The school break is a time for relaxation, recovery, and the energy to re-cooperative, but it can also feel like a burden of responsibility and a costly nightmare if you’re not sure how you’d like to spend the next 6 weeks with your child.
If you think of the next 6 weeks as a trial to endure, it will indeed feel like a trial because you get what you put your mind to, but if you take a little time and make a little change in perspective, I’ll enjoy it so much more.
School holidays are a wonderful opportunity to make memories that will last a lifetime with your children, so think about what you would like them to say 10 years from now and how you would like this moment to be remembered.
Keep the fun simple: play cricket in the garden, make your own ice lollies, and spend just half an hour with your kids and watch all your relationships blossom.
Here are some practical tips to keep you positive, optimistic and raring to go!
Plan ahead. It’s a good idea to look at your school, town hall or sports center to see what activities and clubs they offer. If you’re a working mom, ask your local group of friends if you can do a one-day exchange, or ask grandparents, other family members, students looking for a vacation job, or babysitters if you They will take care of your children while you are at work. Another suggestion is to ask to see if you can work from home or change your schedule just for summer vacation. Being flexible and planning ahead is the key to a stress-free summer.
Make a chart or fill in the journal on the wall with fun days and quiet days so your kids know the plan for the week and stop complaining “What are we going to do today?”
Be creative. Think of some fun activities that are cheap and easy to do at home. Bake a cake, teach your 15-year-old son to cook spaghetti bolognese so he never goes hungry, have a picnic under a tree in his garden, ride bikes together, walk the dog, look for fairies under rocks or try some of these
digging for treasure
Your kids can pan for silver and gold in their own backyard with this summer sand activity.
CRAFTING MATERIALS:
20 gold so little rocks
1 teaspoon silver and gold acrylic paint
wax paper
Time needed: less than 1 hour
1. To set it up, first place about 20 small stones and 1 teaspoon of silver acrylic paint in an airtight container. Shake the container to coat the rocks, then place them on waxed paper to dry.
2. Next, rinse out the container, add another batch of rocks plus 1 teaspoon of gold acrylic paint, and repeat the process.
3. After the rocks have completely dried, bury them in your sandbox and send the kids out with toy shovels and sieves to find the treasure.
Game of four squares for children from 9 to 12 years old.
A touch and a bounce keep you on this barrage.
WHAT DO YOU NEED:
pavement or path
whiteboard
Ball
HOW TO PLAY:
1. Draw a 6- to 10-foot square on a paved surface, such as a driveway.
2. Divide the largest square into four smaller squares, number the squares 1-4, and have each child stand on a block.
3. The player in box 4 serves the ball by bouncing it in his box and hitting the ball in another box.
4. The player in that space must tag the ball (after a bounce) in another child’s area, and so on, until someone misses the ball, lets the ball bounce twice, or sends it out of the grid.
5. The player who loses the ball goes out and the remaining players rotate up through the numbered squares. If you are playing with more than four players, a new player enters the game at box 1. The player outside waits in line to re-enter the game once box 1 is open again.
6. Whoever is now in box 4 serves the ball to resume play.
Set a personal goal. Perhaps your child would like to swim a lap, run in a local charity race, help do the local shopping, or get the newspaper for an elderly neighbor, or make a collage of their vacation photos, or work on the hospital radio. local for experience. ? Just let your child’s imagination daydream for a few moments and see what comes to mind; she will keep him motivated and busy. Maybe you could do the same!
Delegate. Involve kids in the housework as it teaches them responsibility so have your 15 year old mow the lawn or your 8 year old set the table or your toddler put away their own toys.
Be playful and relax! Enjoy this special time with your children and jump on the trampoline or bouncy castle, paint a rainbow or watch “Shrek” again and be more childlike in your approach to life. It will put a spring in your step and you will laugh and laugh more, which is really good for you!
Go outside more. Read in the sun, let kids play with leaves, mud and water, paint water pictures with brushes and water so the pictures dry quickly without making a mess, get a sandbox, let them water the plants with watering cans, make perfume of rose petals, grow sunflowers from seeds, have them practice their golf by putting them in a hoop or simply invite friends over to make up games.
Chill out. Being more flexible in their routines and in their waking or bedtime, being attentive but more flexible in television time or computer time. Have the strange gift to eat.
It’s a time to recharge, break the rules, and have more fun, so kick back, relax, and enjoy!
Sue Atkins is a parenting coach and author. She has written many books on self-esteem, toddlers, and teens and has a collection of easy parenting toolkits available on her website. To learn more about her work and receive her free monthly newsletter packed with tips and helpful advice for raising happy, self-confident, well-balanced children, from toddlers to teens, visit => http:/www.positive -parents. com
