10 Summer Holiday Survival Tips

It is summer holiday time. It has been a long year, and I am sure you deserve a break from the constant change and turmoil. 

If you parent a child with sensory challenges, those issues can intensify over this time of year. If you are not careful, it can lead to a substantial sensory meltdown. Here are some tips to reduce those summer holiday challenges.

Summer Holiday Survival Tips:

1. Summer Communication Tips

 We all need a break, the break‌; however, keep your expectations “real” this holiday. Divorce rates and enquiries to RELATE increase in September! Relaxation can give way to stress and tension if the relationship has been tested already this year. Therefore, manage your expectations. Lower your expectations. Try not to pin extremely high hopes on achieving the perfect holiday…there probably is no such thing.

Prepare for regressions, fights and more; stay firm and calm, and offer yourself some compassion.

You are halfway there, as long as everyone is catered for and there is something to enjoy!

2. Manage Blaming

It is easy to blame your partner and relatives for flight delays, travel issues, and your child’s behaviour. We all know that blaming and arguing never help. Take a breath; conscious breathing helps us develop the ability to pause to prevent saying or doing something we regret later on. Practice mindful breathing when things go well with your partner; the practice will be there for you during stress.

3. Identify your child’s anxieties

Summer can create new activities, and different authority figures like new sitters, parents and family may not have seen for a long time, all of which can be stressful. Firstly, you must figure out your child’s fears, whether separating from you or attending new sports activities or holiday clubs. If you’re having trouble doing this, try asking open-ended questions. Rather than pose a yes-or-no question like “Are you worried about the holiday club?” ask, “How are you feeling about going to the holiday club?” Once you know, you can encourage her to face her fear. The goal is to teach her that anxiety is uncomfortable, but will ebb if you push through.

4. Use a Sensory Calm down/self-soothe rucksack.

Suppose some items help soothe your child when overwhelmed, then place them into your calm-down bag and bring them along just in case. You can choose from the five senses here. In addition, other examples include noise-cancelling headphones, squishy/fidget toys, chewy tubes, iPods and headphones with calming music, or even a rice pouch infused with essential oils.

Your child will appreciate having their comforting items within reach when they need them most. Children with sensory difficulties often cannot calm themselves on their own. Having these items close by prepares you to help your child cope with whatever this holiday season brings.

5. Get Organised

Six weeks of unstructured holiday time can be problematic, and if you work together, you know I like planning and planners. You can use your dairy and just two sheets of paper, or you can download the one I made here:

Bristol Child Parent Support Family Fun Summer Planner

You can divide it into two columns, one for free activities and the other for costs. This is an excellent topic for a family meeting, and you don’t always have to be the one that makes suggestions. Giving children the space to feel included and have a voice for what they wish for also encourages cooperation and teamwork. In addition, it prevents them from asking you ten times a day for something that cannot be arranged and avoids any guilty feelings. Don’t worry if you are on a budget; not all activities need to cost something.

Work out what activities are a priority. It’s good practice for older children to have a budget and calculate the cost of activities. Remember to allow them to be creative, and any suggestion goes.
Examples of questions to ask:

  • Are there any places you would like to visit?
  • Would you like to learn anything?
  • What are your favourite activities at home?
  • If we had no money left, what would you like to do?
  • Who would you like to do those activities if you had the choice?

6. Ensure Separate Summer Special Time for everyone!

You could offer time with each child at your planning meeting and ask them what they want to do. This tactic might stop children from feeling competitive when they know they will spend time with their mother/father. It’s just as crucial for you to have some time to yourself. It’s good for children to learn that parents are individuals and have needs. This is the year to prioritise time for you. 

Summer

7. Create for less!:

Here are my favourite ideas:

Build a scrap junk sculpture and a den

It would help if you had many boxes, tins, plastic bottles, some glue, and wires. You may be scared of the wire, but you may be surprised that children can use pliers. Children get so much joy from creating. You could set it up in the garden, post your creations, and I will put them on my Facebook page; children love seeing the appreciation.

Summer time Survival tipsBuild a den or tepee. It will cost nothing; children love it, get outdoors, and have many positive effects. This is a tepee built at Westonbirt!

Make some Play-Doh

This does not replace clay, but is excellent for younger children, where it provides different sensations for touch and older ones, which may make a figure that hardens and then they can paint. Here is my trusted recipe:

4 cups Flour

2 cups Salt

1 cup water

2tbs of oil

Food colouring of your taste!

Method

Mix the salt and flour. Mix the water and oil, and colour separately. Gradually add the rest of the liquid slowly. It stays in an airtight bag for a long time. 

Have fun with the water.

Water is soothing; you can put some bowls in the garden or have a washing-up bowl with fairy liquid. Toddlers will stand for hours and have some bowls where they can pour and wash.

8. Plan and discuss clear rules and boundaries

Travelling can be challenging, especially if you are with friends and relatives. Be clear about your expectations of behaviour. Family rules should remain; what are yours? Talk to your children before leaving or on the first day, and it may prevent some meltdowns!

COVID-19

Work out what you will tolerate. Some children get anxious away from home and find transitions difficult. Talk this through with them. One family I worked with brought their pop-up tent, and their daughter knew that if she needed to calm down, she had a safe place to retreat. 

 

 

 

9. Make travelling fun

We travelled on many long-haul flights. Many airlines have activity bags for children and films they can watch. I used to buy cheap pens and little gifts from pound stores and wrap them up. Your children could open one when they are getting a little fractious, especially near the end of the flight. Tell them where they are going and what mode of transport they are travelling on. Read books about planes or cars. Have ideas on stopping car bickering, such as setting up rewards for those cooperating and not moaning.

10. Set some screen time expectations

Try to have a discussion around screen time early in the holiday. Whatever rules you stick to during term time, try to echo these. Some parents like sticking to the same screen time limit for consistency, while others are happy to increase hours as a holiday treat. Whatever route you go down, try to be clear from the outset.

It is almost time to pause, and I hope you do too. Look out for Autumn for my workshops. I will offer a free sleep webinar in September, so sign up for my newsletter community for a space. May you also create intentional time and space for whatever you long for during this time. Wishing you a good summer. With Love Catherine

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