There are few things children look forward to more than time off school. These breaks also give you the chance to spend quality time with your kids, so are a treat for parents too. However, when you get a few weeks into a long break, like the summer holidays, then things can start to turn sour. I’m sure you love your kids, as does any other parent, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that, when they’ve been off school for a while, they can get pretty annoying. Of course, this is just because they’re bored, so to help you avoid this, here are five things you could do to occupy them.
Be Artistic
Arts and crafts are a perfect way to occupy your kids and let their creativity and imagination run wild. If you wanted them to have something to do regularly, then you could come up with some sort of project for them to complete while they’re off school. A scrapbook is a brilliant idea, as it’s fun to create and is a lovely memento for them to keep for when they’re older. This idea also gives them something they can show off to their friends when they go back to school.
Visit Local Landmarks
Whether you live in a big city or tiny village, there will always be some sort of landmark or attraction close by for you to visit. You could take your children to a few of these landmarks throughout the holiday, or make a day of it and pack a picnic. If you give your kids a disposable camera each, they could take their own pictures throughout the day, which they could then stick in their scrapbooks.
Get Sporty
When your kids are at school, they do PE, but how much exercise do they do when they’re at home? Chances are, it isn’t very much. To get your kids away from the TV, you could buy tickets online and take them to a sports game. Hopefully, this will get them interested in sports, so that they want to do it in their free time. This will help them to become a little healthier, develop their social skills, and, of course, is a fun thing to do during school breaks.
Grow Green Fingers
The summer holidays are the perfect time to get your garden in ship shape, so why not enlist the help of your little ones? You could get them their own gardening tool set so that they can help you with the weeding, and you could even let them pick a few flowers, which they could then plant and grow themselves. You could also let them choose a few fruits and vegetables to grow in their own little patch, which, by the end of the summer, they will be able to pick and eat.
When your children are off school for a while, it’s understandable when they get bored, but that doesn’t make it any easier for you to cope with. If you want to keep your children occupied this summer, then consider the ideas mentioned above.