Ways to keep children busy during the holidays

By now, schools across the country are through with the third term examination and the students are on the long holiday. Parents and caregivers will be happy to take a break from the usual routine of lunch-making, uniform-sorting and school runs, not to mention homework battles, and other daily logistics associated with school runs.  However, […]

By now, schools across the country are through with the third term examination and the students are on the long holiday. Parents and caregivers will be happy to take a break from the usual routine of lunch-making, uniform-sorting and school runs, not to mention homework battles, and other daily logistics associated with school runs.

 However, a new challenge, is on the horizon. The thought of weeks of children hanging around the house looking for something to do, requires parents and caregivers to be very resourceful in order to keep their children occupied and themselves sane.

With their nature, Kids can start to get restless over their holiday break, so it is important to plan activities for the eight weeks holiday to keep them engaged and entertained. There are various options available to keep them busy. Here are a few ones which can make an average Nigerian child busy for the eight weeks’ vacation.

1. Reading: Get children reading whether it is the real book or the e-book. Take them to a library to read if there is one in your neighbourhood, buy books for them or help download relevant books online so they can read at their convenience. Encourage them to get involved in a series of books be it a Nigerian or foreign books. 

2. Board games: these include, Pictionary, which requires drawing, image recognition, wordplay, vocabulary and so on. This game is an excellent way to gather friends and family to spend quality time together. It is also educational and teaches lessons about fair play and following rules.

 3. Sports: There are various sports activities children can engage in to keep them busy depending on their age. Generally, sports such as football, basketball, tennis are some of the few sports which both boys and girls can engage in. It will make them sweat, active and busy. 

4. Colouring: there is the need to make colouring experience more interesting and exciting so that children will not be bored easily. Purchase a bulk roll of brown kraft paper or use the inside of wrapping paper to create a large surface for kids to color on freely. 

 5. Kitchen: Many disallow their young children from entering the kitchen due to limited time in the morning for school preparation and home work in the evening. The holiday period is the best avenue to encourage our young ones to assist in preparing meals, snacks, juice, smoothies and washing of plates. Young children, especially the teenagers, both boys and girls, can be taught how to bake cake or prepare a meal.

6. Television: Out of no clue on how to get children engaged, it is a common practice for children to be glued to the screen throughout the day. From morning till evening, many children watch cartoon channels, movies and other things on the big screen. Some others preferred playing computer games all day. Parents usually do not object as the big screen is considered an electronic babysitter. But, these do not encourage much creativity or imagination and therefore have their limitations. Children should not spend more than two or three hours per day maximum staring at a screen. 

7. Decorations: Home-made decorations give an opportunity to harness kids’ holiday spirit and creativity. Instead of buying craft supplies, use household items like paper, old CDs, and kitchen ingredients for inventive projects. 

 8. Entrepreneurship spirit: Encourage older children especially those in the secondary school, to engage in one artisan work or the other. Eight weeks is enough to learn the basics about some specialty, whether it is photography or computer softwares. It could be the period to make them learn simple hairdressing, facial makeup and treatment, barbing tips, catering services, dress making and others. Encouraging them to learn a trade not only empowers them for future challenges, it also keeps them busy.

9. Holiday coaching: Summer/holiday coaching is one of the best avenues to keep the children busy. While they attend the coaching in the morning, parents and caregivers must find other things to keep them busy in the evening.

During holidays, rapist operates more, some children learn bad habits and some other children only waste all day doing nothing except play because they don’t have anything to do.

With additional information from the internet