What Activities to Do During School Holidays
It’s essential to recharge once in a while. Without doing so, or even resting for a little bit to get away from your busy schedule, can cause possible burnout that will ultimately affect your physical well-being and overall productivity. The same is true for children, for whom the break from school is a crucial opportunity to recuperate after a busy and demanding year.
Parents might question, though: Do I really need to send them on a vacation to encourage relaxation and rejuvenation? After the holidays, what if they forget what they learned in class? And while a vacation sounds good and all, not all families can afford to shed money for expensive getaways or even have the time to do so. And the truth is, there are other great activities you can do with your children to help them recharge. Some of these activities even help in retaining what they have learned in school.
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1. Going on family outings
Now, we know we mentioned that some may not be able to go on vacations during the holidays. That doesn’t mean that you can’t go on outings with the entire family. The holidays are a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with your child and create priceless memories. Spend some time organizing interesting family activities and taking your kids to places or events you wouldn’t typically go to.
You can choose to visit parks, go on a museum visit, plan a day at the beach, or even go to the zoo or aquarium. The possibilities for outings can be endless but if you have no idea what may be a fun day out, check out this page for ideas.
2. Helping with grocery shopping
Along with giving your child a confidence boost, accompanying you on your supermarket run will allow them to practice and enhance their math skills. Of course, this would differ significantly depending on the child, their level, and their existing math abilities. Before moving on to more complicated inquiries that require calculation and the use of fundamental mathematical operations, for instance, you may ask your child to count the number of items you have in the cart if they are a little younger.
You can ask them to calculate the discount percentages you might enjoy for your purchases as they become older and their skills and learning catch up with them, or you can have them compare products based on their costs. You can even ask your child to tally up the total bill before ringing up the items in your cart so you don’t go over the budget. Not only will grocery shopping help with your child’s Math skills, but it can also serve as a lesson for them when they are older and they have to do their own grocery shopping. As such, this can also become a bonding moment between a child and their parents.
3. Signing up for camps or going camping
Sending your kids to camp during these holidays is a fantastic activity option. Camps are a fantastic opportunity to help your child learn something new and step outside of their comfort zone. Allow your child to make lifelong memories by interacting and learning with other young children at the many fantastic camps available in Singapore. They can also choose which camps offer their interest may it be tech-related like coding or robotics, art-related like painting, sketching, crafts, or even sports camp.
If they are not inclined to spend a lot of their time in camp, you can also suggest going camping instead. This can also be a bonding opportunity for you as well as a learning one. You can trek with your child and entertain questions about nature or their surroundings. This would help them in retaining their lessons in Science and even learn new things.
4. Reading with your child
Every night reading to your child can help them get better at reading and build a stronger bond with you. If you have a young child, you can read the narrative aloud to them while pointing out the pictures to help them follow along. Along with answering their questions, you can also pose your own. They will be able to better understand the story and not just listen to you if you do this.
Encourage your older child to take up a book to read during the break or read with them if you have one. This will make it more likely that their vocabulary will grow and that their reading abilities will advance. Encourage them to finish the book prior to the start of the new school year. Also, talk to them about the book. Don’t simply hand them a book and walk away. Find out their thoughts on the story by asking them. If anything, create a book club with your child to sit and discuss the book you are both reading.
5. Playing word games
Children enjoy playing games, so why not give them board games instead of video games? They can play a variety of board games to keep their minds active and pick up new skills. Scrabble and Word Factory are just two examples of the many board games available that can help kids improve their reading skills and vocabulary. You can read the game’s instructions to your child and ask them to examine them. Aside from board games, there are also other word games that your child can engage in. These are also games that can be played by the whole family.
6. Engaging in tuition
While the holidays are primarily the time to recharge, spending it all without cultivating the lessons and knowledge children have earned can be a bad idea. They would have their next school year to face and it’s also a good idea to prepare for it. After all the activities they have engaged in during these holidays, you might want to think about using the free time to review your child’s weaker topics and subjects.
If your child is having difficulty right now, keep in mind that as they advance through the levels, the curriculum will only become more challenging. There’s no better way of preparing them for what’s to come than by engaging in tuition for them. While there are various tuition choices available, we would suggest hiring a 1-on-1 private tutor so that your child may benefit from the tutor’s full focus and make academic progress.
Conclusion
It makes sense that children might only want to have fun and relax over the holidays. They do require some downtime. However, it is also possible to turn this into a learning opportunity without it feeling like additional work or homework. They can utilize these activities to hone and improve the abilities they have learned in class. If your child does not particularly enjoy these activities, there are still alternative options that can serve as learning opportunities for them without making them feel like they have already returned to school. And the best thing about these is they have recharged and will be more ready for their next school year.
Carelle
Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.
