Diwali holidays for a fortnight keep children busy at home. But by spending the time usefully can help them in their career building. Vacations are times to explore the world around you, experience new things, and make lasting memories. You achieve this, even if you are staying at home this Diwali. You might just discover that you can have a lot of fun from the comfort of your own home.
Children of all age and even elders prefer to have a scrap book to keep track records of their writings and achievements. The main idea behind a scrapbook concept is to collect picture and newspaper clippings on your topic of interest. Scrap Book saves memories of the past, present and future. So make sure your scrap Book has pictures of you having loads of fun. This includes collection of letters received from VIPs, special cards of interest such as birthday greeting cards, special notes or trinkets by sticking pockets on your scrap book page. It is quite imperative to write small notes under each picture. It is necessary to paste these write-ups in a chronological order so that you can refer them without much difficulty on a future date. So be sure to date whatever you store in your scrap book.
To make it more interesting, do creative lettering. You can cut out letters from colourful periodicals and magazines. To make the scrap book more attractive, decorate it with craft papers with pictures cut in basic shapes like Circle, Square, Rectangle, Triangle and Oval. Use your imagination and bring out the best colours that compliment your pictures and memorabilia. Do stamping to create patterns. Use coins, jewellery, buttons, ribbons, photos of archaeological importance for pomp and colour. Punch shapes like Polka dots, hearts, stars, flowers from coloured paper to decorate your scrapbook page. Cut coloured papers in relevant shapes and stick your pictures on them like a gardening picture struck on a vegetable shape. Make sure that the Scrap Book is for fun and frolic and help to keep memory of the past.
Instead of whiling away time with mischievous activities or glued to your mobile or PC you can go through books such as Guinness Book of World records to enrich your general knowledge. Even referring to google for important information is very useful during your later years and making a note of those in your personal diary or saving it on your PC will help you to refer it in your future date. Children up to the age of 14 can join in coaching classes for some field sports during the vacation. Please refer Oxford dictionary if you find difficult words and find its meaning so that you can make use of it at an appropriate sentence when you write an essay. Play a game of chess or carom indoors and spend the time usefully.
Spend your summer capturing and sharing memories. While you may snap pictures or film the memorable moments of your vacation, you could explore other methods of documentation. Set down your phone, pick up a sketch pad, and draw the world around you. At the end of the summer, you may share your work with friends and family. Compile your film and pictures into a documentary or else you can turn your home into a gallery for your sketches.
Reading habit is slowly dying. You can become a member of a nearby library and pick books of your interest in the spare time and form a habit. Reading other people’s work is an excellent way to familiarise yourself with different forms of writing and expression. Check out volumes of poetry, stacks of comics, or a series of short essays from your local library. In the summer, your writing is not limited to the five-paragraph essay. You are free to experiment with different genres of writing, like linked short stories or found poetry. Other genres include children’s books, plays, and creative non-fiction. You can even try and attempt small stories which can bring out moral to other children of your age.
It is time to exercise indoors to beat the heat. Sometimes it is just too hot to be outside. On these occasions, move your workout indoors. You can check-out a workout DVD from your local library or use one of the numerous free online exercise videos to build your body for the strenuous days ahead in your life. This is also the time to learn the steps of some simple dance or pick a great way to try new exercises in the month long vacation.
Are you spending your holidays sitting around getting bored with nothing to do? Don’t waste your precious days off – there are many, many things you can do to occupy yourself, even if holidays are a week long or longer. You can find many ways to fill your days, both inside and out, using your intellect or your creative energies, or simply hanging out with other people. Summer vacation is for spending time in a clever way and doing it with poise is the best option.
Jayanthi Subramaniam
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
