Summer reminds us of freshly cut mangoes, juicy watermelons, playing with our friends, going to grandparents’ house, eating healthy food and having the best times of our lives. As children, we have experienced fun during our holidays. In the early years, there were no mobiles,iPad or the internet to distract us. All we had to do was play outside in the sun, go visit our relatives, and maybe visit tourist spots. So as kids, we were most active with outdoor activities. However, children of the present generation prefer to be engaged in videos and screen time.
What happens during the summer season?
Usually, during the summer season, schools plan vacations for children. During extreme summers, it might be difficult for the children to stay hydrated. Especially the playschool and the nursery kids. The same applies for the winter season too. While on the other days the students aren’t exposed to much weather extremities. During other days children have a proper routine with school, playtime and evening studies. However, during the summer, we as parents have the responsibility of ensuring that our kids are having fun, staying hydrated and utilising their time for some fun activities. Summer heat is at its peak during April-May in a tropical country like India. So, as parents we must ensure that the children are getting proper nutrition and staying hydrated.
Tips to stay healthy in Summer:
- Explain the importance of drinking sufficient water to the children.Teach them the scientific reason why drinking water is important. They will have the satisfaction of learning new scientific facts.
- Restrict the screen time and keep the kids engaged with fun indoor and outdoor activities.
- A child-safe sunscreen is a must when the kids are out playing.
- Emphasize on the importance of personal hygiene. i.e. bathing after outdoor play, washing hands and legs after a play, wearing clean cotton clothes, etc.
- Include intake of watermelon, cucumber, buttermilk, mangoes and other seasonal food in their diet.
- Make it a fun learning experiment and include them while cooking (with safety measures)
- Include new outdoor activities like swimming, football, and/or cricket as a part of summer camp. Several nursery schools in Bangalore have many interesting and safe summer camps for kids.
Healthy food options:
Include more protein-rich and fibre rich food in the diet. Protein-rich food can include chicken, fish, egg if you are non-vegetarian. Pulses, cereals, paneer, tofu, salads, melons, oats etc can be vegan options. Indulging them in cooking while you are preparing food, can be a fun activity for them. Teaching them discipline and the aspect of sharing responsibilities as young as a 3-yr old sow the seed for responsible human beings of the future. Try to avoid junk food. If the children insist on having them, control their portions and explain why junk foods are harmful to health in the longer run. The main block for parents like us is that we underestimate the power of grasping new useful information by our toddlers at a younger age. Often, we dismiss them as too young to understand. So, we expect them to listen to us without any qualms. However, what we forget in the due course is that children are little human beings and treating them like their opinion matters and trying to understand their choice is a vital aspect of building a healthy relationship with our children.
Indoor Activities:
Owing to the pandemic, the children need to be kept engaged indoors. There are a lot of indoor activities that help keep the children engaged and also help them learn something useful.
- Inculcating the habit of reading will help them in the long run. An hour of reading a book of their choice will do the magic.
- Keeping in touch with the studies is vital. So, ensure they reiterate the taught concepts.
- The age between 2.5- 5 years is the age where the children’s creativity is at its best. So, harness their creativity and help them channelise their imagination in a useful manner.
- Few best indoor fun activities can be clay modelling (play dough), painting, arts & crafts, DIY home furnishings that the children can see and feel proud of, summer camps, and introducing them to indoor board games.
Conclusion:
We, at Chrysalis, one of the best Kindergarten schools in Bangalore, have summer camps and comprehensive programmes like PUPA, AwSTEM, Individual Support Program for the overall development of the children. We understand the developmental stages of a toddler and provide customised academics so that they get the best out of their childhood. To know more about admissions visit us at https://www.chrysaliskids.com/