It’s a new year and with it, we are living by our new hopeful reality whether it is taking time out with the family, or working out goals to put in place new daily habits to project you closer to where you want the family to be.

Whether you are eating healthier, gyming harder, relaxing harder, or working harder, it’s important that we also think about our kids, what can be done for them in the new year that would benefit them?

Could our kids need a bit of a reset? Yes! If you think perhaps that could be the case for your child, there are some things parents can do for their kids in January to set them up for a well-balanced year.

With summer well underway, and changes to our usual routines of the holiday period, we can find it hard to know where to start. Schoolwork is far away and the kids might be staying up later and our usual orderly routines are out the window.   

Is it time for you to think about bringing back some organisation? Like thinking about what 2024 means for the kids (the new school year and extracurriculars), fun educational activities like Bricks, cutting back on technology, or having a look at your child’s well-being? Here are some tips to help get things on track. 

1. Find Organisation: Clean Out The Old and Re-establish Routines.

“Providing structure and organization in a child’s day can help them feel secure, establish routines, and foster a sense of control. By creating predictable environments and routines, we empower children to develop important life skills such as time management, prioritization, and responsibility.” Dr. Fiona Zandt, an Australian child psychologist 

Most parents find in January that their kid’s rooms are packed with new toys.  It’s hard to find a new place for everything which can leave bedrooms feeling chaotic. January is a great time to clear out all the clutter to make it orderly and ready for when school supply shopping happens.

Throw out the old to make way for the new! Give your hand-me-downs to your relatives or local charity store like St Vincents and school uniforms to the second-hand section of the uniform shop.  Throw out old school bags, texters that don’t work, and toys the kids no longer play with (never throw out outgrown LEGO® 😉, hand that over to a school or relative).

Routines can easily be lost and can take time to reestablish so starting right after the family break might be a good time to start. Sure, the kids don’t want to give up sleeping in, staying up late, and indulging in movies, activities, and video games but getting a head start on timing might be a good idea for a smoother transition back to school.

Habits could include putting your kid to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night, thinking about tomorrow the night before (e.g. laying out suitable clothes), setting the alarm earlier each day to school, and getting back to your usual nightly routine, reading, bathtimes, or doing homework-like activities.

By setting these routines back in place well before you go back to school you’ll give the kids time to adjust to the new routine.  Remember to keep the summer activities happening still but settling to bed a little earlier and arising earlier helps to bring back better time management.

2. Establish 2024 Goals: New Habits, and Extracurricular Activities.

The new year is a perfect time to teach your child about the importance of setting goals. Goals can then be turned into manageable bite-sized daily habits.

A school-aged child is old enough to consider what they like and don’t like and what they might like to include in their life with a little help from their responsible parent.

You might like to ask your child what things they like to do to stay healthy, smart, and happy. Take time out to teach your child the importance of goals and planning. Which area of their health could you focus on at the moment? (see more on this below).

The New Year is a good time to start a new extracurricular activity.  Does your child want to play the piano? Do they need to learn how to swim? Could they do with some help with their educational activities or do they need some tutoring?  It might be time to incorporate these activities into their schedule now or soon before school starts.

If your child already has a packed schedule perhaps review if your child is liking their hobbies. That way, you can see if it is time to change the extracurriculars. Generally, kids should be spending less time with technology and more time engaged in activities. (Here is an article about appropriate screentime for kids. Children’s screen time | Australian Institute of Family Studies (aifs.gov.au)

Engaging in sporting, artistic, social, and educational activities can distract your child from the addictive technological compulsive behaviours that has now become somewhat common and move them towards significant well-being and benefits. Benefits of LEGO® | BRICKS 4 KIDZ Lake Macquarie, NSW

3.  Jump Into Educational Activities.

Incorporating learning activities into the daily schedules during January. They’ll think they are playing but really they are taking away important learnings about the world around them through hands-on learning.

You might like to incorporate reading, educational games like boardgames e.g. junior scrabble, memory games, puzzles, BRICK exploration, educational books they can colour or fill in, taking them out in nature to explore and share with them information on the world around them.  Take them to a local historical monument and read the historical signage to them.

Enrol them in a school holiday workshop that has STEM learnings.  By making the learning activities FUN, age-appropriate, and aligned to your child’s interest you will ensure they are taking away important lessons for tomorrow.  By encouraging exciting learning activities, a child will show greater enthusiasm for other learning opportunities that could avail them when back at school and in the future.