In the scorching summer heat and with a long vacation, you would want your child to stay at home and engage in fun activities that will help develop various skills. These long holidays are also a great time to learn things mainly because children get ample time, and this year, you could get your kid to try these productive yet fun activities:

Art And Craft

Art activities like colouring, painting, paper mache, origami, clay modelling, etc are highly productive. Preetjyot Kaur, Life Coach for Kids, says, “Art helps develop a child's problem-solving abilities, motor skills and neural development, which helps them write, read, and understand science and math concepts effectively. It gives kids an opportunity to process the world around them easily and helps them deal with difficult emotions.”

Reading

Ask your child to read at least one page a day, even if it’s from a comic book. Enroll them in a library so that they can choose books of their interest and read them regularly. This activity will inculcate a habit of reading and will also enhance their vocabulary. Win-win!

Memory Board Or Scrapbook

Ask your child to write down what they enjoyed doing during the day and put it up on the memory board. They could stick pictures and collectables too.

Easy Science Experiments

Experiments that can be done with easily available things at your home aren’t just exciting, but will also help your child understand various laws of science and nature. Preetjyot mentions, “Kids are inquisitive and have a natural drive to investigate the world around them. Taking advantage of their curiosity and enthusiasm early in life would foster a liking for science and lay a strong ground for scientific thinking and its concepts.”

Gardening

Gardening is a beautiful skill-building activity. Let your child choose a plant of their choice and take the responsibility of caring for it, and maintaining it. It’ll teach them to be responsible.

Have Cook-Offs

Here’s an interesting way to spend your afternoon with your child and bond with them! Look up an interesting recipe, get all the ingredients together and bake cookies, cakes and other desserts together at home. It’ll help them learn an essential life skill. 

Writing

Gift your kid a diary and encourage them to write anything and everything every day. They can even make pen pals and write to them regularly, or can simply write letters to their family members and friends at school.

Apart from engaging in these productive activities, do not forget to pay attention to their emotional intelligence.  “Intelligence and physical development is important for every child, but we can't forget focusing on their emotional intelligence.  Parents must keep aside at least 30 minutes during the day for a heart-to-heart talk with their child. Discuss the day and describe the emotions they felt while participating in different tasks. Don't forget to share about your day with your child,” Preetjyot elaborates. She also suggests giving your child an hour of boredom, as this will give the child an opportunity to explore things their way and come up with unique, engaging activities.

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