Summer Holidays: Visual Timetables
Spring has sprung and now summer is sizzling!
The summer months can feel a whole mixture of colours as you navigate between the excitement of a holiday, the relaxing of tight and busy routines, the warmer days and lighter nights….
Yet with summer comes the anticipation of that holiday, the impact of less routines and tight schedules, the hot and sweaty weather and the mad rush for black-out blinds!
Summer for many parents can feel conflicting. It certainly does for the many parents we work with.
The daunting feeling of 10 hours of a day with our children can feel more like we are being sprayed by three different perfumes at once more than having our noses gently touching the petals of a fresh pink rose…
When we break down the day and make the day visible for all, it not only allows us as parents to look forward to parts of the day which we know will be lighter and then also helps us prepare emotionally for the tricky parts to come. For our children, it enables structure, a semi-routine and also their own little bits to look forward to in the day.
An example may look like this:
Morning routine - breakfast, dressed, bathroom jobs
Morning activity - active outdoor or go out activity
Back home for lunch or eat out
Quiet time individually (even if they are sat next to you)
Table time - craft, reading, workbooks
Garden time - gardening, playing, tidying, making
Screen time
Evening routine
Using visuals is so effective, we can refer ourselves and our children back to them constantly and allows us flexibility to adapt and change schedules whilst respecting the general daily plan.
They can feel like a breath of sea air as you take off your sandals and feel the soft sand between your toes.
Summer doesn’t have to feel scary if we break it down and make it bite sized ice-cream! We deserve to have moments too where we can refresh and rejuvenate our energy and our nervous systems can shuffle back down on their sun loungers.
It’s as possible as a home-run at the local park playing family rounders!
- Laura