Summer is the season of the long holiday, lazy days and hot afternoons that end in cooling storms and balmy nights. It is every cliche that you could imagine right down the sound of the cicadas and the smell of the native flowering trees spreading their pollen far and wide. The reality for many parents is that the summer holidays presents a rare opportunity to just stop. To jump off the merry go round of after school activities, pick up, drop offs, early mornings and tired kids.

As parents breath a sigh of relief and assess the year gone by their kids go on what will be the longest holiday of their year. 6 long weeks minimum to fill with fun ideas, activities, outings and holiday fun. The reward of outings and holidays away from home are real but they are also expensive, taxing on the “wind down time” and often not a realistic option for the long haul.

Boredom, devices and summer holidays

You have a holiday break ahead and you know that most of it will be at home, or on free outings locally because holidays and paid activities are something you just can’t afford. Or maybe you can but you just crave the solace and quiet beat of home. I get that. You want to keep your kids off their devices as much as you can but you also know that devices equal some much needed “you” time and I get that too. I didn’t know that kids are recommended to only have 2 hours of device time a day- something my family struggle with on school holidays and probably far exceed most days.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to ban all devices and the “I’m bored” is often followed a few hours later by imaginative games or perhaps board games or even some puzzles or backyard fun. Guess Who sometimes ends in fights and I notice that Master 5 and Miss 4 like to gang up on Master 9 but for the large part I feel a sense of relief when the kids aren’t on their Ipads, or computers, or Playstations or television. Easier said that done though, and it can be a like a diet that wears you down despite knowing how important it is for the kids to have outdoor time, active time and screen free time. Feeling like you would all appreciate some ideas (I know I would), we teamed up with Nature Play Queensland and some of our advertisers to come up with some Summer Playlists that might give you some ideas on how to make the most of summer with kids and babies minus the tech.