When you are a child, the summer holidays can be extremely long, especially when you are from a single parent family and you have nothing to do due to the lack of financial resources at your disposal.
Having extra time on their hands, usually leads to children of all ages to get involved in activities that are not good for them and can get into all sorts of trouble simply for the lack of a healthy alternative. When you are a single parent it can be very difficult to balance your work life with your home life already while the kids are at school during the day, but when they have time off to themselves and you cannot be with them because you have to work, the worry and responsibility become so much more stressful.
This summer holiday, you should set up a list of healthy and fun Kids summer holiday activities that will put a single mother’s mind at ease and will keep the kids from getting up to mischief.
Back To Nature
Sending your kids to a camp like New Forest Activities will give them a chance to interact with other children their age and find others with similar interests as them. They may find other children with single parents as well that can relate to their situation and they can do all of this by spending a healthy amount of time in the outdoors.
It is so easy to stick a child in front of a television set these days and they do not complain because they like the relaxation time, but it is so much better for the development, physically and mentally, to interact with others and spending time outdoors. At New Forest they can do both.
Valuable lessons such as working as part of a team and leadership skills are taught through interactive play and combat games in a friendly and safe environment. There are also ways for them to get closer to nature during hikes, rafting and canoeing.
Your kids are in a safe environment, they are learning new things about their world, other people and themselves and you get to take care of your responsibilities without having to worry about your kids.
Archery
This sport is not for kids of all ages, and you may not like to think about what may happen if your children had the opportunity to point really sharp pointy things at each other and other people, but archery requires great strength, skill, discipline and coordination. If your child can master these skills while practicing archery, then they can learn to apply these skills in their everyday life.
During the summer you can set them up with Archery lessons. This activity is also taught at certain camps so if you want to send your children to summer camp, you can enquire with the office of the campsite whether they offer archery lessons.
Music Camps
If your child wants to take voice lesson classes or learn an instrument over the summer, you can enroll them in a music school. Some music schools offer summer camps to their students and to outside students who wishes to learn more about music during their spare time. You can also buy piano for your child so he/she can practice at home. When he or she realizes that they can develop a skill on their own, it gives them that self-belief and confidence boost that they require. You can inquire at your local music academies and foundations like Save the Music about whether they offer summer programs and during which times they are so that your children will be able to attend while you are at work. After that, they can also check out online resources like https://www.savethemusic.org/music-education-resources/ while at home. When allowed to work in harmony with other subjects and areas of study, music helps children grow in self-esteem, build essential skills and prepare for bright futures. You can find more info on music schools here.
Yoga Lessons
Although grownups find it hard to believe that a child can go through any amount of stress, children are also faced with many physical, mental and social challenges of a daily basis. You can use this summer holiday to get them into a Yoga program where they will learn the skills to cope with all of the stresses they deal with on a daily basis. Yoga is fun for all ages from babies, right through to the elderly and it has many health benefits attached to it as well.
How To Pick A Summer Camp
If you decide to send your children to a summer camp, there are a few things you will need to look at before you send them. You will not be with your child during the time they are at camp and it is important that you are sure your child will be safe and that should anything happen, they will be able to reach you and that there are trained professionals there to assist.
Your Child’s Taste
Before you ship your child off to camp for the summer, you need to know that your child will at least be comfortable with your decision of where they will be spending their summer. The idea is to send them somewhere that they will have fun and interact with others and if you send them somewhere with activities they will not enjoy at all then you will have the completely opposite effect. You do not necessarily have to consult your child on your every move, but at least have two or three places for them to choose from with different activities and let them have a say in the matter. If your child loves music, then sites like Fiddlers Guide are right up their alley. If your child is afraid of water and cannot swim, you won’t want to force this on them in an environment where they won’t feel one hundred percent safe, such as a camp with other children that may love water and can swim as they may end up teasing your child and they won’t want to take part in any of the activities at all. Try to keep your child’s current interests and hobbies in mind when choosing their camp.
What Type Of Camp Do You Prefer
When looking at the activities and your child’s age, you should also consider whether you will be sending your child to a day camp or if a sleepover camp with day and nightly activities will work better with your work schedule. Will your child be ready to sleep over? Even if this is the most convenient situation, your child may experience separation anxiety if he is not used to sleeping away from home.
As your child gets a little older you might need to consider whether you are comfortable with your child going to a Coed camp or if a brother-sister camp would be more suited. At the Coed camp, many of the activities are performed with boys and girls together and many of the utilities are shared between the boys and girls where with a brother-sister camp on certain activities allow the girls and boys to mingle while they are separated for most of the summer.
Your Available Budget
You do want the best for your child and you want to send your child somewhere that is safe and fun, but it doesn’t help you book your child into a camp that will put you in financial difficulty because of the costs that are involved.
There are non-profit camps available such as the “Y” as well as government camps and they may not be as luxurious as some of the private camps, but your child will be just as safe and entertained at these types of camps. More often than not, because the camp is non-profit, the people working there are passionate about the education of children and are not just there for the money they can earn and your child may just have a richer experience at one of these camps.
When you are looking at the cost of camp, you need to factor in as well that if your child stays at home, they may cost you even more. Your child will need to be fed, entertained and kept safe while they are at home and while they are at home they are using utilities that are not usually in use while you are at work and your child is at school which also adds to the cost of keeping your child at home. If your child is too young to stay at home by themselves and you still need to go to work, you will have to pay for a babysitter or for day care.
In the end, it may not seem so expensive to send your child to camp if you consider the other options of what to do with them to keep them happy and entertained.
Size Of The Camp
Your child’s social skills may just dictate to you where your child will be most comfortable. Some children need more attention than others and if your child needs extra care, it may not be a good idea to send your child to a camp which is large and can accommodate a large amount of children. Your child may do better at a smaller camp where there is more individual attention.
At a large camp, the children may also be broken up into smaller groups where they will still be given the same amount of attention and one on one contact as they would at a small camp. The best thing to do is to do an investigation to see what their adult to child ratio is. The more adults are at camp, the more groups will be broken up and the better the attention the child will receive.
Activities Available At Summer Camp
Because summer is a great time to be outdoors, there are many outdoor activities available at summer camps that will teach your child new things, encourage your child to socialize with other children of the same age and to get in touch with nature.
Some of the Kids Summer Holiday Activities you may come to expect include:
- Football
- Tennis
- Soccer
- Horse Riding
- Frisbee
- High Ropes
- Jet Skiing
- Kayaking
- Mountain Climbing
- Bow Shooting
- Arts
- Drama
- Zip Lining
- Abseiling
- Swimming
- Go-Karting
- Stories around the campfire
Planning A Holiday
If you are lucky enough to get the summer holiday off to spend with your kids, you may want to weigh up all the pros and cons about what you have planned for the holiday. You can plan the best holiday away for both you and your children on a shoe string budget. Going away for the holidays do not need to cost you more than it would to stay at home.
There is always the cost factor that comes into planning a holiday, but if you are organized and you know where to look, you may find the best bargains.
You need to also plan the activities for your children according to their ages so that you make sure everyone will be catered for where you are going. There may be a few fun and educational places where you can take your kids during the holiday that are close to your home and you can save money on transport by not have to worry about travelling somewhere and you can visit places of interest that you don’t normally get the time to visit with your kids that do not charge an entrance fee. Discuss these places with your kids first to see if they will be interested at least and try to compromise between which day you will pick something to do and which days they can pick something to do. Remember to keep an open mind so that you don’t have a rebellion on your hands. This way your children feel more like they are a part of the family by giving them the power to make decisions that will affect the entire family and you can use this tool to teach them responsibility as well.
If you live near the beach or a public swimming pool, you can help your kids to cool down by taking them to the beach or the pool during the day. Just make sure you take enough sunscreen and that you are not out at the hottest part of the day. If you want to try glamping, check out these camper trailer dealers Sydney.
Museums and Aquarians are often enjoyed by smaller children as they get to see things from the rest of the world that they are not usually exposed to.
Staying or Going
Whether you get to stay at home with your children, or your children are staying at home without you, or whether you are staying at home without your children will be a decision that is based on your personal circumstances. As long as your children are happy and they are being kept busy with basically any kind of kids summer holiday activities, they should be able to survive the summer without too much fuss.