Activity for Daughter/daddy Bonding

Updated on August 15, 2013
C.S. asks from Crescent City, CA
13 answers

My daughter (8) has been missing her daddy. We had some amazing fun/bonding time will on a trip together while he was out of town in another location. Now that we are home, he has work/other commitments that are keeping him away also. Tonight he is home and they want to spend some time together. She isn't into sports and stuff like that. She is into art and creative stuff.

I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on an activity they could do together that my sports loving husband and my art loving daughter could do together. Not that he wouldn't do whatever she wanted, but I thought maybe there is something that they could both really enjoy.

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

Featured Answers

C.V.

answers from Columbia on

Daddy including his little girl in anything he's doing is the best way for them to bond. If he's doing yard work, repairing something, cooking, running errands....just include her.

It doesn't matter that she's not into sports. Daddy can show her what HE is into and she'll be interested because she loves Daddy. They can make snacks, he can tell her the rules and they can cheer together.

I never cared about basketball, but I LOVED watching with my stepdad. I loved when he took me fishing, hunting, he sat me on his lap and let me drive the dirt roads (I'd steer and he'd work the brake/accelerator). I loved his teaching me how to change the oil or a tire on the car.

Little girls don't need Daddy to do only what "princess" wants to do....though that can be fun. Little girls need to know what men do, that what they and a male do together won't always be what they like, and how males are supposed to treat them.

I hope she has fun!

5 moms found this helpful

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

mini golf is a big favorite at our house, even for the non-sports inclined.

6 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

My husband always enjoyed just taking the kids with him to do errands and stuff, Home Depot, Costco, the car wash, sometimes he took them out to the driving range to hit golf balls, usually followed by an ice cream or other treat.
They don't need an "activity" they can just do the everyday stuff together. That's what memories are made of!
Oh, and the movies, he likes taking them to the movies on weekend afternoons :-)

4 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Anything they can do together. My DH likes to garden and now DD gardens with him. Or they could go for a hike or bike ride. They could go to a museum. They could play a board game or card game. They could share songs and books. Frankly, just BE together. It doesn't necessarily need to be an event. Some of my best moments were simply getting a dilly bar at the Dairy Queen and sitting outside to eat it.

4 moms found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

You know, my sports loving husband does really well with our 10 year old daughter...seems he gets along a little better with her some days. She and I butt heads because we are one in the same personality wise.

She likes when he helps her organize her room.

They work on dance stuff together (she is a competitive dancer).

He will take her to dinner or for dessert.

Go for a bike ride or to the community park.

Can she find a craft that includes some kind of wood work that he might also enjoy? Or can he suck it up and make a bracelet with her?

Mini-gold.

Movies.

Do you guys enjoy fishing or hunting?

Do you have local beaches or boardwalks?

Cards.

Boardgames

Etc :).

3 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

They should do, what he/she feel like doing.
Let it be their own idea.

I have a daughter.
My Husband, does so many things with her, letting her take the lead in it.
My daughter is 10 now, and she and my Husband are very close.
He even would play make-up with her when she was a toddler.... letting her fuss with his hair and putting on theatrical washable make-up on him.
He even played tea-party with her, DOZENS of times.
My daughter would have her own ideas, about what she wanted to do with Daddy.
Or now that she is older, they go hiking together. Just the 2 of them. Or she loves when at night before bed, he tucks her in, but lets her just chat away... about her day and everything she has on her mind! Its real cute, seeing them chat that way. And he really listens, as she talks! So they learn about each other, that way, by chatting. And he tells her about when he was a little boy etc.
The thing is, my Husband, does girly stuff with my daughter if she wants to. Or what her ideas are that she wants to do with Daddy.
They even cook together. They love that... picking a recipe from a cookbook, then going to the grocery store to get the ingredients, then coming home and organizing it all and then, cooking it. Together. My daughter is a great able cook, since she was even 7 years old. And they love cooking together.
Sure, my daughter loves crafts etc. as most girls do. So my Husband does those things with her too.
Or they like to watch movies together.
Its all bonding. And my Husband, learns... about his daughter, as a person. And that is golden.
My Husband has really gotten good at chatting with my daughter. Even though he came from a family full of only boys and sports.
He even takes her sometimes, to get her hair cut.
Its all really nice "memories" for both of them.

Your sports loving Husband and your art loving daughter, CAN DO art together. He just has to want to.
They can paint clay plant pots together. Or paint rocks. Or just paint on a canvas... making an artwork, together, collaboratively.

And my Husband even taught my daughter, how to build some shelves. They hammered and cut wood and sawed and veneered, together. He taught her how to use, tools.

The thing w/my Husband is, whatever he and my daughter do together, it is so that he learns about her, as a person. That is the key thing for him. And he teaches her things along the way, just via chatting and observing life. They really bond that way.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.W.

answers from Portland on

I like the idea of miniature golf if that's around.
Remembering that men are usually side-by-side communicators instead of face-to-face, so many of the suggestions you received are really great ones.
Board games rock. My husband will sit and play board games with our son for quite a while.

Also, it might be fun for him to take her to the park, let her play, and also show her how to shoot baskets. Some of my best memories with my dad are doing just that-- playing Horse, etc.

2 moms found this helpful

B.S.

answers from Lansing on

Bowling? Everyone likes bowling don't they?
OR
A bike ride.
Go out for ice cream
Go to the park
Make pictures outside with chalk
Oh my daughter loves laser tag if you have a venue in the area that has it

These are things my 8 year old daughter likes to do anyway

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

P.K.

answers from New York on

Why does it have to be an activity.how about just going to the park, sitting with some ice cream and talking and laughing! She can fill him in on her summer, etc etc. just some good old time together. If he has things to do,
Take her. Then stop for lunch or dinner. That is always a great way to catch up.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Indian Princesses. SO cute for daughter and daddy.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Paint your own pottery. Dad can make a mug with the logo of his favorite team and daughter can make whatever she likes.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

My DD and her daddy have the most fun playing in our inflatable pool. We fill up water balloons, and the two of them "bomb" each other and get carried away splashing... While Mommy gets to read a book! (Or, catch up on chores more likely. Lol.)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.S.

answers from Austin on

Daddy/Daughter date night - dinner/desert, maybe a movie they can agree upon?

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions