How to Keep Your Children Learning During the Holidays

The holidays are a time for rest, relaxation, family time and celebrations.

But learning doesn’t have to stop when school finishes at 2:30pm this Friday. You can help foster a love of learning in your children over the holidays.

Below are some great school holiday activities that get kids engaged, curious and excited about learning…

1. Get messy in the kitchen and bake

Pull out the baking cups and measuring spoons, because cooking is a great way to bring those fraction lessons to life! Most kids love getting messy, so why not bake a cake with them? Let them do the scooping, measuring and mixing and they’ll be applying their mathematical knowledge, as well as learning about the chemistry of baking. Following a recipe is also good practice for them in following instructions. Check out Kidspot Kitchen for oodles of kid-friendly recipes that range from easy peasy to simple as.

2. Play board games and puzzles

Board games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Pictionary or even Snakes and Ladders, are fantastic for exercising little minds. Pull out a boxed game and your kids will be practising their numbers, letters and shape recognition skills, improving their hand-eye coordination, or honing in on their visual perception and colour identification skills.

3. Pull out a deck of cards 

4. Make reading part of the Routine.

Regular routines go out the window when school stops. But you can still keep a sense of routine, and important daily rituals, all through the holidays.  Reading is one of the best forms of learning for all kids (and that includes reading to them):Younger kids develop language skills, improve literacy, and put their imagination to good use.  For older kids, fiction books can further support their writing skills, and through non-fiction they can learn about topics that interest them that they may or may not study in the school environment. Reading can also aid relaxation and reduce stress and anxiety, increase empathy, and promote good sleeping habits.

A recent study found that children who had access to books at home had significantly better reading skills than those who didn’t.

5. Let them be bored.

The holidays can often be a constant battle of finding new and interesting things to keep kids entertained.

But there’s a lot to be said for leaving them to their own devices, and letting them just be.

‘Children need time to themselves – to switch off from the bombardment of the outside world, to daydream, pursue their own thoughts and occupations, and discover personal interests and gifts’, explains Teresa Belton.

Children of the digital age are used to having constant entertainment and instant gratification. So removing these distractions allows some much-needed time for quiet reflection, a wandering mind, and developing creative strategies to keep them entertained.

The best type of boredom can be found in the great outdoors,where they can investigate the natural environment.

It also encouraged imaginative play, which helps kids to express their creativity.

Encourage your older kids and teenagers to go for walks, sit in the park, and experience the world through their own eyes — even for a few minutes a day — instead of through their ipad screen.

So let your kids enjoy the holidays — but show them that learning can be one of the most fun holiday activities, too.

Paul Anderson

Student Wellbeing Leader