Why are family holidays so important?

A family holiday should be all about treating yourselves to a refreshing break from your normal habits and day-to-day life. According to an article published in TES by Elizabeth Buie, a staggering two thirds of conversations between parents and children revolve around their daily routine.  A holiday away provides the perfect opportunity to break this conversation cycle and have more engaging exchanges with your children, plus gives you more time to get to know their individual personalities and notice how they’re growing, changing and developing as people.

Taking a step away from your established family routine whilst on holiday may help you spot what is (or indeed isn’t) working in your regular patterns at home; providing you with the head space to see how you might make changes when you return.  This kind of refreshed thinking can have a really positive impact on how your family interact and communicate on holiday, and of course once you’re home.

Time away from the stresses, work commitments and time constraints of day-to-day home life will allow you much more free time on holiday to reconnect and enjoy hanging out with your children.  In light of a sobering statistic in a Telegraph article which cites that 65% of parents say they only play with their children occasionally, we should definitely grab the opportunity on holiday to play lots more!   Play should be a crucial part of childhood as it helps kids learn patience, improves their problem-solving skills and encourages creativity.  Spending time playing with your child also reinforces to them that they are loved and appreciated.

Playing is important for adults too!  A third of fathers say they don’t have time to play with their children and one in six fathers say they don’t know how to play with their child (Playmobil UK survey) but it’s worth remembering that playing has the same benefits for grown ups.  It’ll work the same cognitive skills as children, such as problem solving and creativity, whilst also acting as a massive stress reliever and help you feel more connected to your child.

Research from the Family Holiday Association has shown that 49% of Brits have created their happiest memories whilst being on holiday with their family.  Furthermore, nearly a quarter (24%) of people surveyed said that they call on these happy memories when times get tough. 

Family holidays take you out of your usual routine and this tends to mean your surroundings and experiences make a deeper impact on your consciousness.  Fun family times together creates good memories and, according to research featured on the BBC, positive memories are scientifically proven to stick around for longer than bad ones.  Time to start having lots more fun it seems!

Family holidays are healthy!  Focusing on our physical health is becoming ever more front of mind for most of us, but research (Holt-Lunsted et al, 2015) has highlighted that our ‘relationship health’ also has a massive impact on our physical health.  Family holidays can improve relationships between family members with improved communication, relaxed time together and the joy of shared experiences.   In addition, family holidays naturally tend to involve “Green exercise” i.e. being active outdoors – which has been proven to give mental and physical wellbeing a real boost.  Connecting with nature, by all accounts, has a whole heap of benefits - from improving your mood and giving you a confidence boost, right through to helping your body produce more virus and tumour fighting white blood cells.  

A family holiday provides the perfect opportunity to strengthen (or indeed rebuild) relationships between loved ones.  Research shows only 1 in 4 children talk to their parents about “something that matters” more than once a week.  A family holiday gives you the time and relaxed setting to chat about things other than day-to-day chores, homework or what’s for dinner.  

Although technology means we’re more ‘in touch’ than ever before, nothing beats physical time together.  Spending close time with family members gives you the chance to develop a much closer understanding of each other through body language, subtle nuances, gestures and facial expressions that just aren’t possible via text or Whatsapp!

All in all, spending time together as a family on holiday simply provides you all with the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company, giving them the reassurance they are loved and creating fabulous memories for you all.