To help your child explore themselves to the fullest we bring you six ways to make your child’s summer holidays fun, fascinating and fruitful-
1. Teaching of soft skills- In order to keep your child aligned with growing social needs and demands of NEP2020, each child needs to be a global citizen. In order to be a global citizen, children needs to learn a variety of life skills or soft skills to make it easier for them to cope with the advancements of competition and civilisation. Here are a few skills and fun ways to learn these skills-
• Communication, speech, empathy, interpersonal skills, etc can be learnt through Story telling, enacting, Role playing , etc. Role play is a pivotal tool in developing self- confidence and enhancing their personalities. They must also try expressing their ideas in short paragraph or learn to write anecdotes in their journals.
• Teamwork, collaboration, conflict resolution if taught early on to kids, helps in shaping them a better leader for future. For which, we must teach them how to express negative feelings without picking up fights with anyone. In the process of learning peaceful yet assertive expression, they will also become thoughtful speakers.
• Learning to take Responsibility at an early age will serve as a boon for them, you and everyone around them. To teach them Responsibility, you must entrust the child with doable tasks other than studies. For example you can entrust them with watering plants, feeding birds, animals, etc. Once they are used to managing the skill of Responsibility, they will gradually step into natural leadership roles.
2. Cooking at home without fire- Irrespective of gender, every child must know how to feed themselves in case of no aid available to them. Learning to make food for themselves will give your child the pride of independence. Here are a few cuisine ideas to help your child to satiate their hunger by themselves-
• Salads, fruit bowl, smacking sprout chats, etc.
• Fruit juice, smoothies, milk shakes to beat the heat.
• Hung curd special Shrikhand is another easy delicacy that will satisfy their sweet tooth and help them keep cool instead of eating ice-creams which will generate more body heat than cooling.
• No'ven Apple cookies topped with healthy peanut butter, with a dash of coconut shreds will help your child explore varied presentations of raw foods.
(Did you know- ‘Gond Katira’ is plant based naturally derived cooling gummies which not only gives you a cool refreshing feeling but is also an incredible source of dietary fibre, and natural prebiotics which assist in lowering the body’s heat to a great extent. It encompasses the key macronutrients including carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats. Add a few crystals of gond katira to your regular smoothies, shakes, juices, lemonade to get natural refreshing feeling.)
3. “STEAM” Activities- What drains a child out of liveliness lacking curiosity for things and “STEAM” activities or to quote it whole- SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART & MATHS activities are your child’s best friend for this summer holidays. Here are few ways your child can kick in their inner innovators and creators-
• DIYs with unused materials at home.
• Devising their own tools and engineer simple machines such as baloon rockets, etc to help them learn laws of science and technology.
• Try painting using a variety of materials other than regular colours such as bubble art, etc.
4. Creative thinking- One thing that a child should never refrain from is asking questions regarding anything they observe in their surroundings. If your child does not ask you many questions about their surroundings you can help them by questioning them back and see if they can reason your questions…. If they’re unable to answer, you can drop cues for them to frame the logical reason to your question. Not probing about the things around them means they’re inactive about the surroundings and will never invoke their underlying creativity.
(Did you know- How did our ancestors know the accurate benefits of plants and herbs without having the laboratory facilities to test? Write your answers in the comments section or you can simply mail your answers to us!)
5. Technology Literacy- It’s really good that your child knows how to operate smartphones and other smart devices and know how to play their favourite games and stream their favourite YouTube channels... However, they do not know the right uses and wrong uses of technology... Summer Holidays are the best time to teach them cyber ethics, right uses of technology, various computer short key formulae etc.
6. Psycho-motor Stimulating Indoor Games- Children need to move their body to feel active. However, with such heat waves hitting, letting them out under the sun could pose a risk to their health. Who says that they need to be out to be active! Here are a few ideas to make your child active indoors-
• Dancing, stretching, skipping, etc are activities your child can enjoy solo.
• Make them practice loopy lacing on an A4 sheet that will help them improve their hand-eye coordination.
• Balloon volleyball is another harmless indoor activity which will help children to enjoy themselves.
• Hopscotch, obstacles courses, catch and throw, simon says, etc are fun games to stimulate their gross motor functioning and making them feel energised.
You can plan a time table for your child focusing on each of these skills for the next 35 days of summer vacations keeping them on their toes and subtly teaching them time management.
