Ideas for Activities during Summer Vacations

Summer vacations provide a golden opportunity for all of us to do the things that we always wanted to do but never had the time! There are so many things that one can do for self and for children besides the time tested way of spending the holidays by travelling to exotic locations. Here are some suggestions that you can consider! Watch movies on your DVD player Your kids do not have school. You can now afford to spare extra time with them. So, why not become a child along with them and watch some good children's movies on DVD? Encourage them to write one page on what they liked about the movie in their own words and go online! This kind of amateur writing can help them later in the school in writing essays. Needless to add, taking your children to a movie hall is another option (for which you don't need to wait for a summer vacation). Travel to a heritage site Rather than go travelling to a place where everyone else is headed to, think of travelling to a heritage site like Hampi, where your school going children can marvel at the architectural works of those times. I read that the Karnataka Travel and Tourism department has a special train for covering some important heritage sites in the state. It is worth looking at this option. While you are taking snaps during the vacation, encourage your children to caption this. It doesn't matter if they come up with something ordinary. Praise their effort in such a way that they are motivated to outperform themselves. Visit zoos, bird parks and wild life sanctuaries and encourage your children to write about them. Believe me, such kind of family outings are great rejuvenators for the entire family! Develop a hobby Gardening is one such hobby that can be cathartic. The thrill of watching a flower bloom in your home garden or a seed become a seedling is matchless. Once girls are into teens, they can learn hobbies like knitting. Indian families (especially the mothers) have this penchant for allotting household work to their daughters so that they support their mothers and also learn the art of housekeeping and cooking.   There is no harm in making children learn to prepare salads, raitas, sandwiches, noodles etc. Nowadays, special classes are conducted like - Pottery classes - Glass painting - Fabric painting - Embroidery/ cross stitch These are certainly good options to make productive use of the time during the summer vacations.  Music & Dramatics Summer is a good time to enrol in music and dramatics classes. Those who have a flair for the same can even pursue it later on. Some people do conduct shloka classes where they teach religious hymns to children. I give full marks to such activities that can really bring out the latent and hidden talent in children and can keep them gainfully engaged. Financial planning I am no financial expert but I do feel vacations are a good time to do some long term planning for your children's education. Touch base with a good financial planner and find out the schemes that will give you reasonable returns. At the minimum, you can open a PPF account in the name of your children. Believe me; it will be immensely useful for your children's educational needs in the future. Buy a piggy bank for your children and let them start saving! Chill in the bookshops Large bookshops nowadays have ample space to walk in and read and select the books of your choice. If you go at a time when others may not visit, you can spend enough time poring over the books and your children will just do not mind giving you company. One of my former bosses used to visit malls on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings to avoid the mad rush and avoid wasting time in long queues.     Redoing your children's rooms If you have been postponing buying a bunker bed for your children, please do it now. It will be a good idea get your house repainted during the vacations and make the children's rooms more vibrant and colourful. Discard old, unwanted toys; give away the clothes that you no longer need and clear the clutter! Summer time is good for filing all important documents for your children, laminate the certificates that they have been awarded and rearrange medals and cups that they have won. Visit an orphanage Visit an old age home or an orphanage and do something for charity whatever is within your means. Your children will imbibe the art of giving which will make them good human beings. Encourage your kids to be good observers This activity need not be confined to summer alone. Children can create scrap books out of old, unused diaries and can record their observations and thoughts. It will improve their writing skills and at the same time will also ignite their creativity. Swim against the tide What better way than dive into a swimming pool to beat the heat. Okay, I understand Bangalore climate is not that bad but as a Mumbaikar, I have experienced the sweltering heat in the peak summer months of April and May. Summer vacations are great opportunities to induct your children in swimming classes. They will love it. Swimming is also a good form of exercise. However, do take the effort of monitoring this activity under your own eye and engage a good swimming instructor. 48 year old Shishir Gupta who has lived in Bangalore for the last 19 years has fond memories of the childhood that he spent with his siblings learning swimming in the vacations, playing outdoor games and running away to the gardens in the evenings.  Those were the days!  Eswaran Menon, now 56 years, recalls the time that he spent with his friends in the village river."Where was the money during that time?" he questions me when I prod him. "Today parents have dual incomes and can afford to send their children to summer camps. But no summer camp can beat the thrill of swimming in the rivers, climbing onto mango trees and eating raw mangoes with salt" (Is your mouth already salivating, friends?). Nandini Suresh recalls her vacations. "Yes, during the summer, we travelled to our native place on one pretext or the other. But we generally came back after 10 days. After we returned, I and my brother spent all our time with other children of our age playing a range of games". Our children can teach us valuable lessons in life! Child is the father of the man.... So, get ready to have a jolly good time during the summer vacations.  (Please share your ideas for Summer Vacations as comments below.)