Summer vacation is a time for fun. Yes, there’s the sun beating down on us relentlessly so outdoor activities may be hard to do unless there’s plenty of shade. That said, summer vacation gives children a time to develop their skill-set and develop as an individual.
Kids are very energetic and restless. Finding productive activities to keep them occupied is hard. This is probably why parents have turned to technology. However, allowing kids to play games on gadgets or watch cartoons for endless hours could do a lot of harm. It damages their eyes, makes them lethargic and hinders their development. We’re not saying that you should not let your kids play on gadgets, games and cartoons are fine, but only in moderation.
So that brings us to the question of the hour – What can we do to keep kids productively occupied during the summer holidays?
Here’s a thought. If you live in an Apartment Complex, there’s a good chance that your building alone will have many kids. All of them are probably on their summer break now too. So how about bringing them all together instead of allowing them to be individually occupied? Here’s why group activities are great for kids
- Makes them more sociable
- Teaches them the dynamics of behaving in a group
- Productivity is increased greatly
- Well – imagine the collective energy and excitement of a bunch of kids, tap into that and you can even put together The Avengers!
So, if you are part of a gated society, here are some activities you can organize for the kids to keep them productively occupied this summer vacation!
Table of Contents
1. Gardening & Landscaping!
Ah! The feeling of turning to the mud for having fun! Gardening is a seasoned skill. While you can’t exactly expect kids to create the Versailles, you can always make them turn a patch of boring land into a fun, pretty garden. Ask kids to sign up for the “Gardening Team”. Discuss with the MCs and give them a patch of land. A small one would do. Plant tree saplings and flowering plants. Set timings for the team members to come together twice a day to water the plants and add natural fertilizers. Take lots of photographs along the journey and you can later put them together in your residents’ journal.
2. Newspaper Collection!
Give the kids an opportunity to make some money for themselves! Organize a newspaper collection drive. Old newspapers ie. Many initiatives recycle newspapers and make productive goods out of them. You can encourage the kids to collect old dailies and sell them to such organization. Whatever money they earn can be set aside to enhance their play area or even just divided amongst themselves for new toys!
This would teach them the value of hard-earned money and also ensure that paper is recycled which in turn could save many trees!
3. Cooking/Hobby Classes!
Again, this one is super fun. It gives the opportunity for mothers to connect with a group as well. If you are in an Apartment Complex, the skill-set in that pool is huge. There would folks who bake, who paint/draw, who dance, who sing and do a lot of other such fine activities. Give them the opportunity to coach a bunch of kids. This benefits everyone! It could also be a source of income for some ladies.
4. Toy Library!
It is not surprising to find that there is a surge in sales of toys during the summer season. Kids turn to toys and other materials to keep themselves busy and since they get bored easily, parents are often forced to buy them new toys. Now that is expensive and not in the best interests of everyone. So how about organizing a toy library? Make the kids bring out their old and unused toys. Collect them all and arrange them in a spare room. Kids can borrow and return toys from this space and use them to their hearts content! By the time each kid has a turn with each toy, summer vacation will be long over! Parents can save truckloads on new toys too!
5. Sunday Stalls!
Allow the kids to gather a few hours each day to make crafts and/or snacks, and each Sunday put up a stall and sell the stuff they made during the week. With the money they raise, they can even add new fixtures/games to their toy area! This could also be a culmination to the hobby/cooking classes we described in point no. 3.
This is an activity that could be turned into a major summer exhibition/ gala if you could get all the residents to participate.
No Dearth For Creativity!
One of the benefits of being part of a safe, secure gated community is the sheer number of people in it. And that is a huge set of skills and ideas. If you can reach out to everyone through a platform like the ADDA app, the things you could achieve are pretty much endless.
Summer vacation is almost halfway done. So make your move. Connect with everyone through the ADDA app, organize events, have fun, connect with everyone. Don’t like kids lose out on a fun childhood by allowing them to be immersed in their mobile games and cartoons. They are not young twice!
P.S. – If you have more ideas, do share them with us here!
Authored By: Ambili Mukundan
