School Summer Holidays – the halfway mark - Rachael Musgrave

School Summer Holidays – the halfway mark - Rachael Musgrave

This week marks the halfway point of the school summer holidays.  Six weeks can be a long time without the usual routine structured around the school day and it can be a challenging time for children and adults alike.

However, the summer can also be a time to try something new and have a break from the normal routine. With a few more weeks of the summer holidays left and some better weather on the horizon - fingers crossed – we’ve got five top tips to help you boost your summer holiday wellbeing.

• Keep learning – Learning new skills can be exciting and make us feel productive. Why not ask your child or teen to teach you something new this could be a game, a dance move or even a recipe. Don’t forget to use your local library, reading is a great way to learn new things together
• Be Active – Being active releases feel good hormones that can boost mood. Try to identify opportunities to build in physical activity into your summer. This can be any activity that works for you, like games in the local park, going for a walk and talk after a meal or even having a disco in your living room
• Take notice – sometimes it’s easy to spend our time thinking about the past or future, staying in the moment can give us a break from stress and worry. Practice some mindfulness together by taking time out to switch off from your busy day. This could be going device free for an agreed time, listening to music or trying some breathing exercises. There are some helpful free apps to support such as Smiling Mind. Try to be in the moment during this busy time and try not to get distracted by the to-do list
• Connect – Good relationships are good for our wellbeing. Children and teens may be missing their friends during the summer break. Having connections over the summer is important for parents and carers too. Arrange to meet up with friends or join a group, make use of technology to contact people you may not see over the summer
• Give – Contributing to our own communities and kindness can give us a sense of purpose and worth. Explore ways to help or support the community together. This could be through volunteering, designing cards to give to a local care home or even doing a local litter pick.

If you need some extra inspiration on the fun activities and days out that you can do across the borough for free, follow the council on social media and head over to our Visit Wigan website where you will find all about visits to Haigh Hall, Pennington Flash and Wigan Pier among others.

Remember, keep any plans simple and be kind to yourself. For more tips to help your family this summer visit here for you.