KEEPING KIDS ENTERTAINED THIS SUMMER

It can be hard to keep children entertained during the summer holidays - but this year it is likely to prove even harder than usual. With social distancing in place, and most children experiencing months without school already, trying to keep kids occupied this summer is set to be a challenge. So, how can you keep their idle hands busy?

From crafting to journaling, there are many products designed to keep children entertained. Inspired by the organisation and planning method of the bullet journal, My Creative Journals, from ExaClair, are one way to keep kids busy. Both practical and playful, they can be customised according to children’s personal tastes and imagination. In a handy A5 size, perfect for children to carry around, the notebooks are filled with 208 pages so they will keep little hands occupied for a considerable time. Each pre-printed month has its own colour theme with pages that feature a dot grid design. The journals also come with a stencil and decal sticker set.

Lawrence Savage, marketing manager at ExaClair, explains why this range is so on-trend: “With more people spending time at home, these creative journals engage with the current popularity of journaling, whilst the stencil and decal sticker sets add an extra fun element to getting organised. They are available in three designs; sweety, mystery and fruity.”

Brother’s ‘creative center’ is designed exactly for the purpose of making it easy to find creative ways to keep busy. It features many products and solutions which are ideal for keeping children entertained during the summer holidays. Their paper craft range includes a range of designs perfect for children, including robots, animals and characters. All the designs are exclusive to Brother; they are organised into levels from simple to difficult, so children can begin with the ‘simple’ level and work their way up to ‘difficult’ as the summer goes on. This will give them something to work towards and focus on. Children can also be both entertained and educated using Brother’s learning activities which include educational tools, flash cards, games, organisation tools and worksheets.

Eastpoint and Propeller have also joined forces to develop educational resources that can be used during the summer. Their product portfolio includes worksheets, whiteboard kits, picture cards, games and ebooks covering a variety of subjects, topics and abilities. The resources can either be bought as singles or in key stage bundles - which are free of charge to teachers to help them with their planning and home learning schedules.

KEEP CHAOS AT BAY

With a lot of crafting going on, and various worksheets floating around, fun has the potential to turn to chaos very quickly. Therefore, it is also a good idea to create an area where children can store all their bits and pieces. Creating a craft box which stores all their stationery will stop it being distributed all over the house. To keep the finished art projects from taking over, 3M recommended creating a kids’ artwork gallery on a door or wall to display their work.

Something as simple as post-it notes can also be used in a multitude of ways. Make reading books much more interesting for children by creating funny bookmarks with them. Use post-it. notes to make the torso. Use different coloured sticky notes to make the paws, ears and other parts.

Post-it. Notes can also be used to to teach children about scale. Draw a life-size stick figure as big as the child on a Post-it. Flipchart. Ask the child to choose different objects from his/her surroundings and draw them on Post-it. Notes. The child should then stick the notes onto the flipchart in the correct position in relation to the stick figure. After the child has placed all the notes, discuss their positioning together.

BACK TO SCHOOL

As well as ways to keep children entertained whilst they aren’t at school, it is also important to get them prepared to go back to school during this time. 3M have developed a guide which features creative ways to make the back to school preparation a collaborative and fun process. One of the ideas include creating a mobile station to store homework, books and materials for school projects; a small cart with wheels works well - or even a small box that’s easy to carry. Stock it full of supplies like tape, markers, notecards, calculator and scissors. Kids can move the station from room to room, but designate an area - such as the kitchen, or your office - to be home base. Each night it’s your little one’s job to return the station to home base and make sure everything they need the next day for school and activities is there.

No matter the age or ability of your children, getting them back into a routine for back-to-school can be challenging, both in the morning and after school. Kids often need to be reminded to finish daily tasks, like ‘Brush your teeth, get dressed, pack your lunch and snack, and remember your water bottle for after-school sports’. A simple solution is using a clock worksheet next to an existing clock in your home. This provides a visual guide so it can help kids rely less on verbal reminders. Apply the clock worksheet to your everyday routines - and you may want to make more clock drawings for sports or clubs. You can even create clock drawings on the fly for days with big events or multiple stops. The drawings can help kids feel more capable and parents feel more at ease, leading to smoother mornings and weekends and a successful transition to your family’s back-to-school routine.

Although the usual days out to activity centres, or weeks away on holiday, may not be on the agenda this summer, there are many other ways to keep children entertained. Getting creative and using some of the products and solutions mentioned here should ensure your little ones are kept busy and productive during their time off this summer!

Keep organised and productive wherever you are

The brain dump Tip

Get things out of your head and onto paper! Unloading your mind helps you focus on what’s important.

If your tasks are just racing around in your brain and you don’t know what to do first, try a good old-fashioned brain dump. Using the Post-it® Products shown, take five minutes — no more — and write down every single thing you can think of that you need to do in the next week. Write down whatever’s cluttering up your brain, personal or professional, and get it out of your head, then throw it in the bin. It’s not your to-do list, it’s just a data dump so that you can get your focus back. Once you’ve cleared things out, you can forget about what’s worrying you and get back to what’s important.

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