Children across the country are heading into the second week of the school holidays before they go back for the last term of the year.
Juggling the kids, work and everything in between can be hard to tackle but when the children are off from school for two weeks it can be even harder.
Director of Psychological Services at Child Psychology Service Dr Emma Woodward told Newshub that planning is key to making sure everything can run as smoothly as possible.
"If you hit the two-week period or even the summer holidays without planning it can be an absolute logistical nightmare."
Dr Woodward said getting the children involved in the planning process is also helpful as it makes them feel included.
"By getting them to sit around the table and planning a schedule and they put activities in and get to choose it, they also practice democracy and compromise and contribution."
Parenting Place's Zara Coleman agreed and suggested putting a list on the fridge for the family to see will help.
"It's about making a plan and a budget and sticking it up on the fridge so the kids can add their ideas and their wishes to it as well," Coleman said.
She said the list should have things the kids can do with the parent's input as well as things they can do independently.
Rest and Relaxation
Dr Woodward said it is important to have things for the holidays but the children will also need to rest during the term break.
"I think it's good to have a range of activities but also they have been learning for ten weeks and we have this hyper-focus on productivity and doing stuff," she said.
"You know your kids best, if your whole family decides you need three days in a row of just some downtime at the start of the holidays to be able to decompress then that's fine too."
Coleman agreed and said: "You don't have to have the most action-packed, educational, fun break for the kids."
She also said it is important to spend time with your children so they feel appreciated.
"Prioritise some simple moments of connection each day."
Coleman said it could be simple as making dinner a special occasion with the whole family.
Screen Time
In this day and age, electronic devices are used for almost everything and although sticking your child in front of a screen all day isn't the best thing to do, having some screen time throughout the day is all good.
"Use screens sometimes too if you need to get on with stuff, it's absolutely fine as long as it's monitored," Dr Woodward said.
Coleman said planning when the screen time also helps.
"As parents, we like the peace and quiet that comes with technology and it's fairly inviting and consuming for the kids but it is healthy to put some boundaries around it and that's where having another list that they can defer to can be really helpful."
Here is a list of activities throughout the country which you can attend over the holidays:
Auckland
Museum of Transport and Technology
