School Holidays are an exciting time of the year for kids! They are tired after a long school year and need a break to rest their brains, recoup and have some time for fun.

However for parent’s school holidays do present their own unique challenges such as, how do we keep them occupied for 6 weeks? how much time on technology is too much time? how do we make time fun as a family?

In the holiday’s parents can start to feel like they have become their child’s entertainment co-ordinator. For some parent’s holidays reminds them of the dreaded comments such as.

“There’s nothing to do!”
“I’m bored!”
“What can I do now!”
“I don’t want to do that”

Here are some ideas to tackle school holiday challenges.

1)     Have a family sit down discussion and make a plan

-        Look at your work roster and see when you are free

-        Ask the kids what some things are they would like to do these holidays

-        Things they want to do as a family, one on one with you, on their own, with friends etc – write a list and stick it on the fridge.

-        Get out a calendar and plan when these things may be doable – having a loose structure of events, activities etc can help your child have things to look forward to.

-        Help organise catch ups with friends

2)     It’s okay for your child to be bored!

Boredom grows the ability to be quiet and mindful as an adult, without the constant need to be on-the-go or entertained. Children need time to themselves. In moments of quietness and aloneness our brains begin to daydream and wander and its here that children begin to peruse their own thoughts and start to turn on their creativity, resourcefulness, and curiosity.   

So, when your child says they are bored, help them see this as an opportunity to create their own fun, be creative, be messy, innovative, and silly.

-        Help them by providing them with some materials such as,

-        Cardboard boxes, string, wool, no longer needed household materials, paint, pieces of wood, baskets, blankets, pillows, buckets, old clothes etc.

-        Encourage them to embrace their ideas, on two conditions, they clean up and pack away when they are done and finish up when you say it’s time.

-        If they get stuck give them prompts, suggest some options…

o   “What does that cardboard box look like? How can they make it into something different?”

o   “What’s a story you could create with the materials you have?”

-        Suggest they make a story and a play, that you will come back and watch later when they are ready.

3)     Having fun as a family.
Where possible take some time out with your kids to join in on their fun, play a game together, learn about their videogame or ask them to tell you about the book they have been reading or their latest favourite TV show.

-        Kids feel connected and important when adults take an interest in their interests, are curious to learn about their hobbies and want to know their feelings, opinions, hopes, joys, or annoyances.

-        One on one time with kids has been found to strengthen your attachment with your child and theirs with you. It is not the quantity of time but the quality of time together. Spending short bursts of one on one time and longer when you have it really helps kids feel they are a priority. Have a 10 minute Uno game or a quick game of Jenga, sit down and chat about your interests over a quick cup of hot chocolate or a milk shake, go for a short walk, start a book and read a chapter a day together.  

4) Technology

We all know it’s an easy fix to use technology as a babysitter in school holidays. So here are some tips on how to keep screen time within reasonable limits.

Let’s say your goal is to stick to the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended maximum 2 hours a day of recreational screen time for 5- 17 year olds. Here is a helpful activity below to give you some ‘buy in’ with your child or teenager in getting to this goal.

The idea is this, we suggest you aim for your child to complete a task in each of the four categories below (bonus points if you can get your child outdoors in Newcastle or Lake Macquarie):

• Something to grow your brain

• Something to keep your body healthy

• Something to be helpful

• Something for fun

The goal is your child must complete a task in each category first before earning screen time - so screen time is only given after the task is completed. After each activity/task completed they can earn 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour of time etc. The great part is you can repeat this throughout the day. The amount of screen time is up to your discretion, but it is suggested the amount of time is decided based on how much effort and duration of time they put into other activities.

We hope these tips can help your family these holidays.

Written by Jessica Alpin - Registered Clinical Psychologist