Every parent hates to hear the words “I’m bored.” All year long our kids count down the days to their summer break. But as soon as they find themselves with no structure, you’ll start to hear the question, “What are we doing today?” The lack of structure can sometimes lead to summer boredom.
It’s our job to help kids see boredom as an opportunity. It’s a chance to take on a project, explore something new, or build skills. Teach your kids to entertain and motivate themselves instead of looking to you to swoop in and solve the problem. Here’s how to guide your child, while giving them room to explore.
Create Structure in Your Middle Schooler’s Day
During the summer, schedules change. Our kids lose the highly regulated school day, where their time is split into strict blocks with time for lunch, recess, and class. During the summer, they are suddenly faced with large stretches of free time with no one to direct them. These big stretches of free time make it hard to feel like anything is really urgent. Help your child find a schedule that makes their days feel more purposeful.
Don’t feel like you have to schedule out your child’s summer down to the minute. However, setting specific times for breakfast, lunch, dinner, practice, chores and bedtime can help create some structure in your child’s day and avoid summer boredom.
Spend Some Time Together
Sometimes kids complain of boredom because they want your attention. Kids are on vacation, but parents still have to work full time and handle the increased load of having their children home full time. Your child can start to feel neglected. Make sure you set aside some quality time to spend with them.
Add this quality time to the structure of your days or weeks. Make time for family dinners or game night once or twice a week. Give your child one-on-one attention with a “special day”. Take them out to the park or to lunch, just the two of you.
Stay Goal-Oriented to Beat Summer Boredom
When your child is bored and you ask them what they’d like to do, they will most likely respond with “I don’t know.” Ask them to think back to the school year. What did they wish they had more time for while school was in session?
Summer is a great time to revisit that hobby or make progress on a project. Maybe they wanted to learn how to knit, paint, or ride a bike. While some hobbies will need parental supervision, YouTube and your local library are great resources to help them work toward their goals on their own.
Sign Up for a LeadYouth Membership
To help kids reach their goals and use their time effectively, consider a LeadYouth Membership. LeadYouth programs are designed to add a little bit of structure to their day, while also still giving them plenty of time to enjoy their summer.
Our online mentor-led sessions help students develop leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence skills so they can achieve their goals to become leaders at school and in extracurriculars. Help your child use these long summer days productively. Prepare them for the start of a new school year with a LeadYouth membership. Sign up for a LeadYouth Membership today.
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