By Heather Vandevoorde, Ph.D.
With that last school bell comes parental relief. Summer vacation brings parental relief. There are no more lunches to pack or early morning traffic during school runs. But then parental panic sets in: 60 days off? What on earth do I do with them for that long?
As usual, I cannot tackle this one on my own. Girlfriends to the rescue! Here is our list of ways to keep kids from turning into couch potatoes:
- Summer Bridge Books: Easily found in most UAE book stores, these workbooks “bridge” the summer between two grades with daily activities in English, math, social studies and more. Though my own girls have nicknamed them the “mean mommy books” through the years, the exercises are short and fun. They maintain kids’ heads focused on what they have learned so they have not forgotten everything when they head back in September.
- Required reading and family book club: why not pick a book that everyone in the family can enjoy (Harry Potter? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?) and all read it. Then have a special family time sitting together and discussing each family member’s impressions.
- Water parks: Tiffany and her kids purchased a membership at Yas Waterworld. They start every day with an hour or two in the water. It gets them out of the house and gives them great exercise. They are ready for that afternoon nap.
- Sports activities: Diane is a huge proponent of signing up for team-based sports. In addition to a great workout, kids learn discipline, teamwork and negotiation skills. That is useful later in life for sure.
- Bored board: Erin says she sits with her kids at the beginning of summer and creates a Pinterest bored board. On it they place photos of both individual and group fun things to do. Whenever they get bored, they turn to their board. Just talking about that is fun!
- Newspaper perusing: Get kids caught up on current events by requiring them to read the paper and summarize one article per day to talk about at the dinner table.
- Cooking time: the Internet is full of kid-friendly recipes. Why not hone their chef’s skills and get a night off from making dinner as a perk!
- edHelper: Join edHelper.com to print unlimited activities, stories and games to keep them occupied.
- Camps: the UAE is filled with diverse camps and there is a right one for every child. If you are daring enough, send them to a sleepover camp. Mine are trying it for the first time this summer. They’re excited, I’m wondering when my babies got so big?!
- College thinking: many universities have virtual tours on their websites. Take a few and stimulate thought and motivation in your child, regardless of their age.
Enjoy your summer together before it goes by too fast…
