5 Tips For Active School Holidays

The school holidays always tend to come around so quickly!

Some look forward to them and others, not so much. Regardless, the last thing we want is our kids bouncing off the walls, jumping on the furniture and complaining they’re, quite simply, “bored”. However, there are plenty of ways to keep kids entertained, and even better, to keep them active at the same time.

We’ve come up with our top 5 tips for keeping the family active in the school holidays. Here they are:

1. Create a family school holiday checklist. This can be as simple as writing a list of activities (and even chores) that must be done every single day. Kids thrive on routine and enjoy the challenge of completing everything on their checklist they are challenged to do. This could include 30 minutes on board games or puzzles, one hour of physical, outdoor play, cleaning their bedroom and one movie. Rewards can be waiting for those who complete their daily checklists, and if you’ve added some active chores in there, you can enjoy the reward too!
2. School holiday clinics and day-camps are usually a great opportunity to try a new activity or sport, without signing up to an entire season. Most organisations such as the NRL and Tennis Hot Shots run mini-clinics for school holidays where kids learn basic skills, meet new friends and work up a sweat. Sometimes, there may even be a youth group in your area that will run days out to the zoo, or various activity sessions.
3. Explore what the local area has to offer in bush walks and secret tracks. This can also be done through learning more about your area’s history from both Aboriginal and early settlers perspectives. Encourage the kids to do their own research, and then put the adventures into action. Great to get their muscles working throughout the school holidays.
4. Create a point system. This can be linked in with point 1, especially if your kids need to be motivated by specific things. Earning points from your checklist can motivate kids to stay active, and in return, they can choose one active outing or activity. This could be the bush walk we researched earlier, or even a trip to the indoor pools.
5. Don’t be afraid to incorporate the technology. There are more opportunities now than ever to engage in physical activity through the use of Wii games, or even virtual reality. Pokemon Go! was an extremely popular option, some wore out the soles on their shoes searching their local neighbourhood to “catch ‘em all”. If you aren’t feeling tech savvy, achieving a daily step count of 10,000 or even encouraging an impromptu-dance party every morning can be the perfect complement to your active school holidays.

School holidays don’t have to be expensive but the more active they are, the better. Work towards having a holiday filled with a wide range of activities, but most importantly, ENJOY!