It’s nearly the end of summer term and children are so ready to break up for the summer holidays. At this time of year children are tired and just want to relax. For some children the summer is something to look forward to with lots of plans – family holidays, camps, volunteering and the opportunity to see friends. For other children they don’t feel like they have much to look forward to. It could be that their friends are going away so they won’t have people to hang out with or they may not be social animals. Some children will simply struggle with having no structure to their days and get bored easily.
Whatever the reason, we can see that the Summer holidays aren’t always fun. They can be lonely, boring and hard. So, how can we help those children who don’t like the summer holidays?
Planning The Summer Holidays With Our Children
- We can help children find out who is around in the holidays and record it so they know when their friends are free.
- We can give them some structure by planning what they are going to do each day with them. We can set them some work to do if they need to catch up on work or they have homework that has been set. This may take up an hour every day.
- Parents can plan something fun for children to do with them – something that they can look forward to. It may not be everyday but once or twice a week. It could be a day out on the train or in the car.
- Get them to focus on activities they can do by themselves that they enjoy.
- You could arrange a child swap. Your child goes to their friends house for the day and you reciprocate and have their friend another day.
- We could perhaps plan for children to stay with a relative so they feel they are going away. A new environment and different people to interact with /spoil them will feel like a holiday.
- Plan the holidays with them so they feel involved and investigate what is going on in your town. There is always something new on for the summer and it may be something they would enjoy.
The summer holidays are a challenge for any parent but with planning you can keep your children busy. But it’s not your responsibility to keep them busy all the time so help them plan but also encourage them to make the most of their Summer holiday!
