When you become a parent, your life changes completely. Your priorities shift and suddenly your children are the most important thing in your life. However, between work and school and busy lives, it can be difficult to carve out any time to spend with your family, especially when your children start to get older. 

Even if you do have some spare time, it’s often spent behind a screen. Parents can be just as guilty as children and teenagers at living behind a screen. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of screen time, but too much can isolate you from your family. Besides, most people work or spend their time at school behind a screen, so spending all of your spare time looking at a device is just asking for eye strain.

Playing a sport, such as golf, as a family forces you to spend time together in a meaningful way. Golf isn’t exactly an intensive sport, which means that you can take the opportunity to chat with your children when they’re more relaxed. Younger children love talking to their parents, but teenagers might need more patience. Golfing allows you to spend casual time with your kids, which makes you far more approachable when they need to talk. 

Your kids can also meet people their age when they get involved with golfing. For example, at golf summer camp, they can make new friends while honing their golfing skills. It’s a great option if your children already have an interest in the sport and an aptitude for it. 

The great thing about golf is that it can be great exercise for people of all ages and abilities. While it’s rarely high intensive exercise, which means that children can keep up just fine, it does get you all moving and helps your family to develop fine motor skills. This is why it’s ideal to get your kids started with their golfing journey young. 

As well as being a great way to exercise, golf gets your family outside. Simply being outside has plenty of health benefits beyond getting you moving. Nature can improve your mood and reduce stress, and the sun is a primary way that we produce vitamin D, which promotes bone strength and good mood.

The more time your family spends outside engaging in something like golf, the less time that they’re spending inside behind a screen or on a device. Spending too much time on a device can cause eye problems, as well as issues with your joints. Sitting for long periods is also linked to poor health, so getting up and walking around a golf course is an ideal way to keep you and your kids active and healthy.