Productive Summer for Kids

CEBU, Philippines - It's summer vacation time! All students, especially school kids, love this part of the year because it entails long days with no school projects and homework to worry over. The kids have all the time in the world to sleep late, play hard, and enjoy the break!

But it is also during this time when kids easily become time-wasters, spending too much time watching television, internet surfing, playing online games, and lounging in the couch.

Time is a tricky concept - even for us adults. It's easy to lose track of time when one is having a good time, only to realize too late that the pile of pending tasks is there waiting.

While school break is generally taken as a time for fun, enjoying it in a productive matter is the best way for parents to guide their kids. The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.-Dolores Aboitiz Children's Fund, which champions early child care and development, offers the following ideas for parents to spend quality time with their kids and make the children's summer vacation more memorable and productive:

Share outdoor activities together. Why stay indoors when parents and kids could go out to have an exciting adventure? Parents could take a break from the never-ending deadlines and pressures of work and have the family make a trip somewhere they had long wanted to visit. Or, to make the trip more challenging, the family may go somewhere that members have never been to, or use a different route to the same familiar destination.

Backpacking is also an alternative activity. The children can be tasked with the preparation, like taking care of the food, clothes, and other logistics. Yet another fun outdoor activity is a beach getaway or a campout. Cebu, in particular, is an island with a lot of beautiful beaches to choose from. But safety against the elements and other dangers have first to be dealt with properly.

A simple road trip also offers the opportunity for creating beautiful memories. Even a simple activity like this can be too much fun if done together with loved ones.

Keep the daily routine. If family members - the kids included - are used to waking up early, such wake-up time shall be observed even when there's no school. Summer is not a time for oversleeping, as it might develop a habit that will be a problem when the school days return. Instead, family members may get busy doing the various tasks at home, cleaning the dishes, washing clothes, and cleaning the house.

Parents shall instill in the kids the importance of prioritizing the home chores to do. This way, they teach the little ones the value of work and of doing task s at once instead of dilly-dallying. There are a lot of simple tasks to do around the house that even small kids can do. A toddler, for example, can be taught to do simple tasks like washing hands before eating or picking up toys after playing. The whole family can be motivated to do something productive instead of simply clockwatching.

Have hobbies that the whole family can engage in. If the kids and other members of the family love biking or playing games like volleyball and the like, they may try those out this summer vacation! They may have been postponing it for lack of time - finally the time is here and everybody is available. Learning a hobby or engaging in sports activities help relieve boredom during summertime. Family members do not just enjoy, they also get to develop their skills.

The whole family may decide together, especially the kids too, on a hobby to engage in. The kids may also think of the things they wished to do but had no time for during school days. Or they be enrolled in summer workshops along the line of their interests. If they love painting, they can be enrolled in a painting class. If they love writing poems and short stories, they can join a writing workshop. They can learn drawing, singing, dancing - the possibilities are endless.

 Fire up the imagination. It takes little to stimulate creativity among family members. Nice craft ideas, for example, can come even from little heads. Certain crafts require very little adult supervision but can be a lot of fun to do for the kids. Thus, kids can be encouraged to engage in activities where they can shape and mold things as they like. Parent, though, may have to make sure that the craft project suits the kids' ages.

 If the children are old enough to handle scissors, they could be given them patterns to cut out and later paste into a cartolina to make a bigger design. The real fun begins when they start making their own designs. The kids could also be made to make a collage of family pictures, a scrapbook or friendship bracelets that can be used as gifts to give at special occasions.

 Participate in outreach activities. Parents can create opportunities where the kids may show kindness to others. During the summer vacation, parents may take the kids in joining outreach activities like feeding programs or a tree-planting activity. Involving the kids in a worthwhile cause can develop their sense of compassion, concern, and empathy for others and the environment at an early age.

 Slow down on gadgets.  The extensive free time that kids have during the summer vacation may tempt them to spend a lot of time with their tablets, computers, playstations, or watch too much TV. But the kids shall be made limit their time spent with gadgets, or these are better kept away. Instead, they have to engage in good old family conversation or do gardening and other such wholesome activities. Parents may take the kids on a museum tour or teach them Filipino traditional games.

 There is a wealth of possibilities available for parents to do with their kids this summer vacation. But these activities are possible only if the family finds time for it. (FREEMAN)