Crafting a Teen-Friendly Schedule for the Holidays

The long-awaited summer holidays are nearly here! With around six weeks of no school on the horizon, now might be the perfect opportunity for you to consider how to support your teen to make the most of this time. While the long break is a chance for your child to relax without their regular routine, they could still benefit from having some structure over this time to help them beat boredom and continue learning. Here are some pointers as to how you can craft a teen-friendly schedule for the holidays.

Incorporate Physical Activity

Physical activity can have an array of benefits for adults and children. Some teens are naturally sportier than others, so might not need as much encouragement to incorporate movement into their free time. However, the holidays can be a great chance for your teen to explore a wide range of physical activities that they might not have had time for beforehand. Not only could they perhaps find an activity they love, but getting outside and moving more can also be an ideal way of reducing screen time this summer.

Suggest Volunteering or a Part-Time Job

For older teens, now could be a good time for them to start seeking a summer part-time role or some volunteering experience. The working environment can help your teenager to gain more responsibility, meet new people, potentially discover a new interest, and earn some extra pocket money. Your teen might find it helpful if you talked them through writing a CV or discussing which type of role would be most suited to their skills.

Encourage Learning

A concern for some parents is summer learning loss, whereby their child forgets what they have learnt by the time they return to school in the new term. Fortunately, though, education does not have to come to an end when school’s out and there are plenty of ways to encourage your teen to keep learning over the holidays.

Why not consider if there are any documentaries, films or TV shows that could be relevant and educational? Reading is also another amazing way for your teen to stay engaged over the summer, as are educational apps. Here are a few learning apps that can keep your teen busy during this time.

Family Time

If you have taken some time off work over the summer holidays, why not encourage your teen to incorporate some more family time into their own schedule? It might not be top of your teenager’s list of things they’d love to do this summer, but with less time caught up with emails, meetings, and school, the summer can be a better opportunity to bond. This might even be as simple as making dinner together or sitting down to talk about your days. These might seem small things but can be ideal moments to create meaningful conversations.

Alternatively, you could try out new activities together that you might not be able to do when you’re at work or your teen is at school. For example, a new sport such as rock climbing, movie marathons, or a family games night.

Create a Visual Schedule

It could be useful to you, your teen, and the rest of the household to create a visual schedule for their summer holiday plan. Here, you might want to include any activities, chores, or curfews. Visual schedules can also be great for teens who prefer predictability since their usual routine during term time won’t exist for a few weeks. It’s also a way for your teen to remain accountable, further teaching them responsibility.

Involve Your Teen in Planning

As your child goes through adolescence, you might have noticed that they’ve grown a stronger desire for freedom. This is a perfectly natural part of being a teenager, but it can make it difficult as a parent to know how to balance giving them enough boundaries while ensuring their autonomy. But by involving them in summer holiday plans, you’re able to encourage them to incorporate activities that you believe will be helpful for them. At the same time, they will have the freedom to choose what else they are interested in doing to enjoy summer to the fullest!