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Maintaining a relationship is a continuous task that requires persistent efforts of collaborating and engaging in dialoguing from both partners. Hence, spending quality time, interacting, communicating, and having fun together is essential. You could do this by trying some relationship-building activities with your partner.
These activities involve tasks you do with your partner to strengthen the core areas of relationships, such as trust and communication. In addition, they boost your confidence in one another and your teamwork skills. Hence, indulging in relationship-building activities as a part of your daily routine can be a great way to keep the love and fun alive.
To help you with this endeavor, we bring you a list of exciting yet simple relationship-building activities you and your partner could regularly indulge in to improve your bond.
30+ Relationship Building Activities
Have a look at these activities and try them to forge a strong bond with your partner.
Trust Building Activities
Try these activities if you wish to develop a relationship based on mutual trust. Make them a part of your daily life.
1. Connect with your partner
A foolproof way to build trust with your partner is by connecting with them emotionally. Building a strong and stable emotional bond with your partner is, by far, the most important thing in a relationship. Once an emotional connection is established, it will be smooth sailing for both partners. Connecting with your partner doesn’t need elaborate exercises or plans. Simple things such as cuddling together, looking into each other’s eyes when talking, or holding each other’s hand and going for a walk can build that mutual love and bonding.
Quick tipThe key here is to be soft, sweet, and loving with your partner no matter what you do. Connecting with your partner is an excellent way to build trust, whether you are dating or have been together for quite some time.
2. Confess and apologize
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To err is human, but you also have the power to heal wounds caused by your mistakes. Lies may look attractive and an easy way out, but they will betray your partner’s trust and ruin the relationship in the long run. Even if you know your partner might become upset, always speak the truth and come out clean in front of them.
The truth may cause unbearable pain initially, but it will build trust and keep the relationship healthy. Both of you can take turns to confess, or one of you can go ahead and come out clean. Apologize and make sure not to repeat the same mistake. Resolving the issues and engaging in problem-solving will allow the relationship to flourish.
3. Show your vulnerable side
Every one of us has some dark secrets deep inside our minds. You do not wish to share these secrets with anyone because you fear being judged or ridiculed. However, the beauty of being in a relationship is having someone you can share your secrets with.
Depending on how far along you are in the relationship, you might have the urge to share certain things about your life that you have never shared with anyone else. It could be the time when you were bullied in high school or the days when you were depressed because of a cheating ex. If you pluck up the courage to share one big secret with them, it can build up trust that can last forever. Additionally, empathizing with your partner insteading of mentoring or coaching him when he tells you something important is another way to deepen your bond.
However, before attempting this exercise, make sure you both are comfortable with each other, and you have the initial trust that your secret will not become a weapon against you.
4. Maintain consistency
Another great way to build trust is by being consistent, whether it is by showing patience or love towards each other. It could entail sharing the workload or informing your partner about your whereabouts and doing these things consistently. Also, be honest and transparent with your partner.
Set up a date night, show up on time, and share your feelings openly with each other. These small acts of kindness and love can bring significant changes in your relationship and help build trust within your relationship.
5. Be responsible
Trust is extremely fragile and needs to be handled with utmost care. To do so, you need to be a responsible individual. When you make a promise, you need to keep it at all costs, or your partner will not trust you with anything. And the absence of trust erodes the meaning of a relationship.
Being responsible means you do something without a reminder when your partner expects or asks you to do something. And when you say you will do something, you need to do it and not return to your words. Your responsible behavior shows how much you care about your partner and how serious you are about the relationship. So, when they tell you to take the trash out, please do it without delay.
6. Respect boundaries
Every individual needs their personal space. As a partner, you need to respect their physical and emotional boundaries. Even if you share a strong bond, you cannot deny your partner the space they need for themselves. Trust can be built only if you give each other space to pursue individual goals and interests. Once you understand, establish, and reinforce these boundaries for your partner and yourself, you’ll have attained one of the most coveted relationship goals.
Your partner may be in a problem, and they may share their concerns with you. But that does not mean they need you to rescue them. Avoid giving unsolicited advice. Telling your partner what to do makes them feel you do not trust them enough. So, be a good listener by nodding your head occasionally to show interest in what they say.
7. Show respect
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Respect is one of the building blocks of a relationship and a supporting pillar for trust. To respect your partner means treating your partner with dignity and consideration. It means treating your partner as an equal and not undermining them in any way. It means showing kindness and being considerate of your partner’s feelings.
Respect also means accepting your partner the way they are, not trying to change them. You are two different individuals, and acknowledging your differences shows how much you value your partner. So, if your partner likes pineapple on their pizza, do not make a face: instead, smile and say ‘bon appétit.’
8. Clear expectations
Having expectations from your partner is common and quite natural. A person gets into a relationship to fulfill specific hopes and dreams. But we often keep our expectations to ourselves and refrain from divulging them to our partner. We expect them to fit our mold of an ideal companion, which most often leads to disappointment.
Instead, try conversing clearly and sharing your needs, preferences, and expectations with your partner. This is a way to ensure that your partner and you are on the same page in your relationship matters. This exercise can reduce differences and build trust, especially when you and your partner share the same relationship goals.
9. Offer support
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A relationship is about having each other’s back at all times. It means taking up life’s challenges, knowing that no matter what happens, your partner will not judge you and instead be there when you need them. They are your protective shield and also your guide. When a relationship has enough support, you can rely upon and trust your partner wholeheartedly. It helps deepen and strengthen your relationship.
To show your support, you should encourage your partner’s big or small endeavors. If your partner says they want to fly an aerobatic plane, you may not want to ride with them, but you can give them a thumbs up. You must be involved in their life and show interest in whatever they share with you.
10. Exercise empathy
To build trust, you need to understand your partner; empathy is a quality that will help you with it. Empathy means to imagine yourself in place of your partner to get a different perspective of a particular situation. During a conflict, if you cool down and try to view things from your partner’s perspective, it will be easier to resolve any issue.
As a partner, you will also be better positioned to validate your companion’s concerns without doubting them as unimportant. This exercise also helps build a deeper emotional connection with your partner.
Communication Building Activities
You might love your partner to the moon and back, but if you cannot communicate it to them, it can strain the relationship. Effective communication is like oxygen for a relationship. Here are a few communication building activities.
11. Talk about each other’s goals
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This is an important exercise that helps build an effective communication channel between couples. When you communicate your wants and needs better, it brings happiness and satisfaction in the relationship.
It could be your goal to set up your own business or to work abroad. If you can engage in negotiating and openly discussing and understanding why the goals are important, that would help cement a strong relationship. The two of you can come up with ideas after brainstorming to make the other person’s dreams come true. Also, while talking about goals, you will unconsciously open up and share your passions, dreams, and the person you really are.
12. Identify the positives
This is an exercise that would not only help improve communication between you two but also bring you closer and evoke positive feelings. List out all the positives of each other and express them face to face, or pen them down in the form of a love letter.
Such small acts will help create lasting memories and build a strong relationship. To make it more memorable, you can also describe how their positive qualities make you happy.
13. Reconcile after conflicts and arguments
When two completely different people enter into a relationship, they are bound to have arguments and fights. However, most of the time, the conflicts might be due to miscommunications. Many people fail to control their emotions and say hurtful things when angry. Such heart-piercing statements can ruin a relationship. Here is an activity to help heal past wounds and repair a broken heart.
Set aside time to discuss things that you could have done to hurt each other unintentionally. Give each other another chance to rephrase the words and express your real intent calmly and lovingly. Such mediating and partnering exercises form essential team-building activities for couples and provide a safe space to deal. The one who hurled insults might understand how their words hurt the other person and may find a more subtle and constructive way to express their anger and frustration.
14. Be a good listener
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It is important to be a good listener in a relationship. If you always interrupt or do not let your partner complete their sentences, it will lead to a fight. To build a healthy relationship, it is important to listen to each other.
Set a timer and take turns to voice your concerns or tell each other how your day was. While your partner speaks, resist the temptation to talk or interrupt them. While listening, you can express your support by saying ‘I understand.’
15. Keep a journal
Words have the power to mend hearts and create positive vibes. Keep a journal and take turns to write a loving message for each other.
You can include love quotes or convey your appreciation for each other. Make sure to keep complaints and judgments out of the journal. Remember, the lines should make your partner think of you and smile.
16. Express through songs
If you are looking for a way to communicate with your partner in a fun way, then pick up your phone and browse through your playlist.
Have you ever listened to a song and felt it resonates with your feelings? Share that song with your partner, and tell them why that song is so special. Next, ask your partner to do the same.
This activity works best for shy couples who have a hard time putting their feelings into words.
17. Express through meme or quotes
You may not always be able to express your feelings clearly to your partner. But what you feel may be expected, and there is likely a meme or quote expressing your innermost feelings.
So, when you can’t find a song, try finding a meme or a relatable quote to share with your partner. Memes and quotes can convey even a serious feeling in a fun and exciting way.
18. Stop the blame game
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At times, we tend to blame our partner for our shortcomings. For instance, if you lose out on an opportunity for promotion at work, you may feel frustrated and blame your partner for distracting you from work. You end up saying, “Because of you, I lost…” “This happened all because of you…” It may not be true. Perhaps your competitor did perform better than you. But since you may not want to accept the truth, you may prefer blaming your partner to feel better about yourself.
Next time, implement the game of ‘future focus.’ Did you lose a shot at promotion? No problem. Instead of wasting time blaming your partner, try to focus on how you can correct the situation. Create a plan to work on yourself and obtain the promotion next time. Similarly, if your partner does something wrong, there is no point in overly criticizing them. Instead, focus on damage control and make things better.
19. Avoid heavy criticism or complain
Agreed, your partner may be lethargic and need lots of reminders to do a single thing. But nagging or complaining will not help. Instead, it will only make matters worse. So, instead of saying, “You never listen to me…” or “You always ignore me,” you can try saying, “I feel unheard when…” or “It hurts me when…”
A simple restructuring of your sentence can make a huge difference in handling a situation. It can avoid conflicts and even make your partner feel more responsible for their action or inaction.
20. Observe body language
Communication need not always be vocal. Silent gestures and body language can also convey messages that even words may fail to express. If you observe your partner more keenly, you notice how they react to everyday occurrences. For instance, they may say they are not angry with you but will give you the cold shoulder the entire day.
For successful communication, you need to catch these subtle hints. For this activity, you should give yourself time and be more observant of your partner’s body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. Only through experience will you learn how your partner reacts to certain situations and what they mean when they say words.
21. Avoid negative reaction
One of the biggest hurdles in open communication is the fear of being put down. When your partner shares something with you, and you are sarcastic about it or say something demeaning, it will hurt their feelings. Next time, they will not want to share anything with you, fearing your judgmental behavior.
Instead, try being more receptive. Their thoughts and ideas may not match yours, but that does not mean they are wrong. Ask them more questions and try to understand them better. And even if you find something absurd about them, do not be blunt. Try to explain your perspective and give them the option to accept or reject it.
Bonding Activities
Couples need to forge a close bond with each other to build a healthy relationship. Have a look at the following activities and try them to get closer to each other.
22. Pick a hobby and pursue it together
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It could be attending a cooking class or hitting the gym, pick an activity that both of you enjoy doing, and try to do it together. Such activities help you strengthen your bond with your partner, help with networking, and keep you motivated.
While trying such bonding exercises, you can pick an activity that interests both of you or do something which either of you likes. The key here is to do something as a team, thereby working on team-building and creating an unbreakable bond.
23. Travel
Traveling with your partner can be a quick way to bond with each other. This could be the reason behind the sending of newly wed couples away on honeymoons. But, if you are an already married couple, then pick up a risky adventure, such as going on a road trip or exploring a distant country. Such trips would require extensive planning, which could be a good way to bond with each other.
Also, throughout the journey, you will work on better understanding each other and learning to love unconditionally. These two things are quite essential to build a relationship.
24. Take up a project
This may sound like taking up a hobby, but this is something more serious. You both can take up a project such as building a community shelter or fostering rescue animals. These tasks require strategizing, commitment, and patience. While doing them, you would understand each other better.
The success of the project would determine how well you were able to bond with your partner. You may argue a lot in the process, but amidst all that chaos, you will find real love.
25. Ask each other questions
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Many online resources offer questions that you can ask each other. Such questions are designed to promote intimacy and create bonding between couples. Talk to your partner, and if they are okay with it, you can take turns, pick some questions, and answer them.
However, make sure you answer them honestly because honest answers help bring people closer and build relationships.
26. Start new traditions
Routine may be comfortable, but it also gets boring. Start new traditions that can occasionally help you get out of your routine and help build a strong bond between you and your partner. Activities such as planting a tree on your anniversary or adopting a pet and nurturing it together can help you bond and build a strong relationship.
27. Do daily chores together
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To maintain your bond, you can ensure that your partner and you spend quality time together daily. A good idea is to help each other with daily chores. You can cook together or do the dishes together every night. Having a fixed chore routine wherein you combine your efforts to make each other’s life easier is one of the best things for couples to do at home to create a lasting bond. You can talk about your work or have light conversations that keep you updated with your partner’s life. Occasionally, you can even allow each other to skip a daily chore when you are tired.
This activity can prove helpful in bringing you and your partner closer and keeping you bonded.
28. Learn a new skill together
Join a dance class and learn a new dance form together. Couple dancing is a great way to bond with your partner and have fun. If dancing intimidates you, you can try pottery or painting. Anything that you can learn together will be fun. You can help each other learn and perfect the skill. You can even give tips to improve your skills and cheat in an exam together.
This activity can ensure that you create some cherishable memories together. It can also give you a common interest to bond upon.
29. Write letters to one another
We often find it challenging to share our feelings with our partners. You may be the best friends and trust each other unquestioningly, but expressing your feelings may not come quickly. Try writing it out. Make it a ritual to write each other letters every anniversary. You tell your partner what they mean to you and how they complete your life. You can share stuff that you would otherwise hesitate to share. This activity can help you understand one another and bring you closer.
30. Prepare a couple bucket list
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Sit together and prepare a list of goals you would like to achieve as a couple. This can be a long-term goal, such as buying a house, or a short-term goal, such as losing weight and getting healthy. Working together as a team helps you channel your efforts in one direction and help you bond better. Motivate each other to keep working towards your common goal and see how much you start connecting as a couple. This activity can also bring out your hidden enthusiasm and fill some fresh energy in your relationship.
31. Spend time with each other’s family and friends
When newly dating someone, if you are accepted by your partner’s inner circle of friends, it most likely means your partner will also approve of you. Spending time with one another’s family and friends helps you understand the different sides of your partner. It lets you know more about their life and aspects they may or may not share with you. Getting closer to your partner and strengthening your bond is a great opportunity.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do you strengthen your relationship with your partner?
These are a few ways to strengthen your relationship with your partner:
- Create fun rituals like going shopping every weekend.
- Regularly discuss your feelings, concerns, and desires.
- Share household chores and responsibilities.
- Give space to each other to grow as an individual.
- Treat each other as friends.
2. Why is it important to build healthy relationships?
It is important to build healthy relationships because it promotes a sense of security and stability, makes it easy to resolve conflicts, keeps the family happy and content, and teaches children the skill of building healthy relationships in the future (1).
3. How do relationship-building activities help to increase intimacy between couples?
Relationship-building activities can foster open communication, deepen emotional connection, and create shared experiences. In addition, these activities provide opportunities for couples to understand each other on a deeper level, and build trust, thus strengthening the intimacy and bonding between them.
4. What mistakes should couples avoid when engaging in relationship-building activities?
Fundamentally, both partners should actively participate. Half-hearted engagement can undermine the effectiveness of the activity and hinder relationship growth. Couples should also avoid being overly critical or judgmental during the activities. It is essential to approach these activities with a realistic mindset and respect each other’s needs during the engagement.
5. What are the long-term effects of engaging in relationship-building activities?
Engaging in relationship-building activities can have long-lasting effects such as improved communication, increased emotional intimacy, and strengthened bonding and trust. Also, these activities can enhance problem-solving skills and form a deeper overall connection between partners, contributing to a healthier and more satisfying relationship.
Building a relationship is relatively easier than fixing a broken one. Picking some interesting relationship building activities can help you know each other better in an enjoyable and comfortable manner. You can discuss among yourselves and pick the activities that would best suit the intimacy level of your relationship and help you resolve any growth areas. Since trust and communication are two oars that keep a relationship sailing, try these meaningful activities to help increase your mutual trust and make your communication smoother.
Infographic: Things To Consider While Engaging In Relationship-Building Activities
Whether you are in your honeymoon phase or have been together for years, activities to strengthen your relationship are essential to maintain the spark. But before you incorporate these, explore the things you must be mindful of while engaging in the activities to get the most out of them and not stray away from the goal of having a healthy relationship. Illustration: Momjunction Design Team
Key Pointers
- Indulging in some fun activities with your partner can strengthen your bond.
- You may share each other’s positive aspects and dedicate a song to improve the communication between the two of you.
- You may go with bonding activities such as traveling together, trying each other’s hobbies, and asking questions to build the trust.
Illustration: Fun Relationship Building Activities For Couples
Image: Dall·E/MomJunction Design Team
Learn how to build strong, healthy relationships with 8 simple habits. Discover how to communicate effectively, show respect, and create a lasting bond.
References
- Positive relationships for families: how to build them.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/family-life/routines-rituals-relationships/good-family-relationships
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