Here are some activities that you can do with your children to get both of you talking more. 

If they are too young to help at the stove, have them do simple things as they sit on the counter. My kids love "hatching" eggs.

This could be in the backyard, the dining room table or on the floor by a couch. This doesn’t have to be all day. Take fifteen minutes and focus on them.

Fifteen minutes is enough time for you to clear your head and enough time for them to feel that you focused on them. I have no science behind that, but it seems to work for me. 

It would be difficult to sit together for 15 minutes and not say anything. “Pass the salt,” is a perfect segue into, “Do you know what salt looks like under a microscope?” If you have one look at it after dinner. If you don’t, show them a picture. If you want to explain it to them, it looks like a cube or a six sided dice. 

With the salt, you could take this one step further and discuss that when a rock breaks, it breaks on what is called cleavage lines and all rocks have fundamental structure that is their break line. 

Pinacoidal (or basal), means it only has one breaking plane, like a piece of Graphite found in pencils. That is why it feels slippery when you rub it between your fingers, there are not any jagged edges on it. 

Cubic means it breaks on three sides at 90 degree angles. Like salt. 

There are others as well, here is a link to the wiki to learn more Cleavage (geology) - Wikipedia.

Some kids would prefer art, drawing and building. Others want to dance or sing. Some only want to play sports (could even be extreme sports).

If you have the supplies handy, make a craft that caters to their interests. 

I recently built something to help the garage storage situation. My oldest daughter took all of the odd shaped cut pieces. She asked for a hammer and some nails, and pounded them all together into a wood, rectangle, pyramid, thing.

She is very fond of it. It was creative! I only had to help pound one nail, she managed the rest on her own.

This was something that I observed her doing and supplied the tools so she could achieve what she wanted. She was satisfied and she has something to be proud of.

Enable your children to build, create and explore new things and cultivate new talents.

You just learned something new about salt and you can share it with someone else who may not know. It is a great conversation starter to discuss what you learned with someone. Ask them what their opinion of it is or if they have had experience with it.

When that conversation ends, ask them what they learned today.

Show your children that you are learning, this will give them the expectation that they need to learn too.

Drive in the car for an hour together. Purposefully leave the radio off and take their electronics away. They will ask you at least one question, "Are we there yet?" You can respond with where you are and something cool about it!

Ask yourself this question, when was the last time you smelled the stinky old book smell. You know you miss it.

Head over to the library. Find a book that your kid wants to read. Read it with/to them.

My son recently got a book about helicopters. One picture shows a helicopter rescue of a guy stuck on a roof during a floor. He asked about the "rope", the harness, the helicopter, the flood.

He has looked at the pictures in it about 10 time since he got it. He found one that interests him and he want to ask me questions about what is inside of it.

A visually stimulating book gets a conversation going. If you child is older, encourage them to pick a book that is a fantasy and fiction that interests them.

It could be at the theatre if you can afford it. If not, have your child pick a movie on your favorite streaming service. Make some popcorn and say the lines to each other later. 

We got rid of our TV years ago and bought a cheap (less than $100) projector. We set it up every now and again to watch a movie at home.

It is a way bigger screen than that 60 inch and it really does feel like a movie, except for the computer speakers and the windows and it doesn't work that great if the suns out. We really can only watch movies on them after dark. More time to do other things!!