8 Fun things to do this Summer…

Summer comes with much awaited summer vacations. Mothers have ambivalent feelings towards summer vacations. We are happy that we can stay on bed a little longer, spend time with apples of our eyes. We want our munchkins to have fun and yet learn something. We want to take them for outings, and we conspire to make some of them educational. And yet, before the sun bids adieu on the very first day of vacation, we start counting how many days before the school reopens.

We, as kids used to visit our grandparents. All we wanted to do was play outdoors, climb trees, eat mangoes, cycle and when we were told not to go out we used to read comics, play board-games like monopoly, ludo, snake – ladder, name-place-animal thing etc. Nowadays, kids have so many options. There is no dearth of activities. Before the summer can knock our homes- we are flooded with the flyers of different activities all available at stone’s throw away distance. Swimming, handwriting, basketball, cricket, keyboard, drawing, painting, guitar, you name it and you get it in and around your vicinity. With so many options comes the difficulty to choose. You may want your son to learn piano, he may be interested in tennis. You may want your daughter to give basketball a try, she may be waiting to play cricket instead.

 So here is a list of how you can make summer more fun for you and for your kids. –

1. Join a library- Books are still man’s friend. If you want your kid to improve vocabulary, visit different places without putting a foot outside the town- instill the habit of reading. If you want to teach morals- Panchtantra might come in handy. Read encyclopedia for knowledge.  Books books books. I, being the voracious reader, can’t emphasize enough, how much it can transform your kid’s life.
2. Take them to museum- Once the vacation starts, with a  couple of friends, you can take them to museum, planetarium or zoo, national park, heritage sites, historical places. Yes, an informative outing. Don’t forget to make the next one fun outing- which can be a picnic, boating, a beach, a movie, or a farm.
3. Activities- Make something together. Sit with them, enjoy with them, any activity- coloring, pottery, making a photo-frame, origami, gardening, or ‘theatrical nights’ read here to know how we do it. 
4. Science experiments- Depending on the age of your kid, you can introduce science by doing experiments. It’s super fun and ineresting.
5. Cooking – Make their favorite dish with them. It is a basic life skill which helps them in developing their palates. It not only makes them love food but also to appreciate the process.
6. Gadget- Yes, I said it. One hour gadget can be your savior if you need to catch up on sleep, or just a break. But not the mobile or television but give them laptop. Make sure all the popups are blocked, and one account for kid on youtube with subscription to only kids channel. Here are few awesome channels for kids to learn something while you take a nap-

• Hooplakidslab
• MakemegeniusIndia
• Peeaboo
• Animalwonders Montana
• Scihow Space
• Crash course Kids
• ThebrainScoop
• CrashCourse
• PBS Kids
• Grand Thompson
• Educational Videos for Kids
• SciShow Kids
• doodleacademy
• ArtforKids hub
• Cartooning 4 kid

7. Converse with them. Talk to them about everything under the sun. This is the bonding time. Love them, hug them, tell them how grateful you are for them. Make this summer a memorable one, by spending time with them.

8. Playdates- Now is the time to invite the friends over for a pajama party or a movie with popcorn, pizza and juice.  Let them play. “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time”. So waste away your time, love them, laugh with them. Enjoy your summer break.