Summer vacations are now a two-month affair in most schools. With working parents becoming a practice and nuclear families becoming the trend, children spend quality span of almost two months of summer vacation in front of the television or with the cell phones. Games and cartoon become their all hour pass time while the nannies remain relaxed that the children are safe. Parents rely on the nannies, pay the latter bomb to take care of their children forgetting what their child misses out on. Almost two months of summer vacation can be well spent by a kid to learn new activities and explore what is unknown to them. So, how do parents ensure that their children are spending the best time during summer vacation?
Here are UrbanPro experts listing 25 healthy ways how parents can plan summer vacation for their children. Spending summer vacation in the suggested 25 ways will help the child to learn new and also spend the vacations in a fun filled manner:
Trips to mother nature
It’s common for Indian families to plan a trip during summer vacation. Parents, try to pick a place that stands out from your child’s usual environment. If you belong to the busy city life, how about escaping to the hills? If you belong to a sea city, then how about trip to the valleys? Ideally, parents should decide such a place to visit during summer vacation that is new in the child’s experience and adds learning values during the course of the trip.
Trips to the grannies and relatives
Due to increase in the number of nuclear families, children these days do not experience the caring company of grandparents or relatives. So, take time out during the summer vacation and travel to the natives. This will bring a change in the child’s usual company and they will also get a scope to know people who belong close to the family.
Revision of studies
Summer vacation is the time right after getting promoted to the new class. If parents think, in the previous class their child was lagging in any specific subject or in performing over all, summer vacation is a good time to make up. Though studies might make it boring for the children, but in this long tenure parents can ensure that their child copes up where they lag behind academically.
Sibling or cousin time
Let your child learn about the family more during summer vacation. Take them to visit their cousins or you can call the cousins to your place. With busy life of the urban parents, children should not be deprived of the company of children that they enjoy the most. While planning summer vacation trips, parents can invite the cousin’s family and plan a good reunion as well.
Practice sports
The daily hectic schedule of children deprives them of sports and games. Let summer be the time when your child goes out to the park and runs with other children. Or maybe, splash some water in the pool and learn few swimming strokes. Just ensure in case of sports, they practice it at right times of the day and do not fall sick by going out directly under the sun.
Join a co-curricular activity
It can be dance, drama, music or a musical instrument. Let your child spend time during the summer vacation doing what they want to. Ask your child what interests them and you can send them to that school or hire a tutor at home. However, for this you should genuinely pick what interests your child and not impose what you want your child to do.
Pamper the chef in the child
Use the time of summer vacation to let your child learn some cooking. Of course, the non fire ones like a juice or a without bake cake. However, when your child spends time in the kitchen an adult should be around to ensure that they are safe and also help them while cooking. Learning to cook will make your child self-dependent from a young age.
Go green with gardening
Busy lifestyle of children does not allow them to spend time with mother nature. So, during summer how about teaching your child how to plant a tree or grow a flower in the balcony. While this will add to your child’s growing up days; it will also benefit the environment.
Attend summer camps
One of the most common and popular ways to spend the summer vacation is of course, the summer camp. Parents should pick summer camps that include healthy activities for the children and is close to home. If your child is little matured, you can also send them for tour based summer camp. However, while picking summer camp you should be well aware about the program involved and the authority conducting the summer camp.
Practice art, craft and stitching work
If you want your child to remain indoor during summer camp, then art and craft is an engaging work for them. You can also teach them the basics of stitching so that they do not panic when the button of their school uniform comes out. For art and craft, you can guide the child or hire a tutor.
Register for part time courses
Many summer holiday based courses of baking, computer, dance and so many more are conducted between the months of March to June. Register your child in one of these courses and you can make the summer vacation a learning time for them. Try picking a course that suits your child’s persona.
Try and earn pocket money
This is for children in the intermediate category. During summer vacation, encourage your child to earn pocket money by doing simple household chores or by teaching their younger siblings. This will make the children learn the value of money and parents should see that they spend the money they earn in the right way.
Opt for an educational vacation
As mentioned earlier, Indian families do plan holidays during summer. How about making the summer vacation trip an educational one by selecting a destination that has in store ample resources for your child to learn. You can pick places of historical importance or those with many tourist spots. Picking places what your child learnt in books also helps.
Explore the native
Busy city life does not let children to enjoy the life in a village or outskirts. So, take your child out during summer vacation to the natives and let them enjoy joyful things like fishing or swimming in the pond, cooking in mud stoves and so on. These trips can be really short but a healthy learning procedure for your child.
Bring in a pet
Children are often fond of pet animals but are not allowed to bring in the house due to their hectic schedule in school. Parents, you can allow your child to get a pet of their preference to home during summer vacation. It can be a puppy, kitten, fish, rabbit or bird – as your family wants. In the prolong summer vacation span children can spend a good time with the new member of the family.
Help in the household
Let your child do household chores during the summer vacation. This is not to help the elders finish the household work. This is to make your child self-reliable and also learn what necessarily needs to be done in the house. Of course, you should assign the children work that are light and of their abilities.
Ride the cycle
Learning driving is definitely important in life. The first step to that is to know cycling. Let your child learn cycling well during the summer vacation days. Either take them out for a cycle ride early in the morning or after sunset. Cycling during noon can effect their health. Also, when your child goes cycling how about brushing your skills for the same and recalling childhood days?
Involve in the internet
All houses have internet connection and the children use it only to download games. Let your child explore most of the internet during their summer vacation days. During summer vacation children can read good and productive pieces in the internet and also, contribute by writing blogs and articles. Though this would require help from parents and elders, but this is an easy yet prospective way of spending time during summer vacation.
Love the library around
Send your child to the local library or make their own library at home. In both the cases, the child at first place needs to love books and also parents should ensure that the child is served books of their age and genre. Reading books is, of course, a traditional yet sober way to spend time for children during summer vacation.
Wear the geek glasses
Wearing the geek glass, your child can read books and also watch films. If parents are fond of movies, the same can continue in case of the children who should be encouraged to watch films of their kinds during summer vacation. Many children films come during summer vacation for which they can be taken to the theaters or the old ones can be played at home with some popcorn, chips, pizza, and juice.
Hunt history
While living the present and preparing for the future, children are often deprived to learn what happened before times. So let your child dig into the details of history this summer vacation by reading books, watching videos or asking elders. This also helps them to participate in history classes when school reopens.
Participate in contests
Often, contests and competitions are held for children in malls, local institutes and so on. If parents are aware of any such happening, do let your child participate in these during the summer vacation. It’s not to check how ahead your child stands from others, but to build the competitive nature in your child.
Gain general knowledge
Let your child’s general knowledge (GK) boost up during the summer vacation days. Don’t make it a boring process by fixing time bound schedules to study GK. Make it interesting by letting them learn GK in innovative methods like videos, voice overs and so on. You can also check GK of your child by allowing them to take part in quiz.
Save time for Social Work
Let your child learn the realities of the world during summer vacation. Take them to an old age home or to an orphanage to spend time with the needies. Get them goodies that your child can distribute in the organizations and this is, of course, one of the most productive ways of spending time during summer vacation.
Get set for school
Lastly, summer vacation is ultimately for two months and is sure to come to an end. Let your child sleep, eat and have fun in their own way during the summer vacation. Finally, they have to get back to school and the little ones deserve some fun before they get back to school.
