Summer Wellbeing Activities and Reducing Screen Time

We’re in full Summer Holiday mode here in the UK. After the initial relief of a few mornings without packing lunch boxes and school run chaos, the reality of the long stretch of summer days ahead sinks in! Being with our kids is great and, if we allow ourselves too, can help us find our own inner kid and have some nostalgic fun. But it's pressure cooker time too. Parents have much to juggle nowadays and entertaining children is one big juggling ball! 

I mean, working and childcare is just one facet of navigating the summer holidays. The other is how to avoid many hours of screen time and the ensuing guilt that comes with that! And, as I write this … the irony of an ipad appearing under my nose as I type, and my youngest child waiting impatiently for me to enter the code so he can access more screen time Sigh. But I’m a firm believer in having good intentions and being self forgiving when things don’t work out. Living in a technological world is challenging!

But here’s a few of my top tips that helps us:

• Make plans where you can to get out of the house for a few hours
• Utilize family support and playdates to add a variety of activities to the holidays
• Use screen time boundaries
• Co-write a list of activity ideas or a summer bucket list with the kids
• Make a weekly plan
• Reminding ourselves that simple is good

This isn’t perfect. There are still days for us when hours go by and it’s just a screen fest. Sometimes, my husband and I just have to get other stuff done.
The other challenge is finding things to do! Even a mini trip out seems to cost us at least a few ice creams! Here’s a few simple ideas for mindful summer activities at home that will probably just cost you your time. 

• cloud watching
• make ice pops
• make an obstacle course in the garden
• go on a sense walk (see, hear, smell, feel)
• do puzzles
• mindful colouring
• make a time capsule and bury it in the garden
• put your feet on the grass and close your eyes
• make something (bookmarks, dream catchers, junk modeling)
• do a summer scavenger hunt
• make a fairy garden
• use your dinosaur toys to make a dinosaur island
• make a car track in the garden for your toy cards
• find a leaf, look at it really closely then draw a detailed picture of it
• make a bug hotel
• do a minibeast hunt or bird spotting
• go swimming
• play ball games
• paint rocks
• make paper aeroplanes and measure how far they fly
• reading
• play hopscotch
• make your own musical instrument
• make a summer scrapbook to store memories

​Check out our Summer Wellbeing Printable Activity Sheets for Kids for engaging, easy to use resources that bring a little mindfulness into your long summer days.

Summer Wellbeing Activity Printable Sheets

In all seriousness, we all know the impact of too much screen time. But when there is no routine for weeks on end, you can see why the screens become very tempting. I think we have to be realistic and understand that if there are screens in the house that belong to the kids, they’ll want to use them. The question is for how long. 
For me, the real balancing act comes in managing expectations of  myself to micromanage how my children spend their time when we are at home. I don’t remember having any adult input into how I spent my childhood summer days when we had nowhere to be but home. We had no screen temptation back then. Parents just did whatever it was they had to do, and the kids seemed to find things to play. The gift of this was that mindfulness seemed to come naturally back then. You’ve probably seen the advice that it’s OK to let our children get bored. There is evidence that suggests this is good for them and promotes creativity and mindfulness. However, I also think connecting with our children is important so in contrast to traditional parenting approaches, allocating some time to interact in a meaningful way feels right. If we balance all of this up, we can give ourselves permission to be flexible in spending time on our own priorities with some quality time with the kids thrown in too. This will look different for each of us and even for ourselves day to day. 
If you take away anything from this blog post, take simplicity and flexibility. It’s what will gift you the best of summers. 
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Much love xx