Free Time for Kids to be Kids

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Unscheduled Time In Your Child’s Day

Free Time for Kids

Kids are busier than ever. Between a full school day schedule and numerous extracurricular activities after school, many children have little downtime. It’s essential that children have interests outside of school and family, but how much is too much?

A busy life can be rewarding, but the potential for over-scheduling is a genuine concern. You probably lead a busy life yourself with work, family, and household chores. Keeping your child busy may seem like the best thing to do, but there can be too much of a good thing. You need downtime, and so do your children.

Over-Scheduling and Stress

Most kids love being involved in lots of activities—it’s fun—but it’s also stressful. Homework, dinnertime, and family fun are also necessary.

If everyone is running around in different directions, there won’t be any downtime. And, when there isn’t any time to relax, stress starts to bubble up and boil over.

Both parents and children feel this stress.

When kids are constantly on the go, they can wear themselves out, becoming exhausted and stressed. This stress may even cause your kids to lose the motivation they once had for the activities they love.

Busy Family Scenario

On an average night, your family may not get home until well after six o’clock. Then you run around getting dinner ready, and the kids head off to do their homework.

By the time you’re finished with dinner, you barely have time to sit down and relax before going to bed. Then, the alarm goes off and you are up and at it again.

This schedule, when repeated day in and day out, is demanding on you, and it’s hard on your kids.

You may be thinking, “But this is how it is all week since the kids are busy with school and you’re busy with work.

The weekend’s coming, so we can all just relax, right?” Wrong.

The weekend arrives, and you have chores and errands to attend to. The kids will probably have games and more activities to attend. You probably find yourself running all weekend just like you did all week.

When is your downtime?

Schedule Slow Time

You’re great at scheduling all your activities, right? Why not plan some downtime for you and your kids as well? Everyone needs to have a day off. You need time to clear your head and relax, and so does the rest of the family.

Just because kids have all the energy in the world doesn’t mean they don’t need to slow down and relax.

Children’s high energy can fool parents into thinking their kids are always ready to go. It’s your job to give your child some downtime to relax, even when it doesn’t appear they need it.

You can let your child enjoy many extracurricular activities throughout the year, but the key is to limit overlapping activities during each season.

For example, your child can learn karate in the summer, soccer in the spring, and football in the fall. This way, your child stays active throughout the year without the stress of trying to do everything at once.

Scatter a few short summer camps or weekend excursions carefully throughout the year, but for every activity, make sure you schedule some good downtime in between.

Your child needs unscheduled time, too—time to pick wildflowers, build a snowman, listen to music, doodle, play games, or daydream.

Whether your scheduled downtime includes a movie or game at home, or a picnic at the park, what’s important is that you and your children learn it’s not only okay to relax, it’s part of your healthy and happy life!

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