The end of the year brings the start of summer in the southern hemisphere and a time for your children to enjoy clear weather with bright days, blue skies and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. However, the school holidays also bring downtime that presents new challenges in keeping your child active and engaged.
One of the primary pitfalls of the summer holidays for your child is their difficulty keeping themselves busy. Without school and after-school schedules, they risk falling into a pattern of sedentary or mindless behaviour. But there is a way to prevent this behaviour before it gets too bad. Here’s how to get your little ones active and creative this summer.
Creative Brain Work
Don’t allow the summer to be an excuse for your kids to shut their brains off. Instead -leisure time is necessary- consider the numerous ways to incorporate some brainwork during the summer, including:
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- Cooking: Kitchen time can be an opportunity for your kids to develop better eating habits, explore various cuisines and enhance their basic listening skills.
- Healthy Screen Time: There are numerous ways to get your children moving while incorporating screen time. Some examples include active video games and movie charades. For example, you can make rainy days active by hosting an indoor scavenger hunt that calls for using mobile phones to debunk “clues” and photographing finds.
- Household Helper: Consider the summer downtime an opportune time to teach your children new household responsibilities. You can assign them different chores based on their ages.
- Journaling: Health experts say that expressive writing benefits people of all ages’ mental, emotional and physical well-being. Therefore, encouraging children to keep a journal or write regularly may help them better process negative and positive feelings or thoughts. They also help improve verbal and written communication skills.
Make a Summer Bucket List
Maintaining your children’s physical aptitude in the summer is just as essential as boosting their mental acuity. So, to begin, try talking to neighbours and friends, or do some research to find fun summer activities they would enjoy. From there, you can make selecting an activity or event a fun game that allows them to enjoy the surprise of picking one. For example, write each option on a popsicle stick and pull one from a mason jar whenever you are looking for an adventure.
Some of the activities to explore include:
- Local Events: Local businesses, pools and parks often host family-friendly events throughout the summer. They typically post these activities on websites, posters, flyers and social media advertisements.
- Volunteering: Encourage your kids to become more involved in the community by exploring local charity organisations. These institutions provide opportunities for you and your children to give back while offering an excellent learning experience.
- Clubs, Classes and Camps: Consider enrolling them in summer activities that span over an extended period. Signing them up for things like gymnastics, martial arts training, boxing, dance, and crafts helps your kids get a break from the house and presents an opportunity to improve social skills, discover new interests, encourage teamwork and boost self-confidence.
Remember that youth clubs are one of the most convenient venues around. They are a one-stop centre for a wide range of supervised and unsupervised activities in which you can enroll your children during the summer holidays. So, take advantage of your local club today.
Interesting Related Article: “5 Fun-learning Ideas for Kids“