Summer vacation is a tad different this year! The Covid 19 pandemic is creating a havoc worldwide leaving one and all confined to the periphery of their homes. So, in times like these how do we keep our children entertained as well as engage their curious minds and active bodies? It’s a question on every parent’s mind. To make your child Summer Smart in this Lockdown induced summer vacation, follow these fun ideas that will holistically engage your child and properly channelise his energy, indoors...
- Of Fun and frolic – Even though lockdown is imposed in most parts of the country, but there ain’t any lockdown within the comforts of your house. You can plan plenty of individual and family activities for your child so that he thoroughly enjoys the ‘quarantine’ summer vacation. Please do not let your child sit in front of the television or watch video games on mobile phones all day. Instead, encourage your kid to participate in fun and engaging activities. Hand over some of your dupattas so that your children can create a canopy and do some camping inhouse. They can even make a swing or use some hay alongside to make a scarecrow. Creative drawing or creating a collage from the bits of papers from old magazines can keep the little children busy.
- Bust their boredom – Keep your child busy through the summer months by thinking creatively to curb his boredom. Check out some good art and crafts books, order the needed stationery and supplies for him to create some DIY crafts such as making paper puppets, paint his milk mug, decorate his room with origami wind chime etc. Further, encourage your child to watch the sunrise, make a card for a friend, watch stars in the night, bead some bracelets or help you as you go about doing the daily chores. Make the most of ‘quarantine’ summer vacation by involving your child in doing some extra activities such as by urging him clean his room, make him pick one good habit and follow it for time to come, or let him take pictures of the surroundings and look through old family albums, and plant some trees in the garden, or in the pots in your balcony.
3. Online Summer Camp – Enroll your child to an online summer camp and utilise the time in hand to make your child ‘summer smart’. Search for the best camps being organised in and around your city, and believe me there are just so many of them. These camps include virtual adventure camps, art and craft classes, aerobics and dance sessions as well as workshops on puppetry and storytelling. Interactive workshops on Indian mythology and moral values can be your ‘go-to’ and help the child learn newer things about the country . Find your child’s best interest areas, the fee-structure of the camp and go on, let your kid explore new skills and build a new talent.
4. Nutrition and hydration – Prepare a nutritious diet chart for your child that will keep him active, energetic and ready to take on the pandemic with a strong immune system. Also, celebrate summers in cool style by preparing cold snacks, fruit based snacks, vegetable muffins or sandwiches with your child. You can make a variety of nutritious salads, fruit based smoothies, vegetable based pasta and other interesting snacks. Let your child learn to enjoy the taste of eating right and develop healthy eating habits, especially in times like these when building a healthy immune system is a necessity. (Read our article on tips to increase immune system – (https://confluencebynitikabajpayee.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/natural-tips-to-build-your-childs-immunity/) . Do make sure that you include fresh and juicy fruits laden with Vitamin C, vegetables, yoghurts, tomatoes and carrots to his diet. Absolutely avoid making the child eat food in front of the television. Also, prefer steaming, boiling and baking rather than frying as means of cooking. Beat the heat, make some easy summer drinks like chocolate shake, mango smoothie, strawberry crush, lemonade or watermelon slush for your child to face the sweltering heat with a smile. The cool drink recipes are easy to make and perfect when child needs to cool down on a hot day. Remember to serve the drinks in stylish mugs and cartoon glasses with trendy straws.
5. Make indoors fun – You can play a variety of indoor games like scrabble, chess that not only increase your child’s vocabulary, but also boost his rote learning abilities and thinking power. Children are fast learners, and through various experiments they can pick up and grasp a said subject easily. Science can be a little intimidating but you can easily help your child conduct plenty of experiments at home, with materials available in the house. Let them learn basic science topics such as properties of air and water, the structure of earth, with easy-to-do practical experiments. Let them try their hands at making ‘rainbow in a glass’, or a ‘lava mountain’ or create a cute little terrarium with empty bottles and jars. Do capture the moment as they accomplish their task.
6. Mango Mania: Summer is the time when the King of Fruits – Mango is available for us to enjoy. Together with your child, you can aim at having a mangolicious summer. With the help of your child, you can cook up a storm in the kitchen by dishing out interesting recipes such as mango shakes, mango lassi, mango cakes, mango smoothies and more. In fact, the best way to enjoy a mango is eating it barehanded. So, offer your child a bucket filled with water and a couple of mangoes soaked in it; leave him with the bucket and let him savour the sumptuous flavours and the texture of the sweetest summer fruit.
7. Stylish hairstyles – Play with different hairstyles to give your child a new look every day. Grab the box of hair accessories, brush and create quick, cute summer hairstyles for your little one. Go for a classic ponytail with a twist, pigtails and ponytails for your little princess and try out some spiky haircut or crew cut for your little champ.
8. Funky dressing – Get the ‘ride in style’ look for your boys and dress your little princess in the coolest dresses with some of the funkiest summer wear. Try maxi dresses or layered skirts, capris and shorts for your child. Pair the entire attire with colourful flip flops with hearts, jewels, animals or any favourite cartoon character and complete the look. And now, your little star is ready to pose. Click some pictures and date them as ‘Lockdown Diaries’.
9. Train your Little Chef– There is no better time than the summer vacations to teach your child to cook. Let your child try “No Flame, No Fire” recipes at home. Try for some simple Sweet Corn Chaat, Fruit Shasklik, Biscuit cake, Peanut butter balls or the very simple Watermelon Popsicles. In the evening, you can serve the food prepared by the child to the entire family and I am sure, this will leave the child happy and confident.
10. Challenge his mind – Get a variety of Word Search Books, Puzzles, Sudoku, Tangrams and Rubik’s Cube for your child and let him apply his brain and challenge his friends to play along with him, virtually. This will increase your child’s thinking power and stimulate his mind to improve the problem solving skills. Moreover, it is a fruitful way to help your child learn while having fun.
11. Outdoor fun: You can also plan for some outdoor games in the evening, which the child can do in his balcony – such as skipping, trying some yoga asanas and aerobics or even hoolahoop. Trying their hands at these will build your child’s stamina and keep him physically fit. Give him the raw materials to make a soapy mix for blowing bubbles out in the open. Some DIYs will come handy
12. Movie time – Don’t let your child get caught up in the blazing sun by any means. Just be indoors and watch the all-time favourite movies with your little ones. Buy or take CDs on rent, get ready with popcorns and have some fun at home with your child. Try out some famous movies like the Frozen series, Scoob, Little Singham series, Baby Boss series, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars, Kung Fu Panda, the Toy Story series or the Lion King.
13. Virtual quiz contest – Think out of box and host a quiz contest at your home for your child and his friends, who can, of course, join in virtually. Prepare a theme and a questionnaire and divide the teams. Also, arrange for the prizes for winners and a special lunch for your child. Plan for different rounds like MCQs, oral questions, one liners and test your child’s knowledge.
14. Stimulate his reading skills – Let your child give his imagination a full bend by reading some serious, funny, light-hearted stories that are inspiring and are just fun to read. Expose your little one to the fascinating world of stories and fairy tales by helping your sonny or daughter to read the story books. Get the colourful books and encourage the child to read aloud. This will not only improve reading habits, but will also help learn new words and improve the spellings. (Read our recommendation of five must-reads for children https://confluencebynitikabajpayee.wordpress.com/2021/04/05/for-the-little-bookworms-5-must-reads-for-children/ )
15. Water splashes – Water play is a guaranteed good time for children. There really is no better way to beat the heat than to just get wet. Whether your child is strong swimmer or new to the pool, bring him a kiddie pool and let him make the most of fun summer water splashes.
life confluence 