How to keep your kids engaged after school?

Learning hours are super busy for children these days. School isn’t as simple as it used to be. It is jam-packed with tests, assignments, homework and projects. Kids must have stress busters that will help them relax and go back to academics with the same enthusiasm the next day. It can be hard to get it right in the first go, but it’s not impossible to keep children engaged effectively after school. Here are some expert-recommended activities that’ll bring enjoyment and learning opportunities to your little one. 

Indulge in art and craft 

The most popular after-school activity that we have known for ages is art and craft. Encourage kids to get as creative as they can. This is one activity that brings fun and learning together. It is the best way to teach children about shapes and colours without the academic tag. Don’t look for perfection in this. Let the activity be just another way of discovering different things for your child. Ensure that you have all the required supplies to make this activity a success. Don’t just restrict them to white paper and crayons. Let them enjoy working with water colours, clay, fruit and vegetable art and maybe even knitting. Art and craft will keep your child entertained while improving their span of attention, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.

Inculcate the reading habit 

Open the doors of your library for a child and he/she will have a friend for life. It is known as the most healthy form of entertainment that is never exhausted. This is an activity that keeps children away from consuming excess digital content while helping them form their perspective about the world.  Bring home a wide range of children’s’ books like Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton or Rudyard Kipling for your child to dive into. Once a child develops an interest in reading, he/she will be lost in the world of books. Books will not only be a kids’ best companion but will put them to sleep with the great stories. Stimulating the reading habit in your child has a number of benefits. Reading expands children’s’ vocabulary, stimulates their imagination, increases their concentration and adds to their knowledge of the world around them. 

Let them help you around

Introduce kids to cooking, baking and other chores in the house. Give them the responsibility and trust them with their job. This will give them a sense of independence and responsibility. The younger children can take up washing the vegetables while the older ones could take up the cutting and help with washing the utensils. You could even encourage your teens to try out some new recipes. The idea is to involve them in the process of grocery shopping and deciding the menu.  While kids enjoy their favorite dish, they must know what goes into making them. Also, when they help in cooking a meal, even the fussy eaters will forget their dislikes. As for household chores, they will teach a child not to associate age or gender with any task around the house. 

Give them the thinking cap

Want to get your child thinking? Let’s do it the fun way! Stimulate your child’s mind with some quizzes, jigsaw puzzles, Rubik’s cube, crosswords and Sudoku, which are some of the popular ways to engage your child in a productive way.   

Introduce a workout session to the routine

For a break from monotonous and sedentary learning hours, it is good for children to get into some physical activity like yoga, dance or Zumba. This will bring about the much-needed physical exercise along with an opportunity to relax the mind. Research shows that children who practice yoga are calmer, choose healthier food and have better control over their emotions than those who don’t. Yoga helps them plan and execute their ideas better, improves their span of attention along with their neurotransmitter function and boosts their immune system.  Any form of dance is proven to give children the benefit of good grades. Physiologically, dance improves oxygen supply to the brain that keeps children active for a longer time. According to the Center of Disease Control dance has a positive impact on life earnings, behaviour and potential lifespan. 

These are just a few of the many fun activities kids can take up after school. Their academics maybe on a pause but learning doesn’t. Identify your child’s interests and choose activities that match his/her personality the most. Post-school activities can be great fun and educative too. What’s your child’s favourite post-school activity?