By Kaitlin Harker
As my husband and I have planned for our future, we have decided that we want our house to be the house where our children can invite their friends over, have snacks, and have fun activities to participate in. I am sure that most parents feel this way and strive to do the same.
However, it can sometimes be tough to create a safe and fun space when new technology often presents many different kinds of dangers. These can very quickly take away from the safe space you’re trying to create. But there are plenty of simple, meaningful things we can do to create a warm, inviting safe space for our families and friends.
Making Your Home Physically Safe
There are a few things that go into making your home physically safe and things that can differ when it comes to age ranges.
- For younger children, ensure that any sharp or potentially dangerous objects are put away and are out of reach.
- For older children, be aware of what activities they are choosing to do with one another. For instance, if they are jumping on the trampoline, we can monitor and ensure that no one is getting hurt.
- For both age groups, technology can be dangerous. We need to be aware of what our children are doing on their electronic devices, whether it be watching, listening, or playing. Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good is a great book to help our children learn about being safe and using tech in a positive way.
- Along with technology, we need to ensure that whatever we are watching or listening to is appropriate as well. We need to set examples for our children and their friends.
- No matter the age, children always want snacks and water so make sure to have those handy.
Making Your Home Mentally and Emotionally Safe
When it comes to making your home mentally and emotionally safe, it is important to be loving and supportive.
- Listen to your child. Be aware of their thoughts and feelings towards their friends.
- Be supportive of their decision to either have someone over or not have someone over. If they are inviting someone over who might not be a great influence on them, then talk to them about that and explain where you are coming from.
- Be kind to their friends and help them feel welcome.
- Help your child’s friends know that your house is a safe space. If they need to talk or cry, they are welcome to feel their emotions. You can also tell your child’s friends that if they ever feel unsafe, they can say that.
Ways to Make It Easier
- When scheduling for friends to hang out, plan in advance.
- Always have some easy, healthy snacks ready to go. For example, keeping apples in the fridge or bananas on the counter.
- Invest in or come up with fun, movable activities. Examples of this could be jumping on the trampoline, playing with bubbles, painting, or playing jump rope or hopscotch. You can find more activities here.
A key thing to remember is that we can include our children in the choices we make. We can ask them for ideas and suggestions on how we can better create a safer environment. Including our children in these decisions, provides them with agency and shows that we trust them. Creating a safe home, physically and mentally, can be done in several different ways, but has some of the same points. For more ideas to help you with this and many other timely issues, check out Conversations with My Kids: 30 Essential Family Discussions for the Digital Age.
Kaitlin Harker is a senior at Brigham Young University Idaho and will be graduating next April with a degree in English. She has been married to her best friend for a year and they have a husky named Osha. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, being outside, and reading mystery novels.
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