Yay! Holiday Break and No School is upon us - family time, relaxation, no running here and there, plus a few fun celebrations are all apart of the holiday break. What is not talked about is day 2 when the kids are bored or want to be on screens all the time, bickering, wrestling, the house is a mess and the fridge is empty top that off with the guilt of thinking "when are they going back?"
Well I have good news, you can enjoy your time reconnecting with your kids and they can be helpful and fun humans we love so dearly and want to be around.
To start we have to put ourselves in their shoes - going to school the schedule is set for them - what they are supposed to do, when to do it, when and what to eat, age appropriate though out activities are all there and done for them. Yet, when they come home and think its going to be like a weekend day where not a whole lot is expected or planned, chaos or boredom slowly ensues.
1. Mentally Prepare with an idea of routine and expectations
Not saying that you have to have the whole day and all activities planned out but start to think about it.
When thinking about a day with your kids what do you want them to do? Not want them to do?
- What do you need to accomplish during the day?
- When you want them to wake up?
- When are you going to feed them - Breakfast, snacks, lunch
- What food is allowed to be eaten?
- What are they responsible for? - Room, area of the house, pets, yard, feeding themselves?
- How much screen time is allowed? What do they have to do before that is good for their brain? - play, read, art of some type, practice music, sports, clean/pickup, play with friends, go outside, move their bodies...
- Do you want them to go outside?
- How can they help?
Once you have an idea of these questions decide when you want "must dos" done by and then stick to it. Chunking the day into 2-3 hour chunks of time works well. I like to break it up with food breaks.
2. Food - This is important to know for when they say "I'm Hungry"
- Plan meals and snacks
- Few breakfast ideas - quick and easy & a stovetop
- Snacks - money saver is no pre packaged snacks at home only for running out
- Fruits or veggies paired with protein are great - See Great Snack Ideas Here
- Space out eating to every 2 - 3 hours don't wait until they say their hungry.
- Have them drink water it's easy to forget when our schedules are different.
- Save the sugary stuff for afternoons for better attitudes.
3. Screens
- Have your plan of when they are allowed and how long then let them know.
- Take breaks definitely after 2 shows or a movie - eat, get outside, move for at least 20 minutes (that goes for parents too). After screens grumpy attitudes or wild behavior tends to show up so getting moving and outside really helps regulate.
4. Fun and Activities
- Make sure you a few ideas of what you can do together or they can do alone. You can sit down with or have them make lists on their own to give you of things they like to do or can do.
- Draw/Color Materials
- Board/Card Games
- Fresh books (library trip)
- Fun recipe to make
- Movie you can watch together
- Family tradition type projects - gingerbread houses, thankful activities, ornament making..
- Have bigs read to littles or teach to play a game
- Check out slime and playdough recipes
- YouTube Art & Science videos are cool - put them to work finding something they'd like to do.
- Spending time helping them organize parts of their room sometimes helps with fun things to do.
- Create bored sticks and chore stick to help them find something to do - start with bored ideas of what to do and if it continues have them pull a chores stick.
5. Getting Out/Friends
- Set up playdates for littles
- Have the older kids set up times to hang out just let them know times and if they need a ride or you can give them one.
- Check out Indoor Places to go
- Get out and walk, shoot hoops, go to the library, or do one special something like a movie if your budget allows.
Remember you are not responsible to keep your kids entertained all the time and it's okay if they feel boredom here and there, it helps their brains seek something to do and allows their creativity to come out.
