Summer holiday is great and an opportunity to chill and have some fun time together. But in order to really enjoy it, here are a few tips! The trick to a happy summer lies in planning:
Action points for a successful Summer:
- Have a family chat where you can create your family bucket list with topics such as: rainy days, low cost, no cost, high cost (i.e. go to movies etc.) and together agree and plan:
- Plan when your kids can and can’t be on screens and how long they can be on the screen each day.
- Plan small things you can pull out for rainy days, too hot days, ‘let’s do something days’ or ‘I am bored days’.
- Plan some ‘Me-Time’ so you get a break as well.
- Plan and delegate chores!
- Never underestimate the power of boredom. We don’t have to become entertainers and feel we have to fill in every single hour of the day over the holiday. It is OK to have many hours of boredom, where your child can learns to think, be creative and come up with something to do. To read more about the power of boredom CLICK here.
- How to agree to screen time: Ask them ‘how much do you think is fair’?
Try not to point fingers: ‘you are on the screen too much and you always sit there….’.
Instead talk with an I-Message; I feel that I nag too much… I don’t want to spend the summer nagging you and telling you off….I know that the screen is important to you so I am not trying take it away…I just need a plan so we can all be happy…I feel it is all about balance…What do you think?
Why not try a screen free day for you all? Or even better let’s have a screen free weekend or holiday! Here you will need your Summer Bucket list! - Make sure you get some ‘Me-Time’ where you do what you like. Even if that means time for a cup of tea and read about book without ‘mummy, mummy’. Plan a walk with a friend. Trip to the movies etc. It is your holiday as well.
- Yes it is your holiday as well so you don’t have to do all chores yourself. At your Family Chat why not talk about who will do what and when. Maybe use this holiday to introduce more chores for your kids so they feel more mature and independent come September! Who can cook one night? Who can help hang up the laundry?
- Agree to summer pocket money and what they will be used for
- Why not have an ‘extra chores list’ where they can earn some extra money over the holiday: cut the grass, weed in the garden, iron shirts, wash the car, dog walk for a neighbour etc.
Here are our ideas for a Family bucket list from tots to teens:
Teens & Tweens:- Bake
- Cook together
- Make own pizza
- Plan a BBQ and invite some friends over (theirs too)
- Movie night at home
- Go to the movies
- Take the bikes out
- Gardening
- Picnic in the park
- Homemade ice lollies
- Water fight
- Drive to the sea side
- Redecorate their room
- Book Club: read the same book and chat about it
- Get crafty: candle making, build their own electronically gadget, sewing, jewellery making etc.
- Introduce new chores and responsibilities
- Have a list for earning extra pocket money
Younger kids and tots:
- Homemade lollies
- Homemade toys: fill a balloon with flower or sugar, water = your own sensation balloon or bottles with water/watching liquid/ glitter = your own glitter bottles
- Toys outside: on a blanket outside have your child favourite toys; Lego, dolls, blocks etc. and have a play date outside
- Water play in the garden – add different containers to a bucket of water or a water table if you own one
- Cook together
- Have a quiet reading time in the day where you snuggle and share a book, or they read to you
- Craft, paint, create
- Have a pyjama day
- Sleep out one night in the Garden
- Paddle in a stream
- What age appropriate chores can your child do? Carry their plate from the table to the sink? Load the dishwasher? Make their bed?
- Go for a nature trail and spot interesting wildlife along the way. Remember that even a Woodlouse can be interesting if the butterflies are hiding!
- Grow together. Cress is a great ‘quick growing project’ but radishes, beans and salad leaves also grow quite quickly this time of year. You’ll be amazed how much children enjoy eating their own vegetables
- Visit the library
- If it’s sunny and you want to indulge in an ice cream or ice lolly consider saving yourself some pennies by buying a box in a shop and sharing any spares with locals who look like they need an ice cream. It’s a lovely way of introducing children to the idea of empathy and helping others
We wish you a happy Summer,
Good luck
Mette Theilmann
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- Have a family chat where you can create your family bucket list with topics such as: rainy days, low cost, no cost, high cost (i.e. go to movies etc.) and together agree and plan: