Q: How can I make those early years of my kids’ lives count as a dad?
A: The month of June and Father’s Day offer a meaningful opportunity to celebrate and recognize dads and father figures: the men who show up, support and shape our children’s earliest years. It’s also an opportunity to consider what it means to be a father or father figure, and how to impact children in the most positive way.
A father’s involvement during the first five years of a child’s life has a lifelong impact on the child’s emotional well-being, self-esteem, health and early learning. Research links engaged fatherhood to improved physical health outcomes, stronger social skills, greater resilience and higher academic achievement for children.
While we are seeing a significant shift towards increased father engagement, dads might not know where to start. Today’s dads are experiencing fatherhood very differently from previous generations, as the role of being a father continues to evolve and family structures and societal norms change and grow.
Here are a few simple, effective ways you can intentionally support your child’s growth every day:
Incorporate Physical Play
Active play, such as chasing, gentle wrestling or roughhousing, helps children develop coordination, impulse control and resilience. These interactions can incite shared laughter and movement, which also strengthen emotional bonds. Children learn to navigate excitement, regulate their emotions and form parental trust through this type of gruff physical play.
Promote Problem-Solving
Get your young child thinking with activities like household scavenger hunts, which can foster memory skills and early problem-solving. Show them a set of items, hide them and then encourage your child to find them. If it’s challenging, offer hints! Problem-solving play supports cognitive development in an engaging, low-pressure way. As children get older, make the hunt more difficult to help build persistence and critical thinking.