Yes mommas!
Summer is here again!
And with summer time, comes questions like, “When will the holiday end?” Why? Please, it only just begun! LOL.
“Who will stay at home with the kids?”
“Will there be holiday makers?”
“How much screen time is realistic?”
“What sort of activities should the kids be engaged in?”
If these questions have crossed your mind on one or two occasions, and you are thinking of some fun, yet educational activities to keep the kids meaningfully occupied then relax and keep reading…
As you know, kids are usually passion driven, indulge them in things they like to do but still channel it towards yielding a positive result.
For instance, Niki loves to draw, so I have her draw various shapes and identify their names and properties. Depending on the topic of the day, I could go further to ask her to draw something related to that topic being learnt- e.g. fruits- and write or gather some facts about them using kiddle or something related.
That way it’s a win-win situation because she’s doing what she loves best while learning a thing or two in addition.
Steph who loves to write, is not left out but is given lots of opportunities to also explore this passion by making it more structured. She could write a story about imaginary characters or even go further to write a recount about a recent activity she enjoyed.
In all these, I try to be conscious of the fact that I need to incorporate other areas and aspects of learning, while still being intentional with their passions.
Of course, we all know the saying that, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull kid.’ So despite letting them have their way with their passions, we should also learn to get even more creative and think outside the box.
Purchase educational games for the kids that will boost their intelligence quotient levels, skills and all. Board games like scrabble, ludo, monopoly and chess-for the much older kids- often come highly recommended.
Take the kids out once in a while and make them keep a journal where they get to write about their experience, making sure that they include the appropriate and relevant details necessary.
Reading, dancing, playing music and unstructured free play are also good ways to develop kids’ self-expression and interaction. Buy lots of good books for their reading pleasure and you won’t regret it.
Imagine your kids spending their summer drawing landscapes, fixing puzzles, dancing their hearts out, writing their own holiday proposals, whatever their passion, help them create a good plan to execute it effectively. Don’t forget, if the teachers could be with these kids effortlessly, then you can too!
PS: The girls and I made play dough few days ago and I wish to share our recipe with you below! After several failed attempts, we stuck to this recipe below:
Our Homemade Playdough Recipe
· 3 cups of flour
· 1 ½ cups of table salt
· 7 table spoons of pears baby oil (or any baby oil of your choice I guess)
· As a substitute to the cream of tartar I saw online, I mixed baking soda and baking powder with hot water and still got the desired result.
· Red Food coloring (use any color of choice)
· Stir everything over medium heat to avoid lumps.
· Remove from the heat and knead while it’s still warm.
· And there, you have your play dough ready to be used.
· Don’t forget to cover up completely in zip lock bags to avoid drying up and being useless.
You could give it a try as well and let me know how the process went!
Good luck mommas!
XOXO,
Yours Truly.
Nikimandi
