Often parents with children at home, find it really difficult to keep them entertained and happy. This article deals with some interesting ideas that you can encourage and put into practice among your kids and trust me, the memories of these activities will keep your family looking forward to next year’s vacation too.
Deciding on tour and short picnics
Holidays are a time when children look forward to short excursions and picnics. When you plan these activities together, especially when you involve the kids, they are going to really love it. When you sit down to supper, you can discuss the activities and short picnics that you can have that weekend. It need not be a whole day picnic – a visit to the mall where your children can play their favorite games, a visit to the multiplex for a children’s movie or a hike to the nearest waterfall would be ideal. Big vacations are not discussed here.
Photo by Downtown Holland, Michigan at http://www.flickr.com/photos/downtownholland/5446348582/sizes/z/in/photostream/
Impromptu kids’ day out
Do you surprise your kid by taking them out? How about planning a mystery trip, where you don’t even tell your children where and for how long you are taking them out. Keep them guessing and the anticipation makes it worthwhile.
Making home a fun place
Perhaps, you didn’t know it before, but your home can be transferred into a fun place for your kids. If you have stairs at home, you can create a slide so your children can slide up and down. Buy a tent and pitch it in the family room or common room. If the weather is good, you can have it in the lawn. If you have a set of dry erasers, you can make your window the perfect retreat for that artistic trait in your child.
Book discussions
Most parents complain that their children do not cultivate a reading habit. You can choose a book for the whole family; encourage the whole family to read them the entire week. On Sundays, during breakfast, you can all discuss the book, what each of you liked and disliked about the story, how the characters were developed, whether the story taught them anything new and so on. Kids will really love this and they will be encouraged to read and appreciate books.
Creative talents
Depending on how old your child is, you can ask them to do coloring, finger printing, leaf printing, origami and even clay modeling. Leave them on their own and let their creativity soar. Once they are done, you can take the photos of the best ones and have them framed and hung in the children’s room. If your children are interested in gardening, you can give them their own patch to work on. Give them full responsibility to the seeds they have planted and give them short tips on how to make the plants grow big and strong. If your kids have an inclination towards cooking, now is the time to start a new hobby. Teach them to cook biscuits, cookies and cakes; that is something they will enjoy.
Courtsey: Free Stock Images
Making work look like fun
Laundry days are hectic and if you are doing your laundry only once a week, it is going to be even more excruciatingly tough. So you can make it a fun event by taking up all the laundry that is finished, sort it up among the family members and enjoy a little folding picnic. When everybody does it together, it is going to be fun. You can also call it your family’s laundry picnic. And before long, a neat and folded clothes pile will be before you.
Try these tips at home and you will see that raising family is indeed a fun job!