Make time visible. Your child with ADHD has time blindness. This means that getting two or three weeks school holidays means very little to him because he can’t really visualise what that look like. Put a calendar up somewhere central and talk about it every night. (See picture).
A simple grid showing Sunday to Saturday for the two or three weeks makes it visible. Mark in any dates which are already organised e.g. school holidays care or camps. If you are able to take days off to spend with your children, think about easy things to do. There are lots of free activities offered free by the libraries and Perth city which are fantastic for primary school kids. Have a look at your local library or go on the “Visitperth.com” website to see the winter themed events. If you have older kids, sit down with them at the beginning of the holidays and make plans. Movies, Bowling, Bike rides and playing-fields are all options to get them out.
There are so many fantastic playgrounds in Perth popping up that you must be able to find one what you haven’t explored as yet. Add in a coffee shop and all needs are catered for. Take the time to explore new areas when you’re not in a rush to beat the clock as in term time. If you child has a special request for an activity that they would like to do, include this on the schedule also.
Try and include one or two PJ days. Officially call it a “PJ day”. Nobody gets dressed and even if you have to go to the shop to grab something, you stay in your PJs! My kids loved it and I loved it as well. It took off all expectations for the day. Combine it with a wet day and it’s heaven.
Routine in school holidays
Routine is still important when it comes to sleep and bedtime. You might like the idea of letting you child stay up late as there is no school tomorrow, but often the lack of sleep makes the next day so much harder, it’s not worth it. We know sleep impacts our cognitive functioning and just think how grumpy as an adult we can be when we haven’t had our sleep. So keep the routine and try and get your child to bed at the same time or just a little later than term time. If you do allow they to stay up later, think about bringing the bed time back to normal time three to four days before going back to school.
If you would like more information about how to support your child with ADHD or to learn some new parenting strategies, please contact me and we can chat.
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