Keeping Kids Learning During School Holidays

Any school holiday whether it’s during the summer or Christmas brings a lot of joy and excitement for our kids with so many games and free time, but as a parent, you might be wondering how best to strike a balance between proper downtime and keeping their minds engaged. This is particularly important during the summer, when we can all feel that if we don’t use it, we lose it (in terms of our brains). There are places like Tutor Hunt that offer online tutoring for kids who may need to keep going in certain subjects. If you are concerned that your kids need to have some form of learning in place during their well-deserved breaks, here are some practical tips.

The Right Type of Games

We can infuse education into playtime with a number of different methods. Board games are one of those great examples that can keep those neurons firing, and even during the Christmas season, you can play a game of Christmas Chess to help strategic thinking and encourage problem-solving skills. What’s more, the Christmas theme can bring a touch of magic to something that potentially your children would not touch with a barge pole, therefore making it both educational and entertaining in equal measure.

Get Them in the Kitchen

The great thing about the holidays is that you can start to help them with more practical skills. Involving your kids in cooking or baking is a great way for them to get involved in the kitchen. But it’s also a simple way to help them measure ingredients, calculate proportions, and understand cooking times, which is not just great for some mathematical knowledge, but this hands-on approach is going to create wonderful lasting memories between the two of you in the kitchen.

Holiday-themed Reading Challenges

During the Christmas holidays, you can turn reading into a festive adventure by creating a list of books related to the season, such as Diwali, Hanukkah, and of course, Christmas, and encourage your kids to explore different cultures and traditions through literature. This can make learning a great part of the holiday experience. It can be so easy for all kids to think about Christmas as receiving and not giving, which is why it’s so important for us to learn about different cultures.

Exploring Nature

If your kids are on their summer holidays, you can take advantage of the great outdoors by organizing scavenger hunts, nature walks, or just heading out to the garden and doing some basic gardening activities. You can encourage your children to document different plants or animals that they see, and this is one of the fundamental aspects of learning. Curiosity is something that can easily transform into a far better educational experience.

Crafts and Art Projects

Sometimes we need to keep our kids occupied, and crafts and arts are undoubtedly the best way to do it. Whether it’s creating Christmas ornaments or Hanukkah decorations, these activities are going to foster creativity, but also provide an opportunity to learn about different cultural celebrations.

Keeping our kids educated and entertained during the school holidays can be a big ask, but there are so many different ways for us to do it without it feeling like a chore.