The last 18 months has been tough on our kids, and now they are facing another summer stuck at home. If you are looking for some fun activities to do with them this year, we have a few suggestions to keep you going.
Outdoor games
There is a good chance you will see some good weather over the summer months, so this is a great chance to get outside. Playing outdoors is a great way for kids to burn off steam and all of that energy they have. You can make their outdoor games as easy or complex as you like. You could create a water table with sand and toys, or section off a part of the garden for them to dig in. It really doesn’t matter, as long as it engages them so you can get some work done in peace.
A little homeschooling
Let’s be honest with ourselves, our kids have missed a lot of school so we might have to do some homeschooling with them. We are not saying that you have to sit with them all day and do math worksheets. However, a quick 30 minutes or hour with the school supplies would not do them any harm. You could pick a subject to do each day so they don’t get bored. The important thing is to have fun with it and hope they learn something from these brief sessions.
Reading
Depending on the age of your kids, you might be able to send them to read quietly for a while you work. There are some incredible children’s books that are available from your local bookshop. However, if your kids are too young or don’t like to read, you can try them with an audio book subscription so they can listen to the stories instead. The idea behind this suggestion is to get them away from their screens and enjoy a story that requires their imagination to visualise what is happening.
Baking
This is one that might be more suitable for your teenagers as it is something they can do unsupervised. However, if you have a break in your work, you could work together as a family to whip up some family buns. What we have found to be the most fun is finding recipe books that are themed around our interests. So, if you have a gamer in the house, they might be happy to make the recipes from the Fallout cookbook by themselves.
Just give in
As much as we would all love to have our kids follow a routine that nurtures their mind, body, and soul, that won’t happen. Sometimes we need to let it all go and allow them to do what they want. So, if this means letting your little ones binge-watch Baby Shark on Netflix, go for it. Your teenager wants to spend 12 hours playing their game console, sure. These are strange times we are living in, and we need to adapt. If this ideal no, but we have to let off steam somehow.
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