If you are wondering how to spend quality time with your kids this summer, I have some solutions that I hope will help!

I usually approach summer with so much hope, envisioning spending lots of quality time with my kids and us frolicking at the beach every day. 

But of course, life happens. I promise I’ll play a board game with Nina, but then I get stuck on an important phone call until dinner. I tell my kids we’ll have an outdoor movie night on Friday, but I fall behind on the chores and we only manage 1 episode of something we’re watching together.

We can’t avoid these things, of course, but one thing that can help a lot is having a good action plan for how to spend quality time with your kids this summer. Note that I said quality, not quantity – experts say it’s the quality of the time we spend with our kids that’s more important than the length of time. 

We might not be able to engage with them fully every minute of every day, but these tips can help you make your time with them count – no matter how much or how little of it you have!

1. Plan and schedule it in

When you look in your calendar app, what do you see? You probably have a flurry of appointments and meetings marked down. One thing most of us don’t have in our planner? A date with our kids! 

I find that scheduling it in like any other commitment outside of the home is a great way to ensure we really do get our time together without distractions. So, when someone asks me to do something or I need to schedule something for work and I open up my planner, that precious time with my kids is already blocked off with all my other obligations.

In fact, you can do this on a wide scale as well as a smaller one. Maybe you’ll schedule in 10 or 15 minutes of “connect time” with each child on most days, along with bigger chunks of time, like a whole afternoon or even a full day, from time to time as your schedule allows.

2. Use activity-free weekends so you can have some carefree time together

I love going to the aquarium or the water park as much as the next person, but I really think there’s something to be said for having some relaxed time together just “being”. Going on excursions often means waking up early, packing what we need to bring, pressuring my kids to get out the door on time, and trying like crazy to fit in everything we came to do at our destination before we need to head home. 

Those days are still fun and memorable, but a day without any structure can lend itself to some serious bonding and allows you to give them your full attention. 

3. Ask your kids what sounds fun to them

Sometimes I rack my brain trying to think of something that would be fun for all of us to do. And while I do strike on a winning idea sometimes, others don’t quite attract the enthusiasm I was hoping for. 

Instead of wasting an afternoon online looking for a fun activity, ask your kids what sounds fun to them. You don’t need to spend the day at a pool if all your little girl really wants to do is fingerpaint. Maybe your kids feel like doing something that just didn’t occur to you, like baking cookies, going fishing, or having a water balloon battle in the garden. You never know until you ask!

4. Create a special ritual

If possible, create a special ritual with each child that the two of you can do each day. It doesn’t have to take a long time, but it should be something that you can realistically work into every day. For example, maybe your child will choose a book and you’ll read a few pages together every day after lunch or every night before bed, or perhaps you’ll get a cool puzzle and work on it together for a few minutes each day. Mother/daughter yoga routines are another great idea as you can both work on your well-being together and establish some healthy habits. 

Once you figure out how to spend quality time with your kids in a way that works for your family, it will come easily, and everyone will feel more connected. Best of all, you’ll be able to send them back to school in Autumn feeling satisfied that you made the most of the summer months!

Happy summer!

Love,

Nakita xxx