Plan for Your Child's Summer Vacation

Ah…summer vacation. It’s every child’s anticipation and every parents dreaded nightmare.

If you are a working parent, you probably get pretty stressed out over summer vacation. School’s out, and now you have to deal with trying to find someone reliable to look after your children while you work. It’s not always easy.

If you’re already freaking out over what to do with your kids this summer, here are a few ideas that might help you out:

If none of those ideas help you, or if your kids are old enough to stay home and take care of themselves and their siblings, you can still make their summer fun. Stock up on some of the following fun summer items for them to enjoy their summer at home:

• jump ropes
• volleyball/badminton set
• water guns
• lawn sprinkler
• roller skates

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

Vacation Bible School, also referred to as VBS, is a terrific way to ensure your child is watched after. Vacation bible school is more than just a sitting service. In fact, it’s not a sitting service at all. Rather, VBS gets your children involved in learning about the Bible, as well as re-instilling simple morals and values in them.

SUMMER CAMP

Another great thing that is always fun for the kids is summer camp. Many church organizations have their own denomination-affiliated summer camps for kids of all ages. There are also secular organizations that host their own summer camp programs as well.

If your child has never attended a summer camp, or been away from home that long, it might be challenging and difficult to send them away for a week or two. But it’s a really great thing for your child to learn to be independent and responsible.

GRANDMA’S HOUSE

For parents of kids who are too young to attend VBS or summer camps, there’s always Grandma’s house. Lots of families have grandparents who live close enough to help out with the sitting during the school year anyway. Other families are separated by many miles, so a couple weeks’ visit at Grandma’s house is always fun.