School vacation is a great opportunity for the whole family to enjoy themselves. Although parents still need to work, their tasks will be easier, because they don’t need to prepare children to go to school. They don’t need to avoid the morning and their days will be much less chaotic. The new goal should be to ensure that everyone has their sanity intact. During school vacation, you should still keep a schedule. The slightest in routine could cause things to fall apart. As an example, children should be asked to wake up and sleep at the same time of the day, so they will get enough rest. Children won’t be able to fully enjoy their vacation, if they are grouchy and feel tired. In fact, lack of sleep could cause bad temper, which may lead to conflicts. If children sleep late, they will also wake up late. If this pattern continues for too long, it will be harder for them to adjust back, when the vacation period is over.
It is important to make sure that children still have three meals each day. During holiday period, it is easy for children to subsist on junk food and sugary stuff. This will cause them to become hyper, argumentative and cranky. Snacks for children should be high in complex carbohydrate and protein. One good way to keep children busy is to ask them to cook meals together with parents. The freezer can be used to make healthy frozen snacks, such as fruit-based ice cream. Because it’s vacation, it doesn’t mean that chores inside the house also stop. However, parents can be a little bit more flexible and adjust the intensity. Children should get up and moving, so they stay active and they can sleep well at night. You should schedule proper daily chores that can accumulate to a larger work. You should create a simple schedule that can be followed properly. During vacation, you should also keep a system of rewards and incentives.
After doing chores, children should be given enough incentives. They could be given options of what items that should be given during the vacation. Children should know what they should get after doing a chore. So, they know how many chores that they should do to get an item. Implement a point-based system, so incentives can be calculated more easily. If the vacation period is long, you can allocate a few days for just play. Parents need to keep it fun and implement the right things, depending on the preferences of children. It means that parents should plan ahead. Parents may allow children to invite their friends over for a play date. Parents may also arrange an outdoor scavenger hunt. For smaller children, parents can make sock puppets and use them for a play. Various craft and art projects should also be productive for children. Make paper football for spontaneous soccer plays. Children would also be glad to bake cookies or cakes. They could also be given the opportunity to decorate baked products.