Are you wondering how to keep your kids busy during school holidays? You have just come out of the strict school schedule and are in a need of a long-deserved break, but you do not want to see any bored and unmotivated children around the house. Before we look into some of the special activities that you may want to consider, let us explore a few basic principles of “school-free” time.
"Thank you so much for the free tips on how to keep children occupied during their school holidays. It really helped me as a parent and gave me ideas on how to manage their free time. My children asked me to teach them how to make their favorite snack (homemade banana cake) and so I did. They enjoyed it very much and spent less time on their electronic gadgets.”
Tips for Better School Holidays
The following list of tips for better school holidays is by no means exhaustive. We have just picked for you the most important ones:
- Take a break from usual learning activities: There are families that use school holidays for catching up on school. But let’s face it – you need a break and your children need a break too. Taking time off actually adds to both teacher’s and child’s motivation and efficiency when the school starts again.
- Keep a “somewhat” regular schedule: Children thrive when presented with boundaries as it is easier for their minds to process. Create morning, afternoon and evening activities to help you separate your days into blocks so that everyone can be on the same page.
- Put limits on screen time: The electronic age we live in doesn’t serve our children very well. Holiday time seems to bring more temptation to let our children watch more shows and play more games. Do not fall into this trap. The children are usually grumpier the more screen time they are allowed to have.
- Reflect on the semester gone by and readjust your upcoming semester to your needs: What worked well for you in the past semester? What didn’t work so well? What will you do differently? Do you need a change of curricula? Think on these and other questions that will help you to run your next semester more smoothly.
10 Ideas to Keep Kids Busy During School Holidays
There is no limit to activities that can be done during school holidays. We are presenting you with ten possible activities that will bring joy to your household.
- Spend time together as a family, extended family, and/or friends: Holidays are a very unique time for children to enjoy both parents at the same time, grandparents, cousins, and friends in a relaxed atmosphere. Provide them with this opportunity as much as you are able.
- Enjoy nature: Holiday time offers more liberty to go hiking, swimming, skiing, biking, etc. depending on which hemisphere you live. Have fun!
- Identify some enjoyable household tasks: Time off school is a perfect opportunity to do the things you never have time for, for example, reorganizing desk drawers, downsizing on toys in a toy box, etc. Kids enjoy finding treasures in their forgotten drawers/boxes and will spend hours sorting them out and deciding who to gift them to.
- Read: Even though the school year provides time for reading, holidays offer this special time without any pressure to move on to another task. Read together, read individually, and talk about your books with one another. For book ideas specific for individual grades, please visit Must-Read Books for Elementary School.
- Make a time capsule: This fascinating activity will bring much excitement to your family. You can find more information on how to create a family time capsule at Playful Notes.
- Play board games: There is nothing like interacting with your children while playing a game. Board games are fun, help build character and keep minds and hands occupied for hours at a time. For a list of favorite board games, please visit 10 Favorite Board Games for Younger Children and 10 Favorite Board Games for Older Children.
- Bake something special for friends and/or neighbors: You can find our tips for baking ideas at Baking with Kids.
- Learn the art of origami: Origami is a very easy type of art to learn. It is relatively inexpensive as it doesn’t require anything else but paper. You can find more information about origami at World Origami Day for Kids.
- Color, draw, and solve puzzles: Feel free to download any of our FREE PRINTABLE coloring pages and puzzle books for your children to enjoy.
- Create fun paper crafts: For paper craft ideas for both young and older children, please visit 10 Fun Paper Crafts for Kids, Paper Ice Cream Craft, or Alphabet Wall Art.
