Summer Days at Home

Yay! It’s Summer! Which for many families means swimming, popsicles, vacations, and a bit of chaos. With all of the fun that summer brings, it can also be a stressful time for parents who are now trying to keep their out of school kids busy and occupied.

It would be nice if our summer’s all looked like they do in the commercials but let’s be honest, some places are just too hot for being outside unless you’re in the water, and not all of us have access to that. Indoor activities can be pricey and add up quickly. So we often end up stuck at home with kids who are bored and driving us crazy. 

Here’s some suggestions.

A little structure will go a long way.

• Make a schedule for the day that your kids can use to reference as often as they’d like. It can be simple: breakfast, inside activity, lunch, rest/quiet time, activity, dinner. Let your kids pick the activities they want to do. This gives them choice and control over their day and will limit the amount of times they say they’re bored and ask what to do. Maybe your morning has 3 activities such as; play a game, read, bake cookies. Every day you can sit down as a family and discuss with your children how they want to spend their day and let them build their schedule. This also provides an opportunity to sneak in chores or academic work that you may want them to do. 

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Be creative. 

• If you don’t want your kids watching tv but you’re trying to do laundry and they are bored or wanting your attention try this: “Hey, let’s play a finding game. I’m going to think of something and I want you to go find it and bring it to show me. Let’s put everything we find in this basket. Ready? Find a spoon. GO!” kid goes off to find it and you fold laundry. Each time they find something they put it in the basket. At the end, they have to find homes for everything. Most younger kids don’t mind putting the items back because they had so much fun playing the game it’s just part of it. But feel free to preface this rule at the beginning if it helps. You can advance the game for older kids by having them find things starting with letters, or find something that rolls, find something that has strings attached. This type of game keeps the kids busy and entertained, allows you to do your task, and builds connection between parent and child. Tip: your energy is key! If you act excited and happy to play this random made up game, they will too.

Movie days are okay.

• A lot is happening during the summer and more often than not our kids are plenty active. It’s okay to plan a movie day and just chill out. Build a fort, or gather all the pillows and blankets. Let your children design a comfy space, make special movie snacks, and snuggle up for some relaxing family bonding time. If you’ve got kids that fight over the movie choice, then you pick the movie. Pick the movie ahead of time and when you present the activity to the kids there’s no opportunity for fighting because it’s “Mom’s Choice”. If that causes problems, try having your kids take turns making choices for the upcoming movie days or they could even earn picking the movie as a reward for doing chores or improving behavior. 

Summer is such a fun time for kids to be out of school enjoying themselves and a bit of freedom. Some days are hard but with a little strategizing we can make the best out of it and have a great summer! (HAGS…remember?)