Holiday Ideas

The end of the year can bring a mix of excitement, change and sometimes big feelings, especially for young children who often thrive on familiar routines.

For whānau, this time of the year can look very different from one household to the next. Some families are working, some are travelling and others are simply enjoying being closer to home.

At Evolve, most of our early learning centres remain open on all non statutory days throughout this holiday period to continue to support whānau with our high quality care and education.

There can be a lot of pressures on whānau this time of the year as well.
It can be reassuring to know that meaningful holiday experiences do not need to cost money or be carefully planned. Often it’s the simple, low cost moments spent together that spark the most joy with young children!

These are just a few of many simple, low cost ideas that you could try with your child.

Exploring local walks and parks
We are fortunate in New Zealand to be surrounded by many local walks, parks and playgrounds! How many can you and your whānau explore this summer? 
These experiences not only can spark joy with your child but they also offer many benefits to your child’s learning and development especially from a gross motor skill perspective! 
Talking about the different parks and playgrounds as well as any of these adventures with your child is also a fantastic way to strengthen their language learning. 

Community engagement
We acknowledge that this time of year can bring about a sense of loneliness for many people, especially those with whānau located elsewhere. 
This can be a great time of year to reach out to neighbours and other people within your community.
Councils often offer free community events such as picnics, concerts and other fun ways to bring people together. Your local library or community centre can often offer all the details about these events.

Creating a memory snapshot
As we head into the beginning of a new year it can be a fun experience to capture your child’s voice as a snapshot in time! These can be great to revisit with your child in the future.
Information that you could record might include:
Who their friends are, what they enjoy doing, who there favourite people are, what they enjoy eating. Anything at all that captures your child’s unique identity!

We have created a few background pages with prompts that you are more than welcome to use to record this snapshot in time with your child.

Over the past year or so, we have shared a variety of ideas to support the learning and wellbeing of young children. Take a moment to browse through some of our previous blogs! These are packed with ideas that could be beneficial for you to explore with your child during the holidays.
These suggestions are designed to be flexible, affordable, and easily adaptable to different home environments.

From here at Evolve Education, we wish you all and all your family a safe and happy holiday!