Making a Healthy, Successful Summer – Kid Edition
Summer break can be an exciting time of year for families, but it also comes along with added pressure for parents. Taking on the responsibility of making sure our kids are keeping their minds and bodies active, while still keeping up with regular day-to-day responsibilities is no easy feat for parents, but creating a plan for your kids’ summer can help both you and your kiddos make the most of their time away from school and even increase their success in the next school year.
Find a Routine & Stick with it- Creating a daily or weekly routine for the summer months is a great way to give kids the structure they need to thrive, even though when we can’t be right by their side. Teaching kids how to follow a routine on their own will help them exercise their independence, learn how to self-start when it’s time to do less exciting tasks, like chores, and gives them space to problem-solve on their own if the encounter small obstacles along the way.
Leverage Screentime - Experts recommend limiting your child’s mindless screentime (scrolling, gaming, watching tv or movies,) to about 2 hours a day. However, not all screentime has to be mindless. Use the screentime settings on your child’s device to only allow apps that encourage learning or creativity (Babble, ABCmouse, Canva) once they’ve reached their 2-hour screentime limit. Giving kids the choice between healthy screentime options or moving on to a non-screen activity is a great compromise to help kids feel like they have a choice in how they spend their time without parents having to manually monitor the time their kids are online throughout the day.
Make Healthy Choices the Easy Choice- It’s important to not restrict children’s diets with too much rigidity, but by making the healthy choice the most convenient choice, your kids are more likely to opt for healthier options without even realizing it. The best way to do this is to keep healthy snacks and meals in highly visible, easy to reach places and moving less nutritious treats to less convenient places, like the refrigerator drawer or just above eye-level. This could include chopped fruits and vegetables or pre-proportioned leftovers at eye-level in the refrigerator, a bowl of apples or clementines on the kitchen counter, or crunchy nuts or fiber filled granola bars placed front and center in the pantry.
Give Yourself a Day off by Coordinating with Other Parents- Social isolation over summer break can have a dramatic impact on kids’ mental wellbeing. Connect with 2 or more families that you trust and take turns hosting a play date each week. Not only will give your kids the social interaction they need and encourage them to move and play in ways they can’t do on their own, but it also gives each parent 1 day each week to focus on other tasks (or nothing at all) without interruption.
