Fathering Project

The Summer holidays are a bit of an enigma. 

At the beginning it feels like there is abundant time. Then by the time Christmas has come and gone it can start to catch up with you. My aim each break is to ‘make it count’, especially with the kids. 

It doesn’t even have to be about spending money. There are so many great ideas about ways to spend time with your kids. The keys for me are to be intentional and to let them join in on the planning.

Below are some ideas from the Fathering Project that might get you kickstarted. I hope you can make the most of the time you have with those special to you as you celebrate this season.

• Role play is a great tool for social and emotional learning. If your kids can’t go to the shops, they can set up their own. They could create a restaurant, set up a circus, do a talent show, open a hairdresser's salon or be a vet with toys. Join in as a customer once they are set up.
• Do a scientific mini exploration outside. Children can use phones to take photographs of the world from the perspective of an ant or a butterfly, then create a picture or PowerPoint journal of a day in the life of their mini creature.
• Explore the world online together. Build on your children’s knowledge of the world around them. Learn about and locate different countries, name continents, countries, cities, rivers, mountains etc. Have family quizzes to test your knowledge.
• Get creative to get the housework done. Ask your kids to design a makeover of their bedroom by creating homemade pictures, rearranging displays and tidying and cleaning. Get them to draw up plans of their ideas first!
• Don’t be afraid to let them get bored occasionally. Children don’t have many opportunities to let their imaginations flow and get creative in this era of over-stimulation. The ability to deal with boredom is an unmistakable sign of good mental health.
• Let the kids run loose in your wardrobe. Choose three different outfits and have a fashion parade.
• Host a movie marathon. Write up pretend movie tickets, cook popcorn and each select a movie of your choice to watch.
• Build a blanket fort together, a great instructional video here. Build it so you can watch your movies under it, with fairy lights and all.
• Have a cupcake decorating competition.
• Set up your own home restaurant. Decide your entrée, main and dessert. Design a menu, signs and set up the table.
• Have a family games day. We are talking ‘old fashioned’ board games – think uno, monopoly, celebrity heads, twister and chess. Choose a few games to play and make a day of it.

Try our downloadable activity sheet for a getting back to nature challenge.