111 Mother-Daughter bonding activities for all ages to create a lasting relationship

A mom-daughter relationship is unique.

As a mom to daughters and as a daughter myself, I can say a daughter can be your best friend, secret holder, support system, caretaker, and everything else you can imagine.

While I don’t want to raise kids expecting something back from them, I do want to do my job well as a mother and I do secretly wish to have a space in their hearts forever.

My hope for the future is to develop a bond with my daughters so strong that they feel free to call me whenever they want to release their emotional baggage and remember me when they have happy news to share.

Recently I heard something that has stuck with me.

Life is lived in moments, not in days, weeks, or years.

We often live for the next day, or the next month when everything will improve. But we ignore the moment where we are right now, where the magic of life is happening.

And our daughters are growing before our eyes while we wish for the next shiny thing to happen.

Why don’t we make the best of this moment right now, even though it’s imperfect?

And create memories that your daughter(s) can cherish for a lifetime.

This thought led me to the compilation of these fun mom-daughter activity ideas. The list is sorted based on age – from baby daughters to teenage daughters, you will find something to do with your daughter for the next mother-daughter date!

I don’t know if you are a mother of a one-year-old or a mom of a teenager wondering where the time flew by and missed many chances of spending quality time with them.

But don’t worry! These ideas will help you reconnect with your daughter and help you build the relationship you want with her. There are many ideas you can do at home or mommy-daughter date ideas if you prefer to go out and have a blast.

So shall we start?

Mother-Daughter bonding activities to do with 1-year olds

All the mother-daughter activities mentioned below are toddler-friendly and strict supervision is recommended.

Playtime with toys and blocks
Play a nursery rhyme and sing to her
Read books and board books to her. Here is a list of the 40 best baby books.
Put her in a stroller and go on a walk or stroll around the neighborhood
Play peek-a-boo
Have a dance party with child-friendly music
Have a bath-playtime with bubbles and toys
Go to a baby music class or playgroup
Play with sensory toys and activities (e.g. water play, sand play, etc.) Here are some sensory activities ideas for babies.
Do finger painting with her. Stick a bubble wrap to any flat surface and add a blob of paint on it for them to start creating. There are edible baby-friendly paints available in the market or you can make some homemade finger paint.
Play with balls or other simple sports equipment
Have a playdate with other toddlers and their moms
Go to a baby gym or play center
Have a picnic in the park or backyard
Play with musical instruments (e.g. drums, xylophone, etc.)
Play with playdough or other modeling clay (with supervision, of course). If you are concerned about your child’s safety, you can try making edible playdough, which is safe to eat.
Have a story time with puppets or stuffed animals
Play with simple puzzles and shape sorters
Visit baby-friendly museums

Mother reading a board book to a toddler

Mother-daughter date ideas for 5-year-old kids

For 5-year-olds, you can try most of the activities mentioned above and the following:

Go on a bike ride or scooter ride together
Play dress-up with costumes and accessories
Have a craft day and make DIY projects together
Go on a nature walk or hike
Have a movie night with child-friendly films
Play board games or card games together. In this article, you can find card game ideas for kids aged 3 and above. And here are some board game ideas for 5-year-olds.
Go to a children’s museum or science center
Have a spa day at home with DIY child-friendly facials and nail painting
Go to a pottery painting studio or make your own clay creations at home
Have a tea party with child-friendly snacks and drinks. You can make her favorite snacks and also ask for her help to pitch in.
Go to a local farm or petting zoo
Play mini-golf or go to an amusement park
Have a photo shoot and take pictures of each other
Play with science experiments and simple STEM activities
Go to a painting or art class together
Play with building toys like Legos or blocks
Have a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood or park
Print coloring pages and color together
Do face painting with her. Paint each others’ faces. You can either have a theme or draw whatever you like.
Build a toy tent or blanket fort and read stories.
Do yoga with her. There are many yoga Youtube channels for kids. Do some stretches and asanas with them. They will love it. It also helps to instill healthy habits in them.
Do rock painting. Make kindness rocks or do simple painting and put them in your plant pots or garden. Here are some ideas for rock painting for kids.
Go cloud-watching with her. And challenge yourselves to find two animal shapes from them.
If it’s the right season, go for apple picking or berry picking.
Make Perler Bead keychains with them
Make slime
Play in the snow and build a snowman
Fly a kite

Mother and a 5 year old daughter painting - Mother daughter activity ideas

Mother-Daughter date ideas for Tweens

As your daughters become tweens, it becomes harder and harder to spend quality time with them, as they now will be having their own priorities and hobbies. So, you might have to do some planning to spend one-on-one time with them. Make sure you choose a fun activity and plan it ahead of time.

Here are some fun activities you can do with your tween daughter:

Have a baking day and make cookies or cupcakes together
Take a cooking class together and learn to make new dishes
Go on a hike or nature walk and explore the outdoors
Go to a concert or live performance of a favorite artist or band
Have a spa day with facials, manicures, and pedicures
Go to a local museum or art exhibit
Have a DIY day and make crafts or decorations together
Go on a shopping trip and try on new outfits
Have a game night with board games or card games
Go to a local festival or fair. There are always some cultural events or exhibitions happening in your city. Find something that interests you both and go.
Take a dance class together (e.g. salsa, swing, hip hop, etc.)
Go to a sporting event or game. If your daughter is a sports enthusiast, she will love you for buying a ticket for her favorite game. Plus, it’s a great way to bond as a mother and daughter.
Visit a farmer’s market. It will help them to learn to buy fresh produce and also learn about all the other items sold there.
Visit a library together and have a reading session there
Go on a road trip and explore new places
Take a photography class or go on a photo walk
Attend a book club or literary event
Go to a painting or art class together
Take a yoga or meditation class together
Go to a water park or amusement park
Make some popcorn at home and have a movie night with a favorite film or new release.
Go to a pottery or ceramics class together
Give massages to each other. Massages are great for unwinding and improving blood circulation. It is also great to do with your daughter if one of her dominant love languages is touch.
Go bird watching. If you or your daughter are interested in observing birds, this can be an excellent activity to do with her. Grab a binocular and go to the nearby woods or parks where you can see birds.
Do thrift shopping. Is there anything more fun than shopping with your mom? I love it! But I know not all kids love shopping. So make sure you are going to buy something they are interested in too.
Volunteer at a nearby nursing home or an animal shelter. It’s a great way to build social skills for kids and you can help them practice doing random acts of kindness.
Declutter and organize a space. Take inspiration from Pinterest, buy some organizational supplies, and organize a space. This helps to bring a sense of accomplishment for your daughter and in hindsight you are also teaching them one of the important life skills of learning to manage a home.
Have a question-answer session. This is a great way to know their minds and help to start a conversation.
Play a storytelling game, like passing the ball. You can do this with more than one kid, or just you two. For eg, one person starts the story by saying, “Once upon a time in a land there lived a king…”. And then pass it to the other person to make the next sentence and continue the story. And then continue like that. It’s a great way to hone their creativity skills (and yours too). You can play this game with younger kids too.
Go bowling. Bowling or other games like ice skating, and mini golf are fun ways to spend quality time together.
Make bracelets with them to distribute to family and friends.
Have a journaling session together. This can be a great time to write about each other’s positives, negatives, and improvements you want to see in each other. Here are some mother-daughter journal prompts to start with.
Stargaze. This is one of our favorite activities to do with my daughters. We like looking at the stars and planets, and figuring out which is which by looking through the stargazing app.
Go through old photos and videos. Show your childhood photos to them and tell stories from your childhood.
Paint a picture together
Try a new cuisine. Their taste buds change every day, and hence introducing new foods is a good idea to get accustomed to different ingredients in food.
Build a fairy garden together
Attend a cake decorating class and try it at home for parties

mother and tween daughter baking together - mother daughter activity idea

Best Mother-Daughter activities to do with Teens

Have a day trip to the mall. Teenage daughters can be your best friends, as they are older in age now, they can understand and help with your taste in fashion or food. A day trip to the mall can be a much-needed therapy for both of you doing some shopping and eating food.
Redecorate a room. This can be a great way to spend time with your daughter. Paint a wall, hang some home decor, add new curtains, hang a painting of your daughter’s, buy a mesh board and add some posters or quotes on them, and transform a room into a positive and vibrant space. Doing such a makeover is a great way to spend time with your daughter and gives a fresh start.
Binge-watch TV shows. Now that your daughter is grown up and can watch some of the adult stuff, watch good shows that are age-appropriate for her.
Crochet a scarf together. If you are into knitting or crocheting, teach her some of the knots and stitches and let her help you. You can easily find Youtube tutorials for different projects. Start one project together, and you can make scarves for both of you and gift it to each other. And walk around twinning. What say?
Spend time gardening. If you love gardening and if she is interested, you can share your love for it with her. Gardening is a great way to spend time together and is beneficial for physical and mental health.
Go on a shopping spree and let your daughter pick out an outfit for you and vice versa
Attend a music festival together
Take a mother-daughter one-day trip to a new city
Create a vision board together with your goals and aspirations. This can be fun as well as inspiring activity.
Take a dance class together. If you can’t do that, play some music and have a dance session at home.
Create a scrapbook or photo album of your memories together like in the olden times. Most people don’t use photo albums anymore. But personally, I think it’s a better way to look at past memories than looking at digital photos.
Print some favorite pictures of you both together, and hang them on a wall, making a photo collage.
Go to the countryside. Taking a trip to the countryside can be relaxing for the mind. Devour all the greenery and try doing local activities or having local food.
Go fishing
Stay up past your bedtime and have a late-night talk after all the lights are out. This is a time when your daughter can tell things that usually don’t say. You don’t need to force them, but start by talking about something and she might open her heart out.
Look up some Youtube tutorials and give your daughter a makeover and let her do the same with you
Do each other’s hair
Buy fruits or veggies from farmer’s markets or local farms and make a batch of jams or pickles with her.
Make a batch of homemade sauces with her. Your daughter can help with washing the veggies, cutting them, and packing them into bottles. This will teach them awareness about chemicals present in store-bought products and encourage them to use homemade ones in the future.
Have a drive-in cinema date
Do bottle art together
Go on a dinner date. Who said dinner dates are for couples only? Mom and daughter can have it too.
Go for a staycation
Try making DIY beauty products
Drive go-karts
Have a karaoke night

Mother and teen daughter at a beach spending quality time together

FINAL WORDS

I hope you have enough ideas to spend quality time as a mother-daughter duo.

If we can make time for some activities every week, if not every day, we can work to create a strong and unbreakable bond with our daughters. Because doing these activities require effort and presence and I don’t think there is anything better a child can ask for, than a present mom (or dad).

A lot of relationship issues between parents and children happen because we don’t spend enough quality time with each other. Well, now you (or I) can’t say we have no idea what activities to do with kids, right?

That being said, many of the activities mentioned above are gender-neutral and you can try them with your sons too.

Wanna save the ideas? Pin it to your parenting board on Pinterest!