Just got into the swing of summer and now it’s time to start preparing for back to school? Don’t sweat about it! There’s still time to squeeze a little more fun out of summer while gearing up for the fall and getting ready for back to school. Here’s how to beat the back-to-school blues:
1. Plan an Island Adventure Scavenger Hunt
Organize a scavenger hunt with clues that lead to various outdoor locations in your neighborhood—or even a farther flung area on the Island. Incorporate fun facts and learning opportunities into the clues to make it not only fun but educational, too. (Where can you find an Elasmosaurus dinosaur? Answer: Courtney District Museum…then go there!). Or organize a hunt that follows with the route to school.
2. Schedule a Backyard/Back Porch Camping Night
Set up a mini campground in your backyard—or even on your back porch or living room floor—to bid farewell to summer vacation and hello to the soon-to-be school routine. Pitch a tent/string a tarp, sing campfire songs (sans campfire!) tell ghost stories (if you dare!) and stargaze.
3. Make a DIY Summer Memory Collage
Have kids create a visual representation of their favourite summer memories. Give them craft supplies—a scrapbook or paper, markers, stickers, photos and any other souvenirs/ticket stubs/shells etc they may have collected over the summer— and encourage them create a collage showcasing their favourite summer memories.
4. Family Learning Excursions
Plan educational outings as a family to Island museums, historical sites or parks. Hand of Man, Royal BC Museum, Miniature World, Fort Rodd Hill, Nanaimo Museum and The Bastion and Port Alberni Railway, to name a few, will spark kids’ curiosity, helping them switch gears from summer to school.
5. Organize a “Get Ready for School” Party
Turn the process of preparing for school into a fun and collaborative activity. Let your kids invite their friends over to organize school supplies, decorate backpacks or create personalized calendars. Turn it into a party, a celebration of sorts, with music, snacks and maybe an end-of-summer sleepover to fight school blues.
6. Go on Nature Walks and Beach Explorations
Still have a few places you meant to get to this summer but haven’t yet? Botanical Beach? Strathcona Park? Englishman River Falls. Go now! While you’re there, challenge kids to identify different plant species, collect shells or study tidal pools.
7. Create a Quiet and/or Creative Corner
Okay so it doesn’t have to be in a corner but having a special space for not only homework and reading, but being creative, contemplative or just plain quiet is a great thing for kids to have to help calm the chaos of back to school. Take some time before the school year begins to set up the space and help kids customize it so that it suits their needs.
