3 Super Out-of-School Ideas for Kids
School’s out and it is vacation time for the kids! That means sleeping in on weekdays, long lazy brunches, and the flexibility to plan fun activities and outings with the kids. But trying to keep an active youngster busy and out of trouble can be such a wearying job, what’s a frazzled mom to do? These 3 interesting out-of-school activities combine loads of fun with a little learning on the side.
- Learning lessons from daily life
- Seeing their mom make a shopping list and stick to it, use coupons , take advantage of discounts and sales and count money is a great lesson in household organization and money management.
- Kids who help out in the kitchen learn about hygiene, develop healthy eating habits, spend less time in front of the TV or computer, and practice basic math skills such as counting, measuring, weighing, and estimating.
- Reading
- Giving back
- He will make new friends and hone his social skills.
- Learn more about the community and the world he is a part of.
- Build confidence and self-esteem.
- Become more active and healthy than before.
- Interact with potential role models.
No, this doesn’t mean extra tutoring for math and science. What it means is getting your kids involved in cooking, crafts , shopping for groceries , nature treks, helping around the house, visiting a museum and anything else you can do together.
What are the takeaways?
And those are just a few ways your child benefits by learning lessons from everyday life!
There are vast reserves of knowledge out there and they can only be accessed by those who can read. Vacations are the ideal time to raise a smart kid who loves to read . But how do you tackle a kid who never reads anything but the comics? It is easy – learn what he is interested in and encourage him to read books about it.
If, for instance, he is a fan of sci-fi movies, introduce him to books by writers such as Douglas Adams, Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and H. G. Wells. If he loves playing video games, get him started on the Ender’s Game by Orson Card.
Any time he spends reading books will be time well spent.
For many families, volunteering is a wonderful summer activity that enables kids and adults to work together in their own communities. Volunteer opportunities for kids include finding clothes or shelter for the underprivileged, bringing food to the hungry, making neighborhoods safer or cleaner, caring for pets or stray animals, caring for sick or terminally ill people, helping peers to do better at school, and so on.
Kids who volunteer find that it is pretty hard work, enabling them to see and do new things that are challenging- perhaps even a little scary.So why should your child do it?
It is important to remember that vacations are meant to be fun not stressful. Even well-intentioned parents are guilty of pushing their kids into doing activities they dislike or are uninterested in. Encourage your child to do something that is fun and productive – if he takes up even one of the above summer activities, he’ll be learning a lot!
