Summer can be a challenging with all your kids home. You may be used to this now with the recent pandemic and, for better or for worse, there isn’t anymore school work to help keep kids doing something. But summer is a little different than distance learning and we all need a little help to survive the summer.
In Utah, things are starting to get back to normal a bit. There still aren’t any sports or pools, but splash pads and parks are open. Thank goodness! But even with things opening back up, we’re still staying home more than usual and looking to have a healthy summer.
So here are some tips to help your summer be a little less chaotic. You can also listen to these tips on episode 62 of our podcast Parenting in Real Life wherever you listen to podcasts.
I recently watched an IGTV from 8 Minute Classes by Homegrown Traditions and she had some great summer hacks. I wanted to share some of my favorites from that episode and also some of our own to hopefully help your summer be a bit more manageable too.
Lunch Time
Lunch time is one of the worst times of the day. It seems like everyone wants something different and they all want it now. To help with the chaos, you can do a snack try for lunch – cheese, crackers, deli meat, fruit, veggies and let them grab what they want.
We tried something like this when are family got together with our extended family. There were a lot of kids! So we made sandwiches and cut them into squares, cut up fruit, and made quesadillas and put them all out for kids to grab what they wanted. It actually went really well!
Now that our oldest girls are 9 and 7, we have them try to make their own lunches and sometimes help with their siblings as well. Also, if your spouse is still working from home, this is a great time for them to take a lunch break and help make lunch and clean up. 🙂 This has been a huge timesaver for me! Lunch cleanup always seems to take forever. Make sure to have kids help clean up before they head outside too.
Pool Bag Ready
Keep a pool bag or splash pad bag packed and ready to go with towels, swim diapers, and sunscreen. This way it doesn’t take so long to get going. I also keep a picnic blanket, trash bags, bug spray, sunscreen, and hand sanitizer in the car so I don’t forget it. It’s inevitable that I forget something, but if it’s already in the car, we’re more likely to have what we need. Especially for those last minute activities.
Quiet Time
Homegrown Traditions suggested a quiet time. We are terrible at that! We do stay home in the afternoon so our youngest can nap. That’s usually when I let the kids play outside or have screen time. There are a lot of kids in the neighborhood and our kids love to be outside so I can still get things done in the afternoon while the kids play. That’s my quiet time. And honestly, our kids are pretty good at coming in and taking a break when they get frustrated or tired.
Schedule the Morning
We have scheduled mornings to help keep the kids engaged in activities. First thing is they have some free time while I get ready for the day. They can do screens, but we try to keep it only to TV and not personal devices. It’s a lot easier to turn off a TV then have all the kids turn off their devices all over the house.
In the morning we are doing a daily chore as a family. This can be anything from cleaning to organizing to weeding. Then we do some education time that includes reading, writing and letter/sight word recognition, Chinese, and music practice for those who play instruments. This is by no means perfect and something it’s 10 minutes and sometimes it’s an hour. It depends on the day, what we’re doing, and how motivated I am.
I also bought some international flags as props for teaching VIPKid, but the kids loved them and were asking about the countries. 50 came in the bunch so we thought it would be fun for each kid to pick a flag and just tell us a little something about that country each week. This way we’ll get through all of them in 10 weeks. We did our first presentation this week and the kids loved it!
We’re also not letting our kids play with friends until after lunch. It just helps us keep things organized and not have too much friend time which can make them grumpy.
Bucket List
The next tip is to make a summer bucket list. Make sure to ask your kids what they want to do too and include those things that you’re also willing to do. 8 minute classes also has a really cute summer calendar with bucket list ideas that we did a large print of and it’s hanging in our kitchen so the kids can see what we’re doing this summer. One of things our kids want to do is a family game night and play our new favorite outdoor game, glow in the dark Capture the Flag.
Bed Time
Even though it’s the summer and the nights are brighter longer, make sure to put kids to bed at their normal bed time. This really helps kids be happier the next day as their bodies keep a normal routine. Children also need a lot of sleep so allowing them to get the sleep they need makes life better for everyone.
Field Trips
If you can, plan some fun trips or field trips this summer. It will give you something to look forward to. You can always drive around and explore your state. Every state has something beautiful to offer.
Summer Goals
This is a little bit different than a bucket list, but if you have kids that are about 7 and up, have them make some summer goals. This will help them have something to work towards. Some of the goals my kids made this summer are to read 4 books, learn to bake, do a bake sale and lemonade stand and do an art project. You can even provide small prizes once they reach their goals to help keep them motivated.
These are some of the things we’re doing this summer to help keep things a bit more organized with less screen time. What are you doing this summer to help your kids stay entertained?