A break from the academic can be refreshing for everyone, and a good way to develop your children’s creativity and special skills.
Interests and goals
Factor in your children’s interests and ask about their preferences, or observe them to see what they can aim to learn from certain tasks or trips. Joy Guerrero, a physician and mom of three, suggests, “Be on the lookout for clues from the kids on what their interests are and what they would like to explore.”
Karla de Guzman, director of College Sto. Domingo in Cainta, Rizal, thinks that parents should give their children choices. Letting them in on the decision-making process boosts their self-esteem and enthusiasm for their chosen activity.
Planning and scheduling
De Guzman says, “Activities can be done once a week or even daily, depending on the adult who will initiate and monitor the activity.” These, she says, can be injected in the child’s daily routine, maximizing his time and keeping him from relying too much on TV or other gadgets.
As a counselor, I observed on many occasions that plans and schedules were effective when made together by parents and children. It gave the kids a sense of ownership and responsibility to fulfill tasks they helped plan and prefer. In sessions with parents and students, I recommend these areas to be prioritized in their schedules:
– Sleep and rest
– Self-care (bathing and grooming)
– School
– Realization (free play or hobby)
– Family (time with parents and siblings)
– Enrichment (special activities)
Enrichment time should include a variety of activities. Samira Herrera, a finance manager and mom of two, accomplishes activities with daughter Soraya, apart from the younger one’s regular schoolwork. Their daily after school schedule looks something like this:
Monday: Artwork
Tuesday: Math activities
Wednesday: Date with mommy
Thursday: Story-telling
Friday: Play pretend
Saturday: Date with dad
Sunday: Family time
With activities fused in the regular child parent routine, parents can likewise merge these activities in their personal schedules.
Home-based activities
What you do with your child need not be fancy. It simply requires creativity and maximizing available resources. Ched Magaspar, an Ateneo grade school teacher, says, “Start with things at home, like improvising things and recycling. One school of thought is just providing the kids with the materials. It’s up to the child to create something through exploration.”
Tina Rodriguez, writer-editor and mom, shares some activities she and her kids enjoy:
– Playing music and making-up dance moves
– Playing “shadow puppets”
– Playing with blocks and letting kids made their own buildings
– Playing board games or other “non-techie” games together
– Finger painting, drawing, writing, and cutting away to their heart’s content
Create learning experiences
To cap activities, parents and kids can come up with an output or special trip. This may be done every two or three months. If your budget permits, Magaspar suggests bringing kids to art museums “to help stimulate the imagination.”
Alternative learning opportunities suggested by Marose Pascual, a lawyer and mom of two, include involving the kids in doing the groceries and household chores, visiting bookstores, attending parties, and doing outdoor activities like biking, kite flying, picnics, and so on.
Don’t overload
Activities should be age-appropriate, De Guzman describes, “The activity should be feasible and within the child’s capacity or level of understanding.” Educator and mother, Queena Lee-Chua, Ph.D. explains in her book Helping Your Children Do Well in School.
“One of the basic tenets of educational psychology is, do not overload the child. Play—unstructured, or free play—is one of the most important developmental activities of children where they tell stories, act out their own dreams and do things at their own pace.”
Priceless benefits
Activities that children and parents are involved in together have lifelong effects such as:
Free-tuned skills. Pascual shares that her kids developed better gross and fine motor skills, maturity, social skills, and self-confidence. Guerrero claims that the activities encouraged creativity and the uncovering of talents among her kids.
Better relationships. Regular parent-child activities send the message to kids that they are important to their parents. Guerrero expresses that these gave her kids considerably “precious and happy childhood memories.” To make an impact, purposeful parent-child time should be 30 minutes or more daily. This is the parents’ vehicle to tune into their child’s world, an essential tool in building their relationship as their children grows.
Creating extra-curricular activities at home to help develop your child, strengthen your bond, and prepare him for bigger experiences is possible. It just requires your time, creativity, and dedication.
This article originally appeared in Moms Today March to June 2012 but has since been updated.