All your kids, trapped in your home for the entire Summer, yelling at you about how bored they are… We’ve all been there. Not every day is tough, but there are always dry patches when friends aren’t around, nothing on TV seems to be entertaining and they’re simply getting on your nerves.
Keeping your kids stimulated for an entire Summer isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either. For the most part, they can usually keep themselves busy and entertained on a day-to-day basis, but every now and then they’re going to need a little push in the right direction.
Here’s a list of a few ideas on how to keep them entertained on those days when you’re at your wit’s end.
Keeping Your Kids Entertained This Summer – Have Fun While Learning
Keeping your kids’ minds active while on vacation is important, especially for the younger ones. Summer is a long time to go without classes, learning and the stimulation they get at school, so it’s a good idea to have a few educational activities at the ready to include a few times a week.
Implement some reading time, invest in educational board games, or you could buy some fun summer science experiments to try out together at home.
Keeping Your Kids Entertained This Summer – Get Out in Nature
Sometimes, getting outdoors is all anyone really needs. If your kids have spent a little too much time in front of the television and are starting to go a little bonkers, it might be time to drag them outside.
There are loads of ways you could do this: set up a scavenger hunt for them in the garden, take them out for a picnic, plan a camping trip or even just take a daily walk around the neighborhood together. The sunshine will be good for all of you, and this will be a great way to get them up and moving.
Practice a New Skill or Hobby
Hobbies are a really important part of a child’s development. There are endless skills and hobbies that they could pick up, get better at each and every day, and learn from.
These are great for over the Summer too, because there are plenty of hobbies that will require a little work every day, giving them something to do and something to look forward to every day. Consider hobbies like gardening, learning a musical instrument, building model aeroplanes, making pottery, etc.
Spend Some Time in the Kitchen
Cooking is a good skill for anyone of any age to master, and starting at a young age is even better. If you’re not sure what to do with your little ones, get them all into the kitchen and let them help you make a meal, or bake something sweet together.
An egg cup holder can be a fun addition to your kitchen tools when making breakfast or brunch, and it’s something kids might enjoy using.
Look for some kid-friendly baking recipes online and get cracking in the kitchen – they can help you make the mess and learn how to clean up properly afterward too.
Keeping Your Kids Entertained This Summer – Learn To Ride a Bike
This is a simple and fun one – every kid can benefit from learning to ride a bike, and what better time to learn than on Summer vacation?
If you have the time on your hands to teach them, take them out to practice for a little while every day. They’ll get better and better and once they’ve mastered the skill, it will be something they can do for exercise and to keep themselves busy over the rest of the Summer.
Keep an Arts and Crafts Box
Arts and crafts are a go-to for rainy days or when the TV and bookshelf have run out of entertaining options.
Create a box of arts and crafts supplies for your kids to use – make sure you have the craft box essentials first, and then you can slowly add more bits and bobs to your collection over time. Set them up with a few ideas of what to make and then let their imaginations go wild.
Plan Some Movie Nights
Finally, a great idea for the whole family to spend some time together is to plan a few special movie nights. Fill up a jar with the names of some family-friendly movies written on scraps of paper, and pull one out of the jar when you’re all in the mood for a film.
Build a blanket fort together, cook up some delicious movie treats (or order in a pizza) and snuggle up together to enjoy the movie. Remember that a Summer vacation should have a good balance between active time, learning time and good old lazy time.
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