Parentzone
Learning outside school hours: school holidays
Types of activities that may be available during school holidays...
Playschemes.
- Children's clubs – these are usually for primary school children and have lots of games and craft activities.
- Youth clubs – these are usually for teenagers and have activities suited to older children, including outdoor activities and sports.
- Special events – local museums, art galleries and community centres may offer activities during the school holidays.
- Library activities – some libraries run special summer activities which encourage reading and writing. Sometimes they have authors and writers to work with the children.
- Sports activities – sports and leisure centres often run special events for young people during the holidays.
- Summer schools and academies – these can be study programmes for those who need extra help. For older children there are programmes to help them think about going to further and higher education. Schools will usually suggest what is suitable and so information about these will come from your school.
- Parks and nature trails – these often have a ranger who organises activities.
Some of these activities are free and some have a small cost associated with them. If you are on a low income you may be entitled to help – contact the event organiser for advice.
What can parents and children do together?
Here are some suggestions.
- Plan trips together. What things are your children interested in? Let them get involved by asking them to find out about places to go, the costs, travel arrangements, train times, etc.
- Visit new places, for example castles and museums.
- Visit special centres, such as science or wildlife centres.
- Find out from the school about the topics your children will be learning when they go back to school, and start finding out about them. This could be a focus for visits to different places, for example learning about buildings, places, people or battles for history.
- Set an internet project. If you have a computer at home you may not want your child to spend lots of time playing games or in chat rooms. Find a topic that interests your child, such as football, dancing, a favourite pop star, or one related to a school topic and suggest they find out more. (See our safe use of the internet section for advice on internet safety.)
