Summer holidays can be a stressful time because the kids are home from school and there may not be a lot to do to keep them busy. You want to make every day an exciting venture so that the days don't run together and become one long challenge.
The key to a fun summer is Plan and Organize
Here are some tips on how to organize your time and make the summer a fun time for both you and your children.
- List all the things that you can do with your children that don't require going away or costing a lot of money such as going to the park, playing in the yard, going to the library.
- List all the things that need to be done during the day such as naps, snacks, exercise.
- Plan out your day so that certain things are done during certain times only. For example, going to the park can be a daily event scheduled for a specific time period. This gives the children something to look forward to, and can also be a disciplinary tool to keep the children in line. Ie: bad behaviour could mean not going to the park.
- Schedule your meals and snacks so that the children can get on a schedule and prevent you from preparing food endlessly throughout the day. This keeps their bodies in a healthy eating pattern, making healthy, happy children.
- Schedule a naptime for those who require naps. If you have other children that don't require naps, schedule this quiet time as a reading time. This allows them to keep up their reading skills in preparation of returning to school in the fall, and gives them opportunity to sit quiet and read without being disturbed by the younger ones.
- Include a physical activity, usually in the morning because this way they'll be ready for their early afternoon nap and/or quiet time. This activity could be playing in the backyard, going for a walk around the block or to the library, or playing in a kiddie pool or the family pool.
- Schedule the time when your children should get up in the morning. Don't let them sleep in late just because there is no school. They need to be on a schedule to be happy. Give them their breakfast or help them to prepare their own.
- School aged children are old enough to do chores so encourage them to make their bed in the morning and to tidy up when they are finished playing with their toys and games.
- Plan their bedtime with a specific ritual such as bathing at a certain time, bedtime snack, reading to them and saying their prayers. Children adapt very easy to schedules and this will let them know that their day is ending and allow them to look forward to the next.
- Plan periodic day trips to beaches, parks or amusement centres. Often a single day of fun is all that many young children can handle, even though parents feel that they need to give their children days or weeks of outside events. Young children perform best when they live within their “schedules” and single day trips allow the thrill of that special event without totally upsetting their schedule.
We live in a very technical world so be careful you don't use the television or mechanical game machines as a babysitter. It could be one of your scheduled options but the bulk of their time should be doing physical activities and using their minds to be creative.
But mostly, it's an opportunity for them to spend time with you in a planned and organized setting.
