Are you wondering how to spend the summer break? Children should be kept engaged over the long summer break. Read on to get ideas on how you can keep the children engaged.

1. 8 Ideas on How To Spend The Summer Break
lagosmums.com/8-ideas-on-how-to-spend-the-summer-break/
There are different thoughts on how to spend the summer break. Some parents believe children deserve to rest
and laze about during the summer. Other parents believe that children should be kept busy during the summer.
How your children should spend the summer break can vary but one thing that is for sure is that learning should
not stop.
According to the research of Entwisle, Alexander, and Olson (2001), students who are not provided with summer
learning opportunities start each school year with a learning deficit, compared to students who enjoyed
experiential opportunities for summer learning. These experiences include organised sports, day camps,
swimming lessons, and trips to local attractions.
How To Spend Summer
There are many ways to think about how to spend the summer and to
keep the children occupied without it being academic. See some ideas
below –
1. Summer Camps– There are various types of summer camps
focusing on many different types of activities. There are increasing
options for camps and these could cover school work and revision,
swimming, arts and craft, cooking, drama, robotics etc. For a
comprehensive list of Summer Camp options in Lagos, check out
the LagosMums Summer Camp Guide here.
2. Internships – Depending on the age of your child, summer is a
good time to get some work experience. They could volunteer and
spend a few hours a day in an office which enables them pick up necessary work experience skills. It
could also be a good way to help a child see areas of interest, a child interested in being a doctor could
spend time helping in a doctors office. Lastly this could be a way to build financial skills by letting her earn
and experiencing what it means to earn money, to save and to spend.
3. Reading– This is a good time to encourage children to brush up their reading and to expand their
knowledge. Encourage them to read books on various topics such as books about famous inventions,
nature, biographies and other materials that broaden their minds. Here the use of the internet could be
encouraged to research and learn about different subject matters (however be sure to monitor their
internet usage).
4. Holiday Project– All children have skills and interests which might not be explored appropriately during
the school year, so summer could be a good time to pick a project based on their interest. They can be
encouraged to complete this project and present to you by an agreed time. A child who likes to write can
write a play or a story that you read together by the end of the summer. You could also encourage children
who are old enough to journal their summer experiences.
5. Relaxation and Exploration– All children need time to relax and to explore their thoughts, their
surroundings and their interests. This should be encouraged all the time but quite importantly during the
summer, children should have ample time to explore in a more relaxed setting.
6. Build a Hobby– This could be a good time for children to explore their hobbies or interests. A child who is
fashionable and likes to put clothes together can sign up for sewing classes over the summer. Someone
who likes to code, could sign up for coding classes and spend time around techies and build an app or
game.
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2. 7. Travel – If children are privileged to travel, let the travel be a learning experience. Children should not sit
home and watch television all day. They should spend time exploring by learning about the Country they
travelled to and engage in something different. Most places will provide access (and sometimes free) to
museums, libraries etc.
8. Explore Home Town – For children who do not travel there are many things that can be explored locally.
For example in Lagos, there is Badagry, Lekki Conservatory Park, beaches along the Lekki Expressway
and other places to explore. They could drive around their city and see the areas where development is
going on, like the Eko Atlantic (budding developers might be born)
No matter how you decide to spend it…summer should be fun and a learning experience. So you can
decide whether you have a relaxed time and leave the children to their own devices, or you sign them up for
more organised programs to keep them learning and occupied.
How are you spending your Summer? Need ideas? Visit the Lagos Summer Camp Guide 2016
LagosMums is a parenting website with information on raising children and families. Visit www.lagosmums.com
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