Well, as a mom who is raising 4 teenagers currently, and has plenty of summers under my belt taking care of my kids when they were toddlers, then preschoolers, adolescents, and now high schoolers....I would now like to pass down my thoughts and ideas on the matter of what to do with summer.
1. Make a structured schedule for the day and week, and don't be afraid to stick to it. Kids thrive on structure (if you don't already know this), and while they might like the idea of just being lazy and "chilling out" for the first few days after school's out.....that won't last for long. They really do want something to do, or they won't be motivated to get out of bed.
2. Take a road trip to A.C. Moore's or Michael's or Walmart and get an ample supply of craft resources, making sure that they are age-appropriate. I don't care if you think your kid is artistically talented or not: ALL kids love to do crafts of some sort. It enables them to be creative, and feel good about themselves. Buy a variety of paints, paper, velvet posters with markers, bead projects of sorts, play dough...you name it. Craft stores have so many ideas of things kids like to do, and an hour a day doing a craft is something both parents and children will benefit from. Even getting some yarn and an instruction book on how to crochet a small scarf is something they will love to do!
3. Take another weekly trip to your local library. Why? Because you want each child (infant to teen) to take an hour each day for reading (or being read to). Have them pick their chapter book out, or mom, pick out a wide assorted of children's books that you know your kids will enjoy and can read to themselves or be read to. Don't forget to get some that are "puzzle solving" books, like the "I Spy" type that can both entertain them for the hour, and educate them, too.
4. While you're at the library, check out their free video rental section. It was there that I both rented educational videos (i.e., Bill the Science Guy, or Discovery Channel on nature) and "how to" videos. Like, "how to watercolor" was one of my kid's favorite ones to watch, and then try out firsthand. All four did two watercolor pictures that day demonstrating what they learned from watching the video. Parents, expose your kids to all kinds of mediums, and the variety will be very stimulating for them. It's a way of keeping school going throughout the summer without them even knowing it!
5. If you haven't already done so, or wonder if you should, definetely look into buying a backyard playground. It should be one that the kids can play on now, and grow into , as well. By around age 11 kids will lose interest in them, so buy them early enough that they will basically pay for themselves with the hours of entertainment your children will get from them.. We personally saved up our money for the nice wooden ones that the company will come and assemble for you. They were of excellent quality, provided hours of fun for them, and lasted beyond their years of interest. They even came with a lifetime warranty. The "treehouse" type work great as my kids would even do their homework in them during the spring months and early fall. They make great book reading hideaways, too. Search Amazon.com for outdoor games for kids
6. Do you have little girls? Then tea sets are a must! So are kitchen play sets, too. We bought them play sets such as these before they were one year old, and those sets provided so much entertainment and years of creative playtime for them. They never grew tired of playing with them until around age 8 or 9.
7. Make sure to provide time in each day where you can take the kids outside to a nearby park, playground, community swimming pool, or for walks and bike rides. For some reason, when I was growing up, no one needed to "tell" me to go outside. We all just naturally wanted to! But now, kids need to be told to spend part of their day doing something of recreation or sport. So parents, invest in some inexpensive outdoor games (Wallmart and Amazon.com are great resources for that) and kiddie pools, so your kids can enjoy the outdoors and get a change of scenery! And anytime you can take them out to the park, that's even better. Your children will enjoy not being in their own home and yard 24-7. SW Express Geyser Blast Sprinkler
8. Include one hour a day where it's just "doodle hour" as we called it. There wasn't allowed to be any TV, music, or computer games on, just silence where you had to spend the hour "doodling." That might have been reading silently, sewing, painting, coloring, drawing, writing in a journal, writing a letter, looking at a magazine, or just plain resting. But that was to be strictly a quiet hour, and no playing.
9. Lastly, include board games, too. It can be hot outside depending on where you live, so indoor games can be just as much fun. Take the summer to learn new card games, or buy some fun new board games you haven't played before. Want to make it educational? If you go to a Teacher Store in your community, there are always fun games for kids to play that will enhance their math skills, or geography, but keep it fun for the summer. "24" is one such card game that all my kids have enjoyed competing with each other on.....and it helped them not to have their math skills rust on them over the long vacation. Search Amazon.com for board games
Recap: 1. One hour of outdoor recreation
2. One hour of craft time
3. One hour of reading time
4. One hour of creative videos
5. One hour of indoor game time
6. One hour of downtime to doodle
And before you know it, 6 hours of the day your kids have spent doing something worthwhile and structured. The rest of the day can be free to do as they wish.! Keep the summer structured and parents, you and your kids will be happier for it!
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