Ask any kid what is the best thing about Summer Holidays, and I’m sure they will tell you that it’s not having to go to school (well most of them anyway). But there are studies out there that show how the long summer break can be really damaging to the progress of some children, especially those who have learning difficulties. Having such a long time away from their teachers, their classroom and the regular routine can be a major set-back for some kids and it can take them some weeks and months to catch up to where they left off, which in turn, puts them behind everyone else again.
BUT, there are lots of things that are fun and easy to fit into the crazy holiday period that we can do to keep their minds stimulated and encourage our kids to use the skills they have learnt during the year.
DON’T PANIC! I’m not suggesting you set up a mini classroom in the house and recite tables or do spelling tests. You don’t need to rush off to the trusty internet and download homework sheets or anything like that! Just every things that you can add to the holiday period to keep those little minds ticking while they are having a break.
GOING AWAY ON HOLIDAYS?
· If you are going away on a trip you need time to back and get things organised right? So give the kids a distraction by setting them to some online research and about the area and activities to do there. Give them the road map and ask them to work out the best travel route, the distance and how long it will take to get there.
· Once you’ve arrived, when Mummy & Daddy are looking for some peace and quiet at night set them down with a pen and paper to write letters to a pen pal, or to Grandma. Or provide them with an empty notebook to keep a travel journey like those of Captain Cook and other discoverers. Draw maps, sketch pictures of things they’ve seen each day.
STAYING HOME?
If you’re staying home for the holidays there are also plenty of cheap and easy ideas you can use to entertain the kids and carry on the learning.
· Have games nights where you turn off the TV, computer and phone and enjoy some family time playing old fashioned board games.
· Head down to the library, gallery or museum to see what free or cheap activities they have scheduled for the holidays. Use the opportunity to grab a quiet coffee while the kids are having fun learning.
· Put on a play. Get the kids to do their own dress up production of their favourite books complete with narration, acting, singing and dancing (if applicable). They will obviously need many hours of rehearsal which will hopefully give you some quiet time and stop the endless nagging.
· Too warm to be inside? Grab some giant chalk from a discount store (it usually comes in buckets) and do some foot path writing & drawings, hopscotch and other games like Naughts & Crosses.
· Dinner Time is the perfect opportunity to practice some reading and maths when you need “helpers” to dictate the recipes, work out the measurements and cooking times etc.
· If you feel like trying to win some competitions grab some puzzle magazines from the shop and get the kids to help you with all the puzzles to find the answers and enter into the competitions that win all sorts of prizes. Take That, Take 5, That’s Life, some of the women’s magazines etc all have puzzle competitions in them, and you might just win something!
· And if you are really struggling for ideas, get the kids to do some surveys. Survey the neighbourhood for people’s favourite colour, how many different colour cars drive past the window, how many colours or sizes of lego pieces they have in their toy box and lots more. Then once they have the results turn them into a graph on poster paper with coloured pens. Or if they are really cluey, jump onto Microsoft Excel and get them to do a spreadsheet with tables and graphs.
So there are just a few ways to keep the kids entertained over the holidays, try to beat the nagging and fighting and stimulate their minds a bit to try and retain some level of consistency over the holiday period and give them an extra boost for going back to school at the end of the month.
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For more ideas like this and more visit our Pinterest boards or like us on Facebook.
