Having the kids at home for the holidays can be the most pleasant experience if you can come up with fun activities to keep them occupied. Binge watching television programmes, spending extended periods on digital devices and playing video games incessantly does more harm than good to our children. A little bit of tech time is absolutely encouraged now and again, but needs to be moderated due to the limitations towards creativity and imagination.

In order to repel the dreaded words “I’m bored” and preserve the tranquillity of everyone’s holiday happiness, we have complied a list of 5 fun, productive activities to keep your kids busy and entertained during the school holidays.

Reading – Provide supervised access to a library or book shop and give your kids the freedom to make their own reading choices. Make an adventure out of it and snuggle up near the fireplace with some tea or hot chocolate during the winter or lay out a picnic rug and take advantage of some fresh air with their favourite book in the summertime.

Cooking/ Baking – Teach your kids how to prepare their favourite food by finding a simple recipes and bringing them along to help with shopping for the required ingredients. Standby to supervise and provide guidance throughout the preparation and cooking process. They might even surprise you by offering a hand in the kitchen every once in a while. Get them to help with the cleaning afterwards as well.

Organised Physical Activities – Physical activity is the perfect remedy for boredom and the benefits are profound at every age. It is a great way for kids to meet new friends that enjoy the same hobbies, while keeping active and improving their general health and wellbeing. Organised physical activities include walking, cycling, free play, games and sports of varying intensity.

Arts and Crafts – Allow the kids to get their hands dirty with different arts and crafts. They will enjoy exploring their creative sides through fun activities such as painting, modelling clay and making small ornaments that they could exhibit and sell at a craft market. (The perfect solution for those “masterpieces” you’d rather not display in the living room)

Volunteering – Adding value brings children a sense of fulfilment that many activities cannot match. Encourage the kids to do good within the community by helping an elderly neighbour with their gardening, taking part in an environmental project or supporting a local pet shelter among many other available endeavours.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Incorporate these useful tips into future school break plans and enjoy, Happy, Stress-free Holidays!

The ultimate goal of the Montessori Prepared Environment has always been to teach our kids how to explore and learn in an independent manner. The environment therefore should ideally be tailored towards promoting this process of learning. Herein kids are meant to freely express themselves in a relaxed yet structured atmosphere.

With no shortage of fun activities, and ample physical interaction and expression, kids are drawn into enhanced learning, without even realising it. At the same time they get to work at their own natural pace. It’s this same carefully designed environment which helps to nurture vital life skills such as independence and discipline.

The Montessori Prepared Environment is built on six key philosophies that make it easy to develop independence in children from a very young age. Let us delve a bit into these principles so we can appreciate the unique approach and value only Montessori has to offer.

Freedom

The first step to bringing out the best in a child is to allow them the freedom to be themselves. When a child goes out into the world and explores, discovers and figures things out for herself, she invariably unlocks her maximum potential. Acting on her own natural inclinations she builds confidence with every tiny aspect learned. This freedom extends to her interaction with others and also develops her motor skills. And by letting the smart environment do it’s work, the child learns the value and power of making choices independently.

Structure and Order

You might think an environment so intricately arranged might hinder the very freedoms we just spoke about. But actually, the Montessori classroom acts as a reflection of the natural order of things as we find in nature. This helps children to appreciate a sense of order in their surroundings. They develop an instinctive preference for beneficial environments and are always on the lookout for order. This quality remains with them throughout life as they learn to navigate an imperfect and challenging world.

Beauty

Children have to feel relaxed and happy if the environment is going to work it’s magic. So the Montessori Prepared Environment should be peaceful, neatly arranged and pleasing to the eye. The goal is to make this special place of learning as inviting to kids as possible. This is achieved by setting up the classroom in a fashion that is undeniably simple yet still very tranquil. You will see both kids and their educators reaping the benefits of such an atmosphere.

Nature and Reality

Maria Montessori was a true lover of nature. She held very strongly that nature has the innate power to inspire our children. This is why you will find kids in Montessori classrooms are never confined to just the four walls, but are taken outside regularly. Within the structure of the classroom the natural elements of nature are also encouraged. Kids become familiar with seeing and touching items made of natural wood, stone and cotton. This is preferred over plastics and other synthetic materials. Virtually all furniture and tools used are designed to fit the child’s physical proportions. This makes completing tasks so much easier and enjoyable.

Social Environment

Montessori favours positive and healthy interaction. This is where the most essential social skills are realised. Kids learn how to feel for others, and how to assist and encourage their peers. The child makes rapid progress as well by learning to borrow the qualities learned from other children. Getting to play and learn at the same time in a group setting continues all the way along the Montessori curriculum. Kids are also allowed to mingle with different age groups found in the same wholesome environment.

Intellectual Environment

The Montessori curriculum focuses mainly on Practical life skills, Language learning, Mathematics, Culture and the development of the senses. For children to reach their full potential in these subjects, it is imperative that the previously mentioned principles are solidly in place. This essential environment has proven time and again to be very effective for the intellectual development of children. By encouraging creativity in both learning and expression, the child’s personality is allowed to grow beyond the mere academic requirements of traditional schooling.