How to Maintain Structure and Stimulation Throughout Summer Break: 3 Practical Ideas
School is out for the summer, and you are ready to have some fun!
However, all of the extra hours spent at home with your kids can quickly lead to boredom and unwanted behaviors. Your child’s environment and schedule have changed overnight, and this can be triggering for many children.
So how do you start off the summer on the right foot and manage to keep everyone happy all summer long? I’ve got three practical tips for you!
School is out for the summer, and you are ready to have some fun!
However, all of the extra hours spent at home with your kids can quickly lead to boredom and unwanted behaviors. Your child’s environment and schedule have changed overnight, and this can be triggering for many children.
So how do you start off the summer on the right foot and manage to keep everyone happy all summer long? I’ve got three practical tips for you!
Create a Schedule as a Family
Before summer starts, sit down as a family and set expectations for the summer. Ask your children what they are interested in doing and what events they have scheduled throughout the summer. Let them know what you have planned for the family to do. Communication is key to success here.
Then, outline what a typical day will look like. When will everyone wake up? When will meals be served? What activities will fill all the time in between?
Try to include time for:
Reading - Encourage your children to read fun and educational books. Challenge them to read about a new interest or in a new genre.
Creative Expression - Not all children enjoy arts and crafts to the same extent, but creativity is a valuable skill that needs to be practiced.(1) If you do structured craft activities, try to incorporate your child’s interests into the project to get them more excited about it.
Educational activities - This does not necessarily have to be worksheets! Younger children could practice writing letters with a stick in the dirt outside. Older children could practice counting the change you spend at the restaurant. Opportunities for learning are everywhere!
Chores - Make them age-appropriate and consistent to involve your child in the upkeep of their room and home throughout the summer.
Physical exercise(2) - Hopefully, some of this physical exercise can happen outdoors. If the weather where you live does not allow for this, look for gross motor activities they can do at home or search your local area for indoor playgrounds or gyms.
Rest or a nap - Depending on the age of your child, make sure that they are getting enough sleep. Even if they are too old for a nap, try to encourage them to have quiet time each day. This gives them a chance to rest and recharge.
If possible, make it visual. Children do better with transitions and expectations if they can visually see what is expected of them.(3)
Some ideas for a visual include repurposing an old clock to show what activities correspond with each hour of the day. Or you can make a chart that has a box for each activity with the time that it starts and ends.
Try involving your child in the making of this visual aid. If they are younger, they could simply color in the boxes or draw a few doodles in one corner. If they’re a bit older, they could help write the labels or figure out how long will be needed for each activity.
The more involved and included your children feel in making the schedule, the more likely they are to be more willing participants in it.
Stick to Regular Times for Meals and Bed
It’s easy to let all the fun activities and adventures of summer throw off the timing of meals and bed.
While this is fine to do sometimes, it’s best to not make it a regular occurrence. A hungry or tired child can be cranky and irritable; exactly the opposite of what you want on your summer adventures.
When your family is at home, have a set time that everyone wakes up and a set time for bed. Even if your child is awake before that time, let them know that they need to stay in their room and do something quiet. This allows everyone in your home the opportunity to get the sleep they need.(4)
Having set times each day for meals serves two purposes. It helps your child not get overly hungry, but it also prevents excessive snacking. We still want our kids to eat nutritious, well-balanced meals, even when they have access to the kitchen all day long.
Children are used to having a set time to eat at school. Their little bodies will benefit from continued regularity in their eating schedule.
Remember that your schedule does not have to hold your family back from having fun experiences and visiting exciting places even if these adventures can’t logistically fit exactly into your schedule. That’s okay!
If your child’s schedule is going to be thrown off, prepare for it ahead of time. If dinner is going to be served late, bring some snacks along. If bedtime is going to be pushed back an hour, plan for extra rest time the next day.
Get Out and About!
Getting out of the house and exploring can be fun no matter the age of your children! It also gives them the chance to continue to learn through the summer.
Great places to visit could be the zoo or aquarium to learn about animals. You could also visit your local parks so your children can work on their gross motor skills and get some much-needed physical exercise. Wilderness camps or clubs can also be a fun outlet for exercise and to give your child a place for social interaction.
Visit your local library often to keep your kids reading throughout the summer months. Consider encouraging your children to complete a reading challenge like reading 20 books over the summer or reading one book from each major genre. Ask your local librarian if there are story times or reading clubs that your children can participate in.
These are just a few ideas that you and your children might find fun to do together. Check your local newspaper or online to see what other events may be uniquely offered in your community.
Summer should be a time for fun and bonding with our children. With the right structure and expectations in place, this summer will be one your family will never forget!
For more tips on parenting and childhood mental health, subscribe to my newsletter or check out my podcast.
References
https://nido.edu.au/news/why-creative-expression-is-so-important-for-children/
Chaddock-Heyman, L., Hillman, C.H., Cohen, N.J. and Kramer, A.F. (2014), III. THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND AEROBIC FITNESS FOR COGNITIVE CONTROL AND MEMORY IN CHILDREN. Monographs Society Res Child, 79: 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12129
https://classroom.synonym.com/benefits-visual-aids-5040418.html
How To Set Boundaries During School Breaks - 4 Steps to Success
School breaks can be a time that students look forward to for weeks. Maybe it means a vacation or special trip to see family. Maybe they just look forward to getting to sleep in, stay home, and relax.
Sometimes, though, all the extra time spent together can put strain on the relationship between you and your child. Setting healthy boundaries can help keep the break fun and enjoyable for everyone.
If you’re thinking, “I know that setting boundaries would be great, but I just don’t know how to get started.” Don’t worry! I’ve outlined four steps to help you through the process and included four more tips to help make your child’s upcoming school break a success.
School breaks can be a time that students look forward to for weeks. Maybe it means a vacation or special trip to see family. Maybe they just look forward to getting to sleep in, stay home, and relax.
Sometimes, though, all the extra time spent together can put strain on the relationship between you and your child. Setting healthy boundaries can help keep the break fun and enjoyable for everyone.
If you’re thinking, “I know that setting boundaries would be great, but I just don’t know how to get started.” Don’t worry! I’ve outlined four steps to help you through the process and included four more tips to help make your child’s upcoming school break a success.
Acknowledge the Adjustment Period
Before we get into the four steps, it’s important to acknowledge that there will be an adjustment period when your child is home full time instead of at school. The length and intensity to with which this adjustment period is experienced will vary from child to child.
If your child struggles with an anxiety disorder or another mental health issue, they will likely have more difficulty with the change in their routine. To read more tips about raising an anxious child, check out my article here.
For most children, the adjustment period will be quick, or you may not even notice it at all. If your child seems to be quite anxious, though, try to ask questions that help you understand where the anxiety is stemming from. These questions could be, “Are you missing someone or something at school?” or “Is something at home making you feel uncomfortable?”
How to Establish Rules and Boundaries
1. Start the Conversation When Everyone Is Calm and Happy
It is best to have a conversation about rules and boundaries before they are necessary or need to be in place. Children are more likely to see the logic in rules if they are not upset or angry. They will be thinking clearly and can ask any questions they may have. They can also formulate their opinions on the rule and share those thoughts in a more constructive way when they are calm.
2. Explain Expectations and Consequences Thoroughly
Walk through the rules (bonus points if they are written out) and the consequences. Give examples of when the rule would apply. For example, the rule might be that everyone stays in their own room until 7 a.m. Explain that your child may wake up early, and that’s okay, but they need to stay in their room until the designated time. Then give them alternate activities that don’t break the rule. They can read, play quietly, or color in their room instead of coming out into the common areas.
If you have written the rules out, hang them up in a place that they can easily be referred to. When you are redirecting your child’s behavior, it can be helpful to be able to give your child a visual reminder as well as a verbal one.
3. Provide the “Why”
Children are much more likely to follow rules if they understand why the rule is in place. An example using our rule from before would be explaining that we stay in our rooms until 7 a.m. because it allows everyone time to sleep and wake up rested and in a good mood. Another example might be explaining that we don’t run through the house loudly because mom and dad still have work to get done.
4. Follow Through
While it’s not fun to follow through with consequences on a vacation or during fun days at home, it’s important to stick to the rules that you laid out. Remember that addressing a behavior will help to prevent it in the future. If it is not addressed, it may continue to happen and could continue to put a damper on the break.
4 Tips to Help Make Your Time with Your Children During a School Break Fun and Memorable!
1. Develop a Structure or Routine for the Day
Children thrive when they have a schedule and routine. Especially children with ADHD, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorder need structure in order to feel secure and stable.(4)
The schedule does not have to be overly rigid, meaning it doesn’t have to be a minute-by-minute plan. Have a time set to wake up and an order for activities such as outside time and crafts. Plan meals and snacks to be eaten at times similar to when they would be at school. Now, this schedule doesn’t have to be set in stone. Certain days, what you are doing will make it difficult to stay right on schedule. But the closer you stick to the schedule, the easier and quicker it will be for your child to adjust.
2. Plan Activities Ahead of Time
Fun activities are much less stressful for everyone involved if there is a plan. A spontaneous trip to the zoo or to the water park that’s an hour-long drive away can sound daunting to even the most seasoned parent.
Planning out the logistics and who’s responsible for what can make big activities feel more manageable. Time spent planning allows everyone to enjoy the activity more.
3. Prioritize Social Interactions
Your children may miss the everyday interaction they usually have with their peers. Planning out time for them to see their friends or other children their own age can help fill their social needs. If it’s difficult to coordinate with their friends, you could also look for story times at your local library or other activities happening in your community.
4. Seek Out Support
Remember that you don’t have to do it alone! Support may look like enlisting the help of grandparents or paying for a babysitter to come give you a break for a few hours. There’s no shame in needing a bit of time to regroup and take care of yourself.
Did you know that my Genius Little Minds podcast dives into childhood mental health? You can check out the latest episode here.
References