It is slowly heading to that back-to-school time of the year and even though you love your children to bits it can be kind of a relief having them back to school, simply because even though you are a hardworking parent who would hate to admit failure in any respect when it comes to your kids, the truth is it can be hard to entertain them.
This holiday may have been, and may still be a struggle of trying to find ways to keep your active children distracted that do not involve the T.V. Well if that has been the case, don’t worry we have a few ideas to ease the rest of your children’s holiday.
Indoor Activities
Let us be honest, Television can be the devil disguised as an angel. Especially these days when T.V’s are digital, meaning they probably have cartoon and child friendly channels all day long. This can be of great value every once in a while when you are face bone tired and just need a little break from the never-ending questions and chatter of a child but when your child wakes up every morning to watch T.V all day until they go to bed then there is a problem. So here are some indoor activity ideas.
• Buy creative books for coloring, drawing, connecting the dots, and painting. Buy back to school items and even set a system where you give your child, or children a certain amount of work for a day then reward them in the evening if they have finished it or a certain amount of work for a week. This will not only keep them busy but stimulate their brain even while they are on holiday.
• Get Books! I thank my mom for buying me books when I was younger; the Nancy Drew’s and Famous Five books were what developed an interest in the world of fiction in me. Teach your children from an early age to read and to help them understand. Ask them for a summary, oral, or written report of the book. Again you can use a reward system here to appreciate their efforts.
• Let them have sleepovers! I noticed with my younger brother, that when my niece comes over for the night there is a lot of noise, but only because there is a lot of activity going on. You would be surprised at how creative kids get when they have someone their age to play with. With a sigh of relief you will notice how they get so engrossed in entertaining each other that most times you can be left in peace while they play their games. Also it is nice to have a nice quiet house once in a while to have a date night with the spouse, or just spend some alone time as your child goes for a sleepover at a friend’s house.
• Chores, chores, chores! Your children may despise the mention of this word though it is a benefit of the African culture. We are taught to be responsible be helping out in the house, and working as well as we can. Teach your child the importance of hard work by assigning them duties to do in the house, but so that they enjoy it, talk it over with them to decide which ones suit them better. You can also use the reward method here for a little extra motivation.
Outdoor Activities
We have already mentioned severally in different articles about the numerous places you can explore in this beautiful city of ours such as the animal orphanage, giraffe center, and so on, but here are a few more ideas you can incorporate into outdoor activities. Some things may require a little more effort than others but are probably worth the extra time you put into them.
• Teach our heritage to your children. Take them to a museum or take them up country for a little bit. Make their roots a part of who they are.
• Go on a picnic or hiking adventure. A day out in the sun is definitely what the doctor orders for a hyper active child. Karura forest has a beautiful hiking trail, and if you want to go the extra mile, take them to Hell’s Gate in Naivasha. The hike there is full of fun slopes up and down, cracks between rocks, and a lot of adventure and it is not uphill so your child won’t be too winded to enjoy themselves.
• Go swimming! Why not take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a dive into a pool. Your kids will be ecstatic.
• Take them to the cinema. There seems to be a lot of movies coming out this season that are animations, or child friendly such as Home, The Minions, Inside Out, Pixels, Ant-Man and a few others. Most of them are showing in most cinemas right now, so you can take your pick.
My last tip for ideas during the holiday is spend at least one day a week with your kids! I know you are busy, your boss may be acting kind of horrid, and you feel like you are going to crack, but the truth is these are moment with your kids that you are never going to get back. Before you know it they will be grown and gone and out of your life with their own families to tend to so take advantage of every moment you can spend with them. Label one day of the week a ‘mommy and me day.’ Not only will your children be anxiously anticipating this day for the rest of the week, it will also benefit you amazingly to forget everything that is stressing your life and act like a child in your own right for one day. Teach them how to cook, play games with them, go out and plan an adventure outing, don’t make any excuses and spend some much needed time with your child.
