Active Bodies, Active Minds

“I’m so bored! There’s nothing to do!”

Sound familiar? Summer brings a lot of fun opportunities for adventures and experiences. For working families, especially those with remote schedules, it also brings some challenges. Our biggest suggestion is to send them to us! We’ll keep them safe, engaged, and entertained with our fun, full-day summer camp. Keeping them home? We’ll help by sharing some ideas too.

It’s inevitable. Your child will likely spend more time than usual with digital technology this summer, so we want to provide some gentle recommendations on how to do so safely (and appropriately). We’ll also provide a few alternative activities to keep your child stimulated without a screen, so you can relax and enjoy the summer too!

How much screen time should my child have each day?
For little ones, spending too much time staring at screens has been linked to delays in speech development, social-emotional skills, obesity, and more. However, some screen time with high-quality programming can be appropriate for children ages 2 and up. The recommendation for children ages 2 to 5 is to limit them to one hour of screen time per day, and less than two hours for children ages 5 and up.

Ensuring your child’s days are also balanced with activities that allow them to move their bodies and exercise their minds will set them up for success in their development. Try these suggestions!

Activities to move their bodies:

• Older Children: Have a field day with friends or family! Include simple outdoor games such as tug-of-war, wheelbarrow races, ring toss, or an egg-and-spoon race. It will get everyone moving, laughing, and exercising while enjoying the fresh air and making memories.
• Younger Children: Play chalk games! Draw silly-shaped lines on the sidewalk for them to follow or have them jump into circles based on the colors you call out. Allow them to help you draw or come up with their own ideas too. It’s a great way to encourage movement and imagination.
  

Activities to exercise their minds:

• Older Children: Suggest they make their own board game! Encourage them to think of the rules, design the board, and create the elements needed to play it. Choose a creative name too! Once complete, play the game with them and discuss how they created it. This will allow your child to think critically and creatively while making something fun.
• Younger Children: Prepare sensory or discovery boxes! Any container will do, just drop in some items for them to explore. You may create an ocean-themed sensory bin with a net, toy fish, water, and scoops. Or maybe your child is interested in insects. Grab some potting soil, shovels, seeds, and toy insects for them to dig up. Having these boxes pre-made and ready to go helps to quickly get your child engaged and having fun.

It's all about balance. Just do your best! Encourage a healthy mix of movement for their bodies, creative activities for their minds, and a little sprinkle of screen time. It’s the perfect recipe for an engaging, fun summer for them—and you!