Sorting your Summer Holidays!

So, the countdown has begun and the summer holidays are nearly here! I’m sure I’m not the only person who woke up this morning questioning where the first half of the year has gone in amazement!

For me, June and July mean only one thing….planning!

I don’t know about you, but I find that my darling boy thrives off of routine. Without it, he can find the open endedness of the summer holidays a struggle. Coming out of the days where he performs the same ritualistic tasks during the week and where he knows what to expect can be unnerving for children with SEN.

So, you may be thinking….how on earth can I plan something for the whole 6 weeks of the summer holidays? Where do I begin? I won’t lie, everytime I begin my planning I feel like I’ve just been catapulted in the deep end of the pool without any warning. I sit at the computer trawling though lesson plans and Key Stage topics of learning feeling like I’ve turned a corner and bumped straight into a giant who is looming over me. However, that feeling soon goes and we end up super excited for the weeks to come.

Lets start at the beginning

So, first things first I find that making a week by week plan really helps focus my LO. Each week of the summer holidays will have a theme. I find that having a theme focusses the attention of my LO’s very busy mind that races a million miles a minute. It reminds him that there is purpose to each week.

Last year we did space week, transport and travel week, dinosaur week to name but a few. Pick topics that you know your little munchkins would really enjoy. Make it engaging and be as silly as you want, there’s no limit (although I was questioning where that limit was as we spent the day moving only like different dinosaurs!) But honestly, follow your childs lead and excite their imagination. It may sound cliche but having fun is all that it’s about!

Planning each week

So, by now you’ve got your topics for each week and you’re already resenting staring at the computer for hours planning. Let me make it easy for you!

There are so many sites around that even schools use to aid planning of lessons etc so don’t feel overwhelmed. Twinkl is an amazing site that has thousands of different resources for each age group. Their content is regularly updated to keep up with current trends and some are even editable so it’s definitely worth a look. A lot of the resources are FREE (yes, really!) or you can subscribe for around £50+ for the year to have more access to content. Sparklebox is another site that it used a lot within schools, they also have an array of resources to help support your child with learning and play. Again the content is FREE and what is amazing is that educational professionals also upload resources they have made so you have the peace of mind that the resource is likely to be educational and bundles of fun!

Another thing that I like to do is to reference back to schools homepages. On there you can find topic grids, what is great about topic grid is that you can use that to reference ideas of what your child would/should be learning based on what year they are in. You can then use that topic grid to aid towards finding resources and planning a learning/invitation to play task.

Social media can also be a great way to find ideas for each of your topics that you have planned. With the likes of DADlab on facebook to give you ideas for all things science and scrolling through instagram (planning purposes only, honest!) for inspiration for crafts, recipes and activities you are sure to come up with a variety of activities that your little ones will love.

Lastly, I like to remember that despite all this planning that my child can take the lead when he feels ready to. Changes happen and not everything has to be so ‘regimented’. Some of my planning does go to ‘waste’ because we’ve done something different but giving him the stepping stones for play and learning to help ignite his imagination is worth a million hours of doubting myself during planning. Play should be open ended for children and when they ‘take the reins’ you’ll be sure to have a day full of giggles and fun.

Subscribe and stay tuned for upcoming regular instalments of different ideas for over your summer holidays!