News Desk |
Ever looked back at your childhood and think of all the fun you had as a kid during summer vacations? Be it in any country in the world, kids build memories in this season. They look back at vacations, day trips, picnics and other outings with nostalgia. But that’s not all they’ll remember. They’ll remember the bad (e.g., being bored at home, fights with siblings). Hence, as parents we want to help them make every day in summer something they’ll want to remember.
With summer vacations over, children are in two minds about looking forward to meeting their friends and missing vacation days without having to wake up early. Work-at-home parents, in particular, need ideas for enjoyable summer activities that school-age kids can do on their own. Here are a few that allow you to reinforce your child’s mood in this transitional period while you can get some me-time:
- Porch time
Supervising outdoor play can take time out of your workday. But kids that are suddenly cooped up inside all day after months of freedom, only get rowdier with time. Spending a little outdoor time with them can allow them to blow off some steam and nap later. When they are a little older and nap time is a thing of the past, you may be able to watch from a window while they play outside. So work some of these 5 outdoor activities for kids into your routine.
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- Arts and crafts
Art, much like getting outside, can feel counterproductive to getting things done. It’s messy and requires almost constant supervision. Setting up an art space — with paper, coloring books, glue, scissors, colored pencils, and crayons that are all readily available — will encourage kids to make art part of their daily routine, while making it easier to clean up.
But even if you have an art space, you might have to provide some inspiration in the way of ideas and easy summer craft projects. This helps brings out your child’s creative-self outside of school and institutional environments.
- Board games
Good old-fashioned board games and cards have been proven to be stimulating for all brains, moreover, they can keep kids busy while you work. Of course, for some games, you’ll need to have more than one kid in the house to play (Think play date!).
However, there are some games for one and brainteaser games that can keep one child occupied this summer, and you’d be amazed at how many things a kid can do with a deck of cards! Games for kids, however, let mom work when kids know how to be good sports. Otherwise, you’ll end up as referee.
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- Summer reading
Reading for enjoyment every day is a great habit to teach your kids. And summer — with long days and bulks of energy — is the time to instill the reading bug. Summer reading is an activity that’s good for just one kid.
One can build interest by challenging the child to finish a book a day with rewards at the end. Making a book club type environment also shapes a comfortable environment and makes the child relay reading with mommy bonding time.
- Setting time for audiobooks and podcasts
In this day and age where 80% of the kids survive on long screen times and youtube, audiobooks and podcasts can become far better alternatives! Listening to audiobooks promotes a love of literature while it keeps kids engaged for hours. And it’s just easier for some kids than reading a book.
And while you still want to promote reading, summer is a time for kids to relax too. Today it is easier than ever to download books to a phone, tablet or computer. This will keep your child busy in listening to people talk funny and productive while you can get some chores done!
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- Indulge in working on puzzles
All summer long, have a jigsaw puzzle going somewhere in the house. And keep puzzle books handy. Puzzles keep kids mentally active. Some kids will find this more interesting than others. Don’t expect them to spend hours working on puzzles in a day, that is going to overwhelm them!
But having to come back to an activity every day at a set time will make the child feel responsible for it. Such activities teach children how investing time slowly reap long-term benefits and teach them patience.
While these everyday summer activities may not necessarily seem out of the ordinary or inspire idyllic childhood memories of summer, they will happily fill those long summer days spent at home, now that schools are back open and they feel nostalgic.