Combine Family Fun with Back to School!

 

Happy New School Year 2023-2024! While summer temps are still hot and steamy, school bells will be ringing this week welcoming students back to the classroom. Returning to the school routine after a long summer break can be challenging but we hope everyone embraces this as a time of growth and opportunity for new teachers, new friends, and new learning experiences.  

Our prevention partners at Informed Families (https://www.informedfamilies.org/) suggest that families ease into the transition by combining Back to School Days with Family Fun Days to make this an engaging and enjoyable time for their students. It’s a good reminder that although school routines are essential, spending time as a family doing fun things together year-round helps provide a healthy balance and strong support system for our children as they learn, build relationships, and create lasting memories.

Here are some great ideas to combine Family Fun Month into Back-to-School Month:

Family Learning Activities – make the learning process more engaging with activities such as reading together, educational board games, and DIY experiments at home. This teaches children to associate learning with fun and may help reduce any academic anxieties they may have.

Back-to-School Shopping – Let your kids choose their backpacks, lunch boxes, and school supplies. This will help add some excitement to the chore of shopping and give kids a sense responsibility and ownership.

Family Meal Planning – Involve your children in meal planning and preparing school lunches. This can be a great time to talk about nutrition, healthy food choices, and even mix in some math skills measuring ingredients.

Plan Family Fun Days – Before school starts, plan a family picnic, trip to the museum or zoo, or a day at the park. The idea is to spend quality time together and create memories before the school hustle begins. Continue this tradition on weekends and school holidays.

Establish a Family Routine – Routines provide a sense of security and help children adjust to change. Be sure to include time for homework, family meals, and play that includes fun activities to provide balance and stability.

All of these ideas along with some of your own can help support a healthy environment for our children to thrive. By adding a sprinkle of fun into the educational process, we also encourage kids to enjoy learning and feel a sense of belonging that will help them sail smoothly through the school year and, hopefully, through life!