What to do with kids during summer break

Summer break has begun for many of us and moms with little ones must be wondering what to do with kids during summer break. While kids are at home, off from school they need to be entertained or kept engaged in age-appropriate activities to help them learn.

Well, truth be told, screentime is their lazy entertainment that puts moms at the guilt of letting them watch their tablets or Ipads for so long. While screentime is inevitable for kids in this era regardless of their age, keeping them busy in learning activities yet physically active gets challenging.

In order to keep everything sane while kids are at home most of the time other than summer camps or daycare, here are a few suggestions and ideas that can help moms feel accomplished and less guilty.

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Fun Summer break Activities for kids that keep them entertained

Make a schedule for summer break

During summer break kids can have the luxury to stay up an hour or two late at night other than on school days. This is totally up to parents to decide to what extent they want to deviate kids from their sleeping schedule. Set up a schedule for pending tasks with kids, like potty training, and preparing for preschool or kindergarten.

Teaching everyday household chores

Depending on your child’s age, start practicing age-appropriate house chores to help you around the house. Because they need to grow up with a habit and it is equally important to start developing their habits now around the age of 5 and above.

Engage your kids in helping with chores such as:

Cleaning up the family room
Making bed early in the morning
Help you set up a table during meal times
folding laundry or matching socks
fetching something from the pantry or anywhere around the house to keep them around helping and engaged
Finding lost stuff – in most cases, they would know what you’re looking for.
Teach them how to stay organized.

Limit screentime

Limiting screentime (tablets or iPads) is a challenge. As much as screentime can give moms a little bit of time to work on something such as a home business, a house chore, or enjoy a cup of coffee in a quiet, it burdens them at the same with the guilt of letting them be on their tablets.

As I said, screen time is unavoidable in most cases because we are addicted to our phones too. Limiting the screen is essential to engaging kids in more learning activities throughout the day.

Plan activities according to your day

If you are a stay-at-home mom or working from home, you need to plan activities ahead of time. For instance, if you want to bake cupcakes with your child, you need to have everything beforehand. Plan your schedule or activities a couple of days before. Even if you do not have time, one day before is fine or before your kids wake up.

Here is how to preschool your child at home.

Summer activities ideas

Depending on your child’s age, you can plan activities at home. Try various challenge games at home, like eating one color food throughout the day, or eating veggies only, etc. Moreover, you can try these age-appropriate activities with kids at home.

Play UNO

Ludo is a fun

Play carom board

Plan a picnic at a local park or state park.

Plan a visit to a local water park at a recreational center

Go for a walk every day depending on the weather and time of the day.

Go on a scavenger hunt.

Catching bugs.

Build a fort.

Play with sand and water.

Plant some flowers.

Draw what you like the most and Paint a canvas

Ride bikes or cars

Make homemade ice cream or popsicles

Play at a local playground

Draw Sidewalk chalk murals.

Playing in an inflatable water pool.

Inflatable splash pad and pool

Water guns fight

Making bubbles

Grow Orbeez and squishing them is a lot of fun.

Backyard camping or counting stars

Visit a museum

Learning how to make slime or playdoh

Teach a new skill

While summer is the perfect time to hang out with family, friends, and siblings, it’s also an opportunity to learn new skills without the pressure of schoolwork. Try to teach your child new skills, like drawing, painting, computer, keyboard, piano, etc. As they grow they can develop an interest as one of the best hobbies they are passionate about.

Sign up for a class or a summer camp

Usually, summer camps are one week long unless they are from the school district. As per your everyday schedule sign up your child for a summer camp, reading classes, Tae ko Wando, swimming, or painting class, depending on your affordability and your child’s interest. That way they can enjoy summer break while learning new things and not driving mom and dad crazy.

Creative activities

Fun and creative activities like painting, playdoh, icemaking, ice painting, and water can be fun for kids. Set up a play space for independent playing (age-appropriate) so you can get something done while the kids are playing.

Check out some creative kids’ activities to do at home.

Learning activities

The thing about summer break that haunts parents the most is learning loss. Kids may forget a lot of things that they have learned in school. So in order to keep them attached and fill up that educational gap is by work on curriculum-related worksheets at home.

Having kids engaged in some learning activities like coloring pages, understanding shapes, learning numbers, addition, subtraction, alphabets, and matching every day at home during the summer break is imperative.

Preschool learning workbook with practice worksheets for school and at-home learning.