend together.

Family Game night

One night a week is designated as family game night. As soon as the dinner plates are tidied away the games come out and we have competitive fun until bedtime. This has been one of the great benefits from working with Direct Debit and their Freedom Guaranteed Campaign. I am spending less time on family admin and paying bills and have more time to spend with the family.

Family Dog Walks

Since getting Alvin we have walked together more as a family. We get outside together more, even if it is just for a ten minute walk. We aim for one short walk a day, this can either be all together or one adult with one child. It gives us one on one time with the children and enables us to have a good chat.

Family Movie Night

We also have family movie night one night a week, now this might not always be a movie, it could be a TV show that we all want to watch, but the thing is we watch it together. We turn off electronics and grab snacks and cuddle up together.