News
Learning Centres

How to Keep Kids Engaged During Summer Vacations?

Summer holidays are just around the corner! Some of you may be eagerly looking forward to the summer break, and some might be feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious because boring kids equals chaos at home. Fret not, we have laid out some pretty interesting options, that will surely make summer holidays seem like a breeze!

1. Craft up a Holiday Diary

Encourage your kids to create a summer diary wherein they can capture their special days. Have them take pictures of the fun times, give them colorful pens, glitters and stickers, and over time, this could turn into their fun-filled childhood memory book.

2. Step Out and Sketch Away

Take your kids to the famous Hong Kong parks or even your next-door playground. Carry along some sheets of paper, pencils, and crayons. Have them observe their surroundings and ask them to sketch whatever catches their attention. The more detailed their picture, the better. It can turn into a great time to bond with your kids, in addition to honing their observation and sketching skills.

3. Encourage Them to Make Movies

You will tend to agree it can be difficult to keep kids away from gadgets for long. Why not ask them to use the same gadgets instead and make a movie? For instance, with their action-heroes or barbies, they can create a movie using Windows Movie Maker on your phones or tablets. If they are too young to do that, a parent or a grown-up can make the movie with them together and edit it afterwards.

4. Greet and Meet with The Sea

Hong Kong boasts of several pretty beaches. Take your kids to these beaches. Bathing and swimming in the sea yields several benefits. Not only it is therapeutic to swim in salty sea water, it has the added advantage of tiring the kids enough for them to be calm through the rest of the day!

5. Introduce Them to Cooking and Baking

Encourage your kids to try their hand at cooking or baking. A grown-up can stand next to them to ensure they are safe near the kitchen equipment. If they are of an age when they can read, have them read out the recipes and create a dish from scratch. If they are young, assist them in whisking eggs, mixing batter, and simply oiling the pans.

6. Involve the Grandparents

It is a pleasure for kids and grandparents to spend quality time together. Nothing better than summer holidays when the kids don’t have a strict schedule to follow. Allow them to chill in the presence of their grandparents, and let them get pampered! Along with the grandparents, they will always cherish the precious memories spent with their loved ones.

7. Go for Hikes

Yes, it’s summer and it’s going be hot but if you can time it well, nothing beats a casual hike for a great bonding time. Early mornings or evenings is a good time to take a walk in the nature, having an intimate conversation with your kids and exploring the lush green trails across Hong Kong.

8. Explore a New Country

If staying in Hong Kong during summers isn’t too exciting, you can take your kids to explore another country during the break. Not only will they learn interesting things about a new culture, they will make new friends, get acquainted with new landscapes, try different cuisines, get onto fresh adventures; in short, create memories of a lifetime.

9. Visit the Local Library

Let your kids dive into numerous fantasies and fictions. Take them to the library and borrow some books; read out the books to them if they are too young to read by themselves. At times, you may even find about some interesting scheduled events at library notice boards.

10. Allow Them to Occasionally Get Bored

We live in a society where we are conditioned to keep our kids engaged, to ensure they are learning something every single second of the day, be it manners, a new skill, a new word or phrase. It is a never-ending job to keep them engaged, for we dread hearing the words - 'I am bored'. Research, on the other hand, indicates that it is sometimes good for children to be bored. Allow them that space to have nothing to do, nothing to look forward to. When their brain is not engaged in an activity, there will be space for creativity and self-regulation to kick in.

Remember? We as kids, have faced boredom umpteen number of times; we didn’t have gadgets to occupy us and yet we always found interesting ways to entertain ourselves. Let’s allow our kids that opportunity too.

11. Look out for Summer Programs

Even so, you can still take advantage of summer programs within your vicinity. There are plenty of schools / institutes out there doling out unique courses. Here are a few that may be of interest to your kids:

Babyhood’s Summer Program 2019: Reptiles and Insects Encounter (For >3 Years Old, at Tsueng Kwan O)

Baker & Bloom's Inspired Stem: Digital Storyboarding (For 9-11 Years, at Wanchai)

Graceyard Education Centre’s Children Artificial Intelligence Course (For 10-18 Years Old, at Yau Ma Tei)

Quantumbilities Education Centre's QB Public Speaking (For 4-13 Years Old, at Causeway Bay/Fortress Hill)

The Kelly Yang Project’s Creative Writing Class (For 6-9 Years Old, at Causeway Bay/Kowloon)

You may find loads of other cool summer camps options at Whizpa’s eShop.