Making the Most of Your Supervised Visitation Time

Supervised child visitation is any time with your children that’s court-ordered and occurs under supervision of court-appointed officials, social workers or law enforcement officers.

The presence of supervision during your special time with your child can feel unnatural and make the experience difficult. It can be challenging to deeply connect with your child when there’s an outsider who is carefully listening to your conversations and watching all your interactions. Plus, these visitations often occur in locations outside your home.

However, there are still ways you can have positive time with your child during supervised visitations. Below are some examples of activities that will allow you to get the most from the experience:

• Play games: What kid doesn’t like to play games? There are typically plenty of games and toys available at these visitation locations, but you can also ask ahead of time if you can bring one of your own along. The best part about these games is that it’s easy to be sucked into the action of the game and just have fun, allowing you to forget that a supervisor is present. You can take some time to laugh and enjoy normal interactions, even in an abnormal environment.
• Cook together: If you have the equipment needed to do some simple cooking with your children, you should strongly consider doing so. It’s a positive and constructive activity that makes it easy to bond with your kids. You can make cookies or rice crispy treats together, and then your children can bring them home to enjoy.
• Crafting: Working on a project together can be a great way to teach your children some important skills, while also having some genuine time to share with each other. You could make a birdhouse, a refrigerator magnet, some puppets or a picture frame. Ideally, the item would be something your kids can bring home and can do again if they wish.
• Reading: Reading is another constructive activity that can help kids learn and improve an important skill. It is also a great way for parents to bond with their children.

For further tips and guidance on how to handle supervised visitation time, contact a skilled Long Island family law and divorce lawyer with Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.