The Benefits of School Holidays

Date : 05 July 2023

It feels like we’ve scarcely got through December Holidays and Easter, only to find that it’s already time for South Africa’s winter holidays! Working parents are always in a bit of a pickle this time of year, especially since this is the second longest school holiday of the year!

Apart from who’s going to care for them while you’re at the office, you know that somewhere in the three weeks ahead you’re going to hear “I’m bored” or “Can I go to…”, which usually peaks your frustration even more.

School holidays might be a tiny frustration for parents, but children actually need them, as much as they need a bedtime or daily routine.

Childpsych has listed the following reasons why school going children need a holiday:

Kids are already over-scheduled. With ever increasing workloads we run the risk of them becoming completely burnt-out and simply switching off to the lesson being taught.
Children hardly ever get time for free, child-initiated play. The kind of play where you can get completely engrossed in what you’re doing and it doesn’t matter if you spend hours at a time doing it – school holidays provide the perfect opportunity for this kind of play.
Boredom can be a good thing. Boredom is often the precursor of creativity. It teaches children to occupy themselves and not to constantly rely on others for entertainment.
School holidays provide an opportunity for children to learn things not taught in school. Kids are constantly learning and need more than just an academic education. The get to really explore, experience and socialise during the school holidays. They might have the time to learn a new skill, like a new language or how to play a musical instrument or even how to knit!
School holidays provide time for family holidays and no doubt about it: Family holidays = memories. Your children won’t remember the day you got a raise or the day you hit all your sales targets or got promoted, but they will remember the day you helped them land a big fish or taught them to ride a bike or pitch a tent. The world is getting smaller and many modern families now have relatives who live far away or overseas – long school holidays provide enough time to make a visit to these relatives worthwhile.

Now that we have an idea of why school holidays are so important, let’s look at some activities that can teach children things that aren’t taught at school while spending time with the family.

Cooking a Meal Together

We all run out of ideas for what to make for supper and, for the working parent, sometimes the day has been a bit long and cooking isn’t really the most desired evening activity on your mind. Why not use this opportunity to involve your children in the supper preparations? Now that homework and extra-murals have taken a bit of a break, you can involve them in one of the best ways to bond as a family. This also teaches them a lifelong skill and maybe even has them handling supper on their own in future too!

Go Camping

Even if it’s in the back yard! As Childpsych mentioned, your child will always remember how you taught them to pitch a tent, even more so how you spent one-on-one time with them trying to reach a goal. If you can head out to a great camping spot, you can even teach them how to build their own fire! Unfortunately, you won’t be able to take the fire into the tent with you, so make sure you bring along your Portable Power Unit and a few LED Lanterns for exploring around the campsite.

Have a Kid Centered Day

Whether this is letting your child determine the itinerary for the day, or simply hosting an afternoon or evening where their friends can come over, enjoy some snacks and each other’s company. Even better, make it an interactive gathering by building a burger, or making pizzas. Our Portable Power Unit comes in handy here too, should there be loadshedding. You can keep the music playing and light up the room to show off your cool dance moves, or shed some light on who’s winning the next game of Monopoly.

Go Hiking

This may seem overplayed, but the outdoors is the ultimate place to get your dopamine and endorphins flowing, which also makes for better family bonds and a healthier child all around. End it off with a picnic and a few family pics and it’ll be locked in the memory bank for years to come. Make sure to keep your car charger with dual USB in the car, so that your phone can stay powered up to take the perfect family selfie, or teach your children the joy of photography by bringing along your digital camera, powered by Eveready Digital Lithium of course, to snap the perfect nature shot.

Even if you cannot spend every day of the school holidays with your child, appreciate that this is their time to reset before the second half of the year starts. Let them use this time to enjoy the day without the pressure of school times tables and sport matches.

Maybe even enjoy the fact that school lunches and rushing to get everyone out in the mornings is on hold for a little while too.