Ten Tips For Creating A Stay At Home Summer
Beginning a six week Summer holiday when you have just spent a million weeks at home with your children may feel rather daunting and just six more weeks of the same. You may, like me, feel a little bit all over the place, disorganised and just not ready!
Last week I was in a bit of a panic about the holidays but I have spent some time thinking and planning, and I hope that what I’ve come up with will help you too. I usually spend June and July really getting all my work in order, making plans for the holidays and getting super organised so that I can enjoy the six weeks with the children. Right now, I am not ahead with anything and I can imagine that you might not be either, so please begin by paying a lot of attention to tip number one!
Be really kind to yourself. This year has been a lot for all of us. More than we could ever have predicted at the beginning of the year. Please make sure you look after yourself each day. Even if it’s just ten minutes of self-care. It will make a difference to your whole family and is important. If you are tired then put a movie on and watch it together. If your children are old enough, talk to them about how you are feeling and work out together how you can go a little slower this Summer.
Simplify. It is likely that you have been juggling more than you ever have done this year. I know at times my brain as felt like it was going to explode with all the things to remember. I want a Summer of simple things and do not plan to pack our days full of all the things!
1-2-1 time with my children. We have always paid attention to this but we haven’t done enough of it this year because we’ve been mainly staying safe at home and juggling all the things! But this Summer we are planning some things for each child. Simple things that they love. I also feel that if they choose a day trip somewhere then it will be easier for me to navigate it safely when it’s just two of us and not six!
Film nights and afternoons. One of the things that we always enjoy is watching films together, so I want to make sure we do this over the Summer. So simple, so special! With popcorn of course.
Individual projects. I am going to encourage my children to each have a Summer project that they work on throughout the holidays. Something challenging or creative, or creative and challenging, whatever they want but something they commit to and can then be proud of at the end of August.
A family Summer bucket list. Our bucket list will look a a little different this year but the funny thing is that our bucket lists often do contain a lot of things that can be done at home or close to home, so I’m not sure if the children will think it’s any different to normal! I love having the list because I can keep a check on what we’ve done and what is important to everyone. A Beautiful Mess have a lovely one you can download and print off.
Special notebooks. We often have a Summer journal and/or sketchbook. I have ordered some that should arrive this week and have been gathering some nature journal inspiration over on Pinterest. I’m not sure if the children will want to do a nature journal but I think they might like a few pages of that! And I know they will creatively fill the rest. It’s a good way to keep them writing and drawing without it feeling like work. If I create one too then it’s a lovely thing to do together.
Creative projects. I’m sure you know by now that creativity is at the centre of our home, so we’ll definitely be doing some creative projects. I usually have these all prepared in advance but this year I’m a little behind and will be making a plan this week. I do have three projects ready, so that’s pretty good!
Ice-cream in the park. For the past few days we have gone to the park for a bike ride and an ice-cream. Everyone loves it just as much as an ice-cream anywhere else! I’m going to make the most of this for as many days as possible!
Restaurant at home. Whenever we make a bucket list my children always put Wagamamas on there! I’m not sure if they will do that this year because we haven’t been to Wagamamas with them since February half-term but I have seen that we can now get a take-away where we are, so I’m going to surprise them with a Wagamamas at home one evening.
I hope some of these ideas help you to keep things simple, safe and a little different to what you’ve been doing since March, especially if like us you are staying at home this Summer. Take care and remember to be kind to yourself. xo
