Relationship building: 7 tips to build a healthy relationship

Every relationship comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Our goal is to inspire you with activities that help you celebrate your strengths and grow in your weak spots together. That’s why we’ve created this list of seven things you’ve probably never thought to do when it comes to relationship building!

The 5 Essentials to Relationship Building

Before we begin with our list, here are five foundational components to consider for healthy relationship building:

Communication
Trust
Support
Respect
Honesty

Couple sharing a laugh with the girl laying on the kitchen counter and the guy holding her down

These five components are key to strong relationship building. That’s why our list of activities incorporate these five essentials so your relationship building can be taken to the next level. Ready to begin building? Here’s our list!

#1 - Go to an Amusement Park or Carnival

With all of the busyness of life going on around you, this might just be one of the best things you can do to help your relationship grow. They say laughter is the best medicine and we say time well spent together is the best foundation. Mix these two together and you’ve got the perfect recipe for relationship building.

Pick a time to get away and head to a theme park to ride some exciting roller coasters and simply spend the day having fun together. While you’re there, enjoy all of the attractions and entertainment the park has to offer.

Couple having a fun time while riding the teacup ride in a carnival

If an amusement park is not your style, going to a carnival is the perfect option. Be sure to enjoy all of the food vendors, games of chance, and performances that come with a carnival.

Whether it's heading to an amusement park for a day of rollercoaster rides and sweet candy or visiting a carnival to make memories that last a lifetime, the option you choose should be one that encourages time well spent connecting together and plenty of laughter and fun!

#2 - Face a Fear Together

While this might not seem like the activity you’d look for when it comes to relationship building, doing something that scares you can create the perfect opportunity to grow in honesty with one another.

Facing a fear together opens up communication and helps you to develop a deeper level of trust. Whether it’s a fear of heights, swimming in the ocean, or flying in an airplane, facing a fear together will help you in your relationship building.

Relationship Building: 7 Things You've Probably Never Thought to Do. Surfer couple strolls by the beach.

After you’ve faced a fear together, take time to create a safe space for each other to share your perspective on the experience and give each other the opportunity to open up. This relationship building activity is a great opportunity to develop trust and grow in honesty with one another.

#3 - Start a New Tradition Together

Starting a new tradition is down-right exciting and fun! Discover one thing you both enjoy doing together and make it your own. Your new tradition should look like supporting each other with time, effort, and the energy it takes to keep your tradition going strong. Starting a new tradition builds into your relationship and is a great investment.

This can look like visiting a familiar spot every other week, regularly taking a trip, or making a local food establishment your new favorite. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the tradition is, what matters is that you are investing time together in something only you share.

Couple at a restaurant trying out new food and starting new traditions to strengthen their relationship

#4 - Volunteer Together

Serving together will teach you how to respect others, respect yourselves, and give you a chance to see each other in action! By investing in your values together, you’ll be getting to know one another in a new way. Is there a particular cause you are passionate about? Look for a way to contribute towards that together!

If you need ideas, you can volunteer at a local nursing home, animal shelter, red cross, crisis center or community clean-up event. Whatever charity you choose, volunteering is a great way to support others and grow in respect towards one another.

Discover a cause you both believe in and pick a time and day to go!

#5 - Write a Letter to Each Other

This thoughtful relationship building activity is a great way to support and encourage each other. Take some time, don’t tell your partner, and go overboard with compliments in a letter. Write out all the little things you love about them. Let them know that you believe in them and just how awesome you think they are!

Couple in a warm embrace with a blanket draped over their legs as they sit by the fire

Once you’ve finished writing, you can give it to them and explain what you’ve done, or you could slip it somewhere for them to find as a surprise. Either way, this is going to build security and joy in your relationship by helping your partner to feel so loved!

For more thoughtful ideas on how to encourage and support each other, check out our Friend’s Edition Scratch-Off Adventure Book and Couple’s Edition Scratch-Off Adventure Book.

#6 - Take a Dance Class Together

Take time to step outside of your normal routine and have fun with this relationship building activity! Taking a dance class together is a sure way to increase your connection.

Couple smiles at each other hand-in-hand while waltzing in the living room

Trying new things and breaking out of familiar routines is a great way to inspire relationship building. Dance has the added benefit of being a way to connect physically. Taking a dance class together gives you time to connect and the chance to learn how to communicate with each other in a new way. Let your bodies do the talking as you two share a romantic evening smiling and spinning across the floor together.

#7 - Do a Ropes Course Together

If you want to establish or grow in trust, this relationship building activity is a guaranteed win! Along with trust, a ropes course focuses on strengthening two of the five fundamental components to relationship building: communication and support.

Growing in Communication

Any good relationship requires good communication. Walking the ropes gives you plenty of opportunities to communicate with each other in a healthy way. Because of the exciting challenges constantly being presented to you hundreds of feet in the air, completing a ropes course together should help you learn how to ask for help and listen to one another.

Couple that are about to go an a rope course adventure smiles and holds up peace signs

Growing in Giving Support

Learning to offer support in a ropes course is a great way to introduce this foundational relationship building component into your relationship.

You’ll get to celebrate each other’s strengths and cover each other's weaknesses while you’re moving high up off the ground. Growing in support together can look like assuring one another that they’re doing a great job or simply offering a steady hand in times of uncertainty and fear.

Growing in Trust

Growing in trust as you move from rope to rope together is a sure way to build up your relationship. Figuring out different ways to complete a course requires stepping outside of your comfort zone and supporting each other’s choices. Completing a ropes course together encourages quick problem solving skills and develops trust in a unique and fun way.