Summer activities: How to be wise and choose right!

Mishika is almost as busy as a working executive. She gets up at 6 AM and goes to bed just before 10 PM. Her schedule is tight and she has little time to take a short afternoon nap, or watch TV in the evening. Mishika is just 12 years old — and she already has a neck-to-neck time table.

Her school starts at 7 AM. She returns home by 2 PM, has lunch and leaves for her dance class at 3 PM. Every alternate day she has tablatraining at a centre nearby. She returns home to have a quick snack and leave for swimming sessions at 6 PM. She also learns skating thrice a week. When not skating, she has home tuitions for science and maths.

Mishika’s long day ends with dinner at 8 PM, after which she completes her homework and finally hits the bed. During summer vacations, her wake up time gets comfortable but the day schedule has a few more activities thrown in.

Mishika displays the situation of many children today who lead this club-like lifestyle with almost no me-time. And thanks to the nuclear family set-up today, many children don’t even get the opportunity to fall asleep listening to stories told by their grandparents. They have no time to play informally with the locality children or chase butterflies in the park; the innocence of childhood is lost to planned activities that nurture a competitive streak in them.

This brings us to an important question. In doing our bit to keep our children away from boredom, are we robbing them of essential growing-up experiences? Being enrolled in too many activities, are children losing the ability to amuse themselves?

Parents don’t realize that it’simportant to get bored or do nothing. You will be surprised to see your children finding their own creative ways to deal with boredom. They can spend time at home playing cards, board games or simply watching a movie with you. Some kitchen activities like making summer drinks, fruit salads, ice cream shakes or learning how to bake a cake are fun ways to enjoy themselves at home with family. These ‘kith and kin’ moments are vital for the child’s emotional and mental well-being. 

So this summer, let your child take a break, or pick up any one activity that makes him feel involved and interested. Remember, not all activities are fun and enjoyable. There are signs to look out for if your child is stressed out:

• Lack of interest will make the child irritated or angry while going for the activity
• Stress is a clear sign that the child is unhappy
• The child will appear tired at the end
• Any break from the activity will make the child happy

Its important to let the child enjoy some unstructured play time (during holidays and otherwise). Let them paint, draw, read a book or simply go cycling with friends. You can also add an unplanned summer holiday to your wish list and revel in the fun!

What kind of schedule does your child have? How do you make sure they’re doing what they love? Let us know in the comments below!