Worthwhile Summer Activities for Kids

It's summer time again and certainly kids love to unwind from their pressing time at school. They need to have a break from getting up very early, doing their homework and projects, reviewing for exams and quizzes, performing leadership roles and extra-curricular activities among other things.  So what activities do we plan or allow them to do during the 2-month school break on summer?

As usual, pools and beaches are the places most kids love to go to beat the summer heat.

Taking them to our university retreats at 5-star hotels is such a great treat every summer.

Going to the zoo is not only relaxing but also educational.

 

Eating without hurrying for school is a good family, relatives and friends' bonding time.

 

Of course, allowing them some playtime. All work without play makes kids unhealthy.

Going places and bonding with family to have shared experiences

Traveling makes them well-informed and flexible.

Exploring nature to preserve it and culture to respect others

"Reading maketh a full man". -Francis Bacon. We assign them books to read or topic to research on the Internet and we ask them what they have read about or let them write a summary or reaction about it. So they develop both reading and researching as well as writing skills.

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 Developing their talents is one worthwhile activity they do on summer.

Learning and practicing how to play musical instruments not only develop their musical talents but their character as well. They need discipline and perseverance to be able to learn a new piece their piano or violin teacher assigns them. Studies have shown that music can enhance the learning capabilities of kids. With piano and violin lessons, they get to practice managing their time as well. For example, we don't allow them to play computer games unless they finish an hour of piano, violin and guitar practice each day. Here's a sample video. I just arrived on this day for their Voice and Violin Recital. I took this video right after their recital and I found out that they're no longer practicing their previous pieces I like. It is shown here especially on Minuet by Bach and Pambansang Awit played by my daughter with mistakes as she didn't also read her piece. (Huli ka! "Pagod na po kc ako at gabi na-10:30 na po", she replied but such a lame excuse for me, LOL.) When the dad saw it, he became stricter with their practice schedule. "Practice makes perfect", indeed.

We also let our kids help with household chores. They have their own schedule of dish-washing, house cleaning, cooking, throwing the garbage, etc. We want them to be prepared for a responsible and balanced adult life so summer is the best time for us to teach them do all these as we can closely monitor them.

Check out more posts on Mommy Moments at Mommy Journey hosted by Chris.