- 16-Sep-2025
- Marriage and Divorce Laws
In a joint custody arrangement, parents are expected to work together to create a healthy, supportive environment for their child. While much of the focus in these agreements is on schooling, healthcare, and religious practices, play—especially traditional games—can be an integral part of the child’s development and well-being. These games not only help children develop social skills and physical coordination, but they also offer an opportunity to bond emotionally with both parents.
Traditional games, ranging from board games to outdoor activities like tag, hide-and-seek, or even region-specific games, have significant cultural and developmental value. Including these games in a parenting plan can promote better emotional ties between children and their parents, teach teamwork, and even support cultural heritage by keeping age-old traditions alive.
Promoting Emotional Bonding and Communication:
Parental Interaction: Traditional games often require active participation from both parents, fostering emotional bonding. Whether it's playing a board game, outdoor sports, or cultural games, these activities can give parents an opportunity to engage with their child in a fun, relaxed setting, helping to build trust and improve communication.
Shared Experiences: Playing games allows both parents and children to create positive memories and shared experiences, which are especially important in joint custody situations where children may feel torn between two homes.
Managing Emotions: Traditional games often involve winning and losing, which teaches children important lessons in emotional regulation, resilience, and handling disappointment. These lessons are valuable for a child’s emotional growth.
Self-Esteem: Successfully playing a game with a parent can help boost a child’s self-esteem and sense of achievement. Conversely, being allowed to make mistakes and try again can teach children the value of perseverance and the importance of effort over outcome.
Teamwork: Many traditional games, whether they are competitive or cooperative, encourage children to work with others. This fosters important social skills, such as communication, collaboration, and empathy.
Turn-Taking and Respect: Playing games can also help children learn how to take turns, follow rules, and respect others, important traits for future relationships and social settings.
Cultural Transmission: In families with strong ties to a particular culture, traditional games often carry cultural significance. Including these activities in a parenting plan can allow children to stay connected to their heritage, learning values, customs, and traditions from both parents.
Family Tradition: Parents may use traditional games to pass down family traditions, helping children develop a sense of identity and a deeper understanding of their family’s values.
Outdoor Games: Many traditional games, such as hide-and-seek, tag, or ball games, involve physical activity, which contributes to a child’s physical development, motor skills, and overall health. Incorporating these activities into the parenting plan can help ensure that children get regular exercise and enjoy the benefits of outdoor play.
Mental and Physical Balance: Combining physical and mental games can help children balance intellectual stimulation with physical exercise, contributing to better overall health.
Routine and Consistency: Including a regular time for playing traditional games in the parenting plan can provide the child with a sense of stability. It gives them something to look forward to, helping manage the potential stressors of living between two homes.
Stress Relief: Play can also serve as an excellent stress-relief tool. For children in joint custody situations, fun, non-competitive games can offer a chance to relax and release pent-up emotions.
Specifying Time for Play:
A parenting plan can explicitly allocate time for children to engage in traditional games with each parent. For instance, weekends could be designated as a time for outdoor play or family board games, ensuring that both parents have an opportunity to participate in these activities.
Scheduled Family Game Nights: A regular game night could be written into the plan, allowing children to enjoy consistent bonding time with both parents. This time could involve a mix of cultural games, board games, and other recreational activities.
Parents can list specific traditional games that they would like to incorporate into the child’s routine. This could include activities from the family’s cultural heritage, regional games, or games that are significant to the child’s upbringing.
For example, if the family has ties to a particular region or country, the plan could specify time for games like kabaddi, ludo, chess, or patintero (Filipino game), depending on cultural preferences.
It is important that the parenting plan is flexible to the child’s evolving interests. As children grow, they may express interest in new games or sports. The plan should include flexibility so that parents can adapt to these changes.
Parents can revisit the plan periodically to ensure that the games and activities are still aligned with the child’s current interests and needs.
Some traditional games, such as puzzle-solving games, strategy games (like chess), or math-based games, can also have an educational component. These can be incorporated into the parenting plan to enhance cognitive development while still maintaining the cultural and emotional benefits of traditional play.
If traditional games are an important part of the family’s culture, parents can make sure these games are part of the holiday celebrations or family rituals. This could be part of an annual event or a regular weekend tradition.
In a joint custody arrangement, the child enjoys playing traditional board games and outdoor games with both parents. The father prefers playing games like chess, while the mother enjoys playing outdoor games like tag or frisbee. The parenting plan includes:
Parental Disagreement: One parent might not agree with certain games, especially if there are differences in cultural values or if one parent is less engaged in family play.
Inconsistency Between Homes: If the games are not part of a consistent routine between both homes, the child might experience confusion or feel a sense of disconnection.
Time Management: Between school, extracurricular activities, and other commitments, finding dedicated time for traditional games might require some flexibility in the parenting plan.
Including traditional games in a parenting plan can be a valuable and enriching part of a joint custody arrangement. These games promote emotional bonding, social skills, and physical activity while connecting children to their family’s cultural heritage. While it may not always be feasible to mandate specific games, parents can structure time for these activities in the parenting plan, providing an opportunity for the child to engage in meaningful, fun, and developmentally beneficial play. Ultimately, the key to success lies in the cooperation between parents to ensure consistency, flexibility, and mutual agreement on how traditional games will be incorporated into the child’s routine.
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