As schools close for the summer break, parents start looking for various ways to keep children engaged at home. Considering their developing minds, summer vacation should be considered a time full of opportunities to learn and explore new things. Here is a list of interesting & exciting things which your child would love to do this Summer Break:
Play Indoor Games
Nowadays, children spend their time indoors watching television or playing video games which in turn may cause physical and psychological problems among them. It is very important to engage them effectively and creatively and what’s a better way than enjoying some good, old indoor games. Take out those chess and carrom boards and be ready to have tremendous fun! Board games like Monopoly, Life, etc. are a good option too.
Fall in Love with Reading
Summer break is the perfect time to cultivate new hobbies and interests. Children have that amount of time on their hands. Having a hobby is a great way to relieve stress and nothing can be more relaxing than reading a good book.
Reading plays an important part in a child’s education and in preparing them for life. It helps children to develop emotionally, socially, intellectually and culturally. Make sure to take your child to a library where children can be surrounded by books and get exposure to various genres and topics. There are also book reading events organised by various libraries, you can check them out as well.
Experience Nature
Nature affects children’s development in a holistic way – intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically. However, in today’s fast-paced Internet world, children, especially in urban settings, have limited opportunities to connect with nature and the natural environment.
It’s important to make children bond with nature and a nature walk or a nature camp can be the perfect way to bring them closer to Mother Nature. It will also make them feel responsible towards their environment. Children not only feel relaxed but they also get to explore and learn more about nature and can indulge in nature photography & bird watching as well. So, this summer vacation let’s all bring our next generation closer to nature!
Indulge in Cooking & other Household Activities
Summer vacations are often synonymous with fun, summer camps and family holidays. This period is also an excellent opportunity to inculcate various positive habits in your child like making their bed in the morning, cleaning up after eating, etc. This summer, parents can go for something completely unique but useful. Let the little ones don the chef hat and develop some cooking skills.
It’s a basic life skill, being comfortable enough in the kitchen to convert a few ingredients into a simple meal. It will also be an effective way to bond with your child. Find some age-appropriate recipes and engage your children in the kitchen.
Enjoy Outdoor Sports
In the hot summer weather, it’s understandable that everyone is reluctant to go outside. However, holidays are the best time for children to learn new sports, so parents should try to take children out during the evenings. Whether team-based or individual, sports can build confidence, self-esteem, and teamwork amongst children. Playing sports ensures an active lifestyle and also develops discipline and commitment.
Nowadays, there are many sports clubs and camps where parents can enrol their children. They will be exposed to various games and sports and then eventually will develop a keen interest in any one of them.
Plan local visits
Planning a day out with the family can be a perfect way to relax and strengthen relationships. A visit to the local museum, planetarium or zoo can be educational as well as entertaining for children and their curious minds. Children will definitely enjoy learning more about the arts, history, zoology and even the astronomy. Parents can select an age-appropriate place to visit in their city and plan a visit. It would be better to keep children’s interests in mind as well. They can visit as many places as possible. Children will cherish these memories forever.
Engage in Interesting Hands-on Activities
Children are naturally attracted to hands-on activities like making family trees, scrapbooks, drawing cartoons, thumb printing, fingerprinting, etc. In fact, you can also join them and create quality family time as well. And your little ones will also develop social, emotional and cognitive skills. The online world is full of such resources and you can easily try them out at home. Most importantly, children will not waste their time in front of the TV or playing video games.
Parents can enrol their children in Summer Camps as well. In these Summer Camps, children get exposed to several age-appropriate activities which include can include dance, swimming, theatre, yoga, art and craft.
