Healthy summer plan for children

Summer vacations stretch longer nowadays with the sweltering heat making it next to impossible to have any outdoor activities. On top of that, the holidays tend to bring out the restless side in children.

There are plenty of ways to keep kids occupied indoors. However, you need to practice caution while assigning certain hours of gadgets to children daily. Keeping them physically active is as important as keeping them mentally occupied is. Research has indicated that children are not getting the healthy face-to-face exposure, hence imparting a communication handicap. Children have natural tendency to have a lot of energy which they need to expend regularly.

Make sure that your children are getting enough physical activity during the summer holidays. Studies have shown that physically active children have higher self-esteem, are more mentally aware, and have better coping skills as compared to their inactive counterparts. According to Dr. Arif Khan, Consultant Pediatric Neurologist and Epileptologist and Head of Children’s Services at the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, it is very important to have a healthy balance of mental as well as physical activities. He suggests the following steps to create a healthy mental/physical balance during summer vacations.

Make a schedule

Create a schedule for everyday activities that vary between physical and mental stimulation. Don’t let your kids slack off the whole day on the pretext of ‘vacation relaxation’. Once they get into the routine of daily activities they will start looking forward to them. Schedule dormant activities that entail entertainment, like playing on the iPad, computer games, or watching TV; but limit the time period to no more than two hours each. You can use a tracking app, better yet, teach your kids to use the tracking app, and stay strict about following the times to a T.

Get creative

Get your kids together and chalk out some games and plans. Games can be anything form Scrabble or Pictionary, to make-believe pirate enactment to kitchen parties. Engage children in fun activities and teach them how to cook easy recipes in the kitchen. And remember to have fun with it!

For educational purposes, visit museums with your kids and involve them in the history of the world that is being presented.

Plan trips together, nearby places or to another country. And upon return give your kids the task of writing about their vacation experiences.

Workshops

There are plenty of workshops running throughout summer to cater to your children. They range from all kinds of interests. Have your kids experiment and enhance their skills by enrolling them in an activities based or education-oriented summer camp.

You can find plenty of sources for workshops and how to keep kids busy in the heat here.

Regular sleep time

The most common mistake parents make during summer vacations is letting kids stay awake up till dawn and sleep till late afternoon the next day. Granted, it’s the vacation syndrome, everyone needs a break. But this practice is harmful in the long-term and leads to problems like hyperactivity, irritability, lack of focus and attention, and decreased learning capacity. Set a proper bedtime, later than schooldays, but earlier than midnight.

Courtesy: American Center Psychiatry and Neurology (ACPN)