5 Experiences Every Kid Needs This Summer

Arboro Empowered
Apr 30
4 min read

If you've been following my "Where in the world?" posts on social media, you know that I am an experience enthusiast. I want to do what I can to foster curiosity and creativity in my kids to help them grow into well-rounded, relatable, equipped individuals. Summer is full of possibilities for both planned and unplanned growth. Read on for 5 experiences I want for my kids and all kids this summer.

Warning: I am a known research geek, so you'll find links that expand on the topics as you read. Feel free to click or ignore!

My son, Leo, getting his wings on his first flight at age 2.

Get out of town- An overlooked way to improve students’ academics is to travel. When students can make connections with what they learn, it instantly affects their understanding and motivation to learn. When kids are about to picture a setting or scenario described in a math word problem or science experiment in connection to an experience they’ve had, the hurdle of making sense of it is removed. Exposure to various environments and experiences increases vocabulary and helps new friends relate to one another.

Tips:

Take the train! Pop over to the next town and discover it together. Greensboro's nickname is the 'Gate City' because of its historical role in connecting cities via the rails.
You don't have to go far to gain a new outlook. What experiences are new for your family? Maybe visit a new park, a farm, or take the bus downtown and hop on the free trolley.
Looking for a bigger adventure? Perhaps taking advantage of some of the lower-cost airfares in Greensboro to places like NYC, Orlando, or Connecticut could offer a novel experience for the whole family. Don't be afraid to take the little ones internationally too. There is a whole world out there, and the value of immersing yourself in another country's language and culture is life-changing.

Skill development - Summer Slide is a term used to describe the loss of learning over the summer months because, if you don’t use it, you can lose it. Have no fear! Summer Slide can be avoided and even turned into a Summer Climb! Use the summer months to fill in learning gaps so your child can kick off the next year with confidence. Some families like to keep skills fresh through new experiences, others prefer to delegate learning fun with academic coaching, which, when done right, involves fun games that incorporate academic skills.

Check out what our friends Dr. and Dr. Dovico have to say on the topic!

Unstructured play - Many families, especially those with working parents, fill their summer with camps, many of which are highly structured and scheduled. Camps are wonderful, and my kids are signed up for several. To balance it out, kids also need to have time to learn how to entertain themselves. Kids, like grown-ups, need downtime. Often, parents feel the urge to squeeze as much as possible into summer vacation. The next time you feel obligated to add more, more more... remind yourself that when kids get time to be bored, it opens the door to creativity and innovation. Give yourself permission to think ‘Less is more’ and see unscheduled days as valuable as days with a plan.

Tip: Resist the urge to solve your child’s boredom for them. Make some materials available, suggest a couple of choices, and let them take it from there.

Check out this blog post I wrote a couple of years ago called Embrace Boredom for more information.

Talent Discovery- The best way for students to figure out what they are good at is to be exposed to various hobbies. Sports are great for staying healthy and valuing teamwork, but kids need more than sports to remain well-rounded. Their undeveloped or undiscovered talent could be art, learning an instrument or language, acting, working with animals, cooking, gardening, learning a game like chess or Mahjong, Lego building, sewing, or even entrepreneurship. The only way to find out is to explore and try them out! It’s not uncommon for kids to tie their identity to their sport, but this can be limiting socially and is more likely to end abruptly due to an injury, unsuccessful tryout, or, for most, graduation.

Arboro coach and counselor, Christine-Evette Ngeve shares her experience with an athletic identity in this blog post.

Family Bonding- Put away devices and plan time to be present. Make eye contact, give your full attention, and give kids a choice about how you spend time together. You might take a hike in the woods, enjoy a picnic at the park, or even discover a talent together! Take time to give individual, uninterrupted attention. Kids are constantly evolving so think of your time together to get to know them in this stage of their life. Ask questions. Be curious. Skip judgment and critiques. Show them that they can trust you and count on you as they navigate their ever-changing development.

Adolescence is an especially challenging time for many parent-child relationships. This article offers helpful tips for navigating this stage of parenting such as:
"When appropriate, it’s helpful to include adolescents in decision-making about family rules, such as discussions to decide on a reasonable curfew."