6 Meaningful Ways to Engage Your Child During the Holidays
The school holidays are upon us again! Holidays may be a welcome respite from school work and commitments, but can quickly become a drag if you and your child are stumped for things to do. Here are some ideas to keep your child meaningfully engaged during the school holidays.
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Plan fun activities & pick up new skills
Connect with your child and their hobbies. Seek out fun activities that they’d like to do, such as a cooking or baking session, a dance workout, board games night, or even venturing out and exploring hidden spots in Singapore. Doing activities with your child is also a great way to bond and spend quality time together.
If your child has always wanted to pick up something new, such as learning an instrument or going for dance classes, it’s the perfect opportunity to do so.
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Get active
Without the need to head to school and participate in activities, your child’s physical activity may decrease drastically during the school holidays. To counter that, make a conscious effort to incorporate physical activity into your child’s daily routine. It could take the form of daily walks in the neighbourhood park, yoga sessions at home, visits to the swimming pool, family hikes – anything works as long as it’s enjoyable for your child, and helps them get moving!
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Write a letter of appreciation
As the year draws to a close, it is the perfect time to sit down with your child and reflect on the things and people that they’re grateful for this year. Get them to pen down their thoughts and appreciation for someone – it could be a friend, teacher, family member, neighbour or frontline worker. Expressing gratitude allows your child to appreciate the good things in life, foster positive emotions and develop resilience to embrace any challenges that may come their way.
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Let them help out around the house
With school out of the way, it is the best time to take a step back and have your child take over some household chores. Allowing your child to help out around the house can boost their self-esteem and sense of responsibility, and also encourage them to be more independent.
It may be challenging to get your child to help around the house at first, but there are ways to overcome that. For example, you could consider incorporating a reward system. For every completion of a task, your child could receive a reward of choice, such as more allowance or screen time. Never implement chores as a punishment as you want your child to understand that helping around the house is a shared responsibility, not a consequence.
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Give back to society
Volunteering as a family is an effective way to teach children empathy, an essential skill that helps us relate to others, build healthy and happy relationships with family and friends, and collaborate with others at work or school.
When you do volunteer work as a family, you are setting a good example for your child by showing them what it means to be charitable and compassionate. Volunteering also cultivates sensitivity in your child and teaches them to be more aware of others’ emotions.
There are plenty of volunteering opportunities available in Singapore. Here are some beneficiaries and philanthropic organisations to consider:
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Sign them up for workshops
Learning doesn’t have to stop just because it’s the school holidays. To make the most of the holidays, get your kids signed up for enrichment workshops. It not only allows your child to pass the time constructively, but also equips them with beneficial skills, such as public speaking, critical thinking and problem-solving. PrepWorks is pleased to offer skills and character-building programmes for children in Singapore. Browse our course offerings today!
