{"id":2660,"date":"2013-07-12T10:49:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T14:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lie\/2011\/06\/27\/summer-fun-with-kids\/"},"modified":"2013-07-12T10:49:30","modified_gmt":"2013-07-12T14:49:30","slug":"summer-fun-with-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lie\/2013\/07\/12\/summer-fun-with-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Fun with Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to do when your host kid says, “I’m bored” this summer!<\/h2>\n

\"summer-fun\"Sometimes, especially with younger children, cries of boredom are really calls for companionship and attention\u2014their friends may be away on vacation and without the structure of school they may find it difficult to keep occupied during long summer days. Prolonged intervals where the kids have nothing to do can be stressful . When bored, children often become whiny, cranky and demanding.<\/p>\n

Here are a few easy tips to help\u00a0au pairs and host parents\u00a0combat summer boredom and help kids develop the internal resources that are important for developing creative, resource and time management skills:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Put a weekly calendar together so as not to overwhelm yourself with planning entertainment for an entire summer, just take it one week at a time\u2014day trips, arts and craft activities, play-dates, reading time, nature hikes, picnics, bike rides, a trip to the movie theater etc. This way kids will have something to look forward to during down time. A calendar also helps with getting kids prepared for what comes next.<\/li>\n
  2. Ask: \u201cIf you could do anything, what would you like to do?\u201d Try and encourage your children to generate their own ideas for activities\u2014they are more apt to have fun when they thought it up on their own! Reinforcing that children use their imaginations will also help them develop a sense of resourcefulness and get them in the habit of making their own choices about how they will spend their time.<\/li>\n
  3. Keep an \u201cart box\u201d handy full of supplies: scissors, fabric, felt, glue, paints and brushes, stickers, paper, markers, canvass, needle and thread, beads, yarn, picture magazines etc. Rummaging through a box of art supplies can ignite the imagination and occupy children for long periods of time. They could even begin an entrepreneurial enterprise and sell their wares at the end of the summer.<\/li>\n
  4. Inspire them to play with water. Water is very calming and soothing for children and they can while away many hours playing and keeping cool. Get them to wash the car, hose off the deck, or run through a sprinkler. Spend time together at the beach or pool.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What to do when your host kid says, “I’m bored” this summer! Sometimes, especially with younger children, cries of boredom are really calls for companionship and attention\u2014their friends may be away on vacation and without the structure of school they may find it difficult to keep occupied during long summer days. Prolonged intervals where the Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[160,276,305,465,466,468,469,530],"class_list":["post-2660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cultural-childcare","tag-kid-activities","tag-long-island-au-pairs","tag-suffolk-county-au-pair","tag-suffolk-county-au-pairs","tag-suffolk-county-babysitters","tag-suffolk-county-childcare","tag-water-and-summer-childcare"],"yoast_head":"\nSummer Fun with Kids - Cindy's Suffolk Au Pairs News Bulletin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer Fun with Kids - Cindy's Suffolk Au Pairs News Bulletin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What to do when your host kid says, “I’m bored” this summer! Sometimes, especially with younger children, cries of boredom are really calls for companionship and attention\u2014their friends may be away on vacation and without the structure of school they may find it difficult to keep occupied during long summer days. 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