The COVID-19 pandemic has already widened the education gap by closing schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. Many educational institutions are planning shorter summer vacations for students to bridge the education gap. But the pediatrics and child psychiatrists advise parents against locking students in classrooms during the summer vacation. They remind parents about the significance of making kids play this summer instead of catching up on school.
The second wave of COVID-19 makes it essential for you to ensure that your child remains safe throughout the summer vacation by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. You cannot keep your kid safe by sending them to summer camps. But you must explore ways to engage, entertain, and motivate your child throughout the summer vacation despite the surge in active coronavirus cases. It is always important to consider and shortlist some summer vacation activities to engage your kid while keeping them relaxed and safe.
10 Summer Vacation Activities for Students in Post-Pandemic World
Outdoor Picnics
There are many cities that are not affected by the second wave of COVID-19 hugely. In such cities, the authorities allow citizens to access popular parks or picnic spots with minimal restrictions. If you are living in one of these cities, you can keep your child excited and entertained by planning short trips or picnics. The short trips will create opportunities for your child to spend time in a natural habitat while indulging in many exciting activities.
Virtual Summer Camps
You must not compromise the safety of your child by sending her to a summer camp. You can keep the child excited and thrilled by making her joining virtual summer camps. The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic make many organizers organize virtual summer camps. Your child cannot enjoy an outdoor experience by attending an online summer camp. But the virtual summer camps will create opportunities for the kid to sing songs, play games, make crafts, watch videos, and connect with other students in a virtual environment. Here are 7 ways parents can create a summer camp at home.
Intellectually Stimulating Games
If you are living in a city affected by the second wave of COVID-19, you must focus on keeping your child excited and engaged by avoiding idle time. You must spend adequate time with the child to help him avoid idle time. At the same time, it is also important to keep the child on his feet by playing brain games and board games. These games will stimulate your child’s brain and mind intellectually, along with helping him to avoid idle time. But you must encourage your child to play a variety of popular board games including chess, scrabbles, and crosswords.
Exercise and Meditation
When your child does not get opportunities to play outside, you must focus on improving her physical and emotional health. This will help in reducing screen time. Also, exercise and meditation will keep your child’s mind and body relaxed despite no exposure to the external environment. You must compensate for the lack of physical activities by encouraging your child to exercise and practice meditation. You can further motivate the kid to perform exercises, yoga, and meditation with her.
Science Fair Projects
According to Wood Buffalo Regional Science Fair,
“A science fair project allows students to develop important independent learning skills such as time management, responsibility, organization, and communication.”
In addition to keeping your child excited and engaged, the science fair projects will make them acquire knowledge and hone soft skills. You must encourage your child to work on science fair projects during the summer vacation. It is also advisable to motivate her by offering rewards. But you must make the science fair projects more effective in focusing on important soft skills like problem-solving, critical solving, data analysis, and public speaking.
Art Projects
As science fair projects, art projects help students to make a variety of crafts and artifacts on their own. You can gather information and ideas from many online sources to plan art projects for your child. Also, you can make the child learn how to make crafts by watching DIY videos available on the internet. However, you must allow the child to choose from many ideas and concepts according to her personal choice and interest. Also, you need to ensure that the child has access to all art-related supplies on demand.
Travel Book Club
In the post-pandemic world, you cannot explore cities and holiday destinations due to a wide range of restrictions. But you can make your kind familiar with many new cities during the summer vacation by making her read travel books and travelogues written by popular authors. The travel books will make your child understand the culture, history, and customs of a city while staying indoors. It is also advisable to encourage your child to join travel book clubs to choose and read the novels and travelogues written by popular travel authors around the world.
Movie Nights
Like adults, students also love to watch movies. The online streaming platforms enable you to make your child watch a wide range of movies during the summer vacation despite the second wave of COVID-19. You can further boost the movie viewing experience of your child using a screen and a projector. The projector will help you to plan movie nights by watching movies in the backyard. However, you must allow the kid to watch her favorite movies instead of watching your favorite movies.
Online Digital Library
While planning summer vacation activities, you must not forget to help your child retain learning. You must not compel the kid to learn for longer hours. But you must encourage her to acquire knowledge and exercise the mind by reading a variety of digital content. You can enable your child to access a variety of digital content simply by subscribing to the appropriate digital library. For instance, you can subscribe to Mintbook’s online digital library to provide your child with access to a wide variety of digital content by paying only Rs 99 per month. The online digital library will keep your child engaged and motivated by allowing access to ebooks, audiobooks, videos, journals, and magazines.
School Reentry Activities
Many schools and colleges are expected to switch from online learning to conventional learning after the summer vacation. Your child will need both assistance and training to learn in classroom environments. You must prepare your child properly during the summer vacation by focusing on a slew of important factors – rediscovering interpersonal connection, creating strategies to solve problems, and processing various emotions. The school reentry activities will make it easier for your child to acquire and retain knowledge in the post-pandemic age.
You can consider many summer vacation activities to keep your child relaxed, engaged, and safe. But you must plan the activities elaborately to keep your child safe during the second wave of COVID-19. Also, you need to keep in mind what your child loves and enjoys the most to shortlist the appropriate summer vacation activities.
