Happy Holiday Plan As my daughter’s first term of kindy comes to an end, her first school holidays will begin. Considering she will be at school for the next thirteen years, it will be the first of many! I want her to enjoy the holidays and look forward to happy, busy, special times – but I also want her to be rested and refreshed, ready to tackle the next term. Here are some ideas I have for achieving both objectives. Whether you are heading off somewhere together, or opting instead for a budget friendly staycation at home, you might like to try these ideas too.#1 – Holiday Calendar A holiday calendar placed on the fridge has lots of benefits. Firstly it helps kids to understand how long the holidays are, and when they are coming to a close. It also provides an excellent way to plan out the time you have together. Everyone feels a sense of ownership over the holidays when they have a voice in the planning process. Plan out special days (see below), home days, jobs days, outing days, pyjama days etc. Make sure there are enough lazy days to allow kids to recover from the last term and get ready for the next one! #2 – Special Days As a family we have always had “special days” when we have gone away on holidays together. Each person in the family gets to have a turn. On Mummy’s special day Mummy gets to choose what we do, where we go and what we eat. (My special days usually involve markets and a picnic!) I love this for so many reasons: it builds family unity, celebrates difference, makes everyone feel special, helps kids to see that parents have likes and needs too, reinforces turn taking in a big way and more. If you have older kids you might like to set a budget for the day for them to work with. #3 – Holiday Box Fill a box with fun bits and pieces to keep the kids busy. Cheap shops are great for this. For creative kids try craft materials like papers, fancy scissors, glue, pipecleaners, string and masking tape. For active kids try skipping ropes, magnifying glasses, bug catchers and garden tools. Other great materials to include for all kids are colouring books, pencils, blank paper, envelopes and stickers. When you hear, “Mum I’m bored...!” you can direct them to their holiday box. #4 – Routine Even during the holidays I think routine is important. Keeping kids up late or skipping daytime rests doesn’t do them (or you) any favours. Consistent meal times and sleep times help children to make a smooth transition back into school when the holidays are over too. #5 – What would you add? I’d love you to leave your happy holiday tip in the comments below!
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Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
I used to find I'd be telling people 'lets catch up during the holidays' but it never actually happened. Now we plan for it and it works.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
In our house school holidays are very much lazy days and nearly every day is a pyjama day. While my kids aren't particularly over scheduled in term time, it's so nice to have time to do nothing.
Because I am home, I often get the kids to invite friends over for full days. It's a great way to get to know their mates and just one or two extra kids in the house can make the days fly by. It's also a good way to help out a friends who work in the holidays.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
We are looking forward to catching the last few days of nice weather while we still can and doing loads of nothing! I'm hoping my girls will stay in the 'up early routine' but oh man is it going to be hard for me not to just roll over and go back to sleep for those two weeks! LOL