5 Positive Habits to Teach Kids Over Summer Break

Summer – the season of longer days, looser routines, and just enough freedom to breathe. For kids, it’s a time to unwind after a busy school year. And for parents, it’s a golden opportunity to help foster habits that support their growth, without making it feel like summer school at home.

Whether you’re home all day with the kids or catching moments between work calls and errands, here are five things your kids can practice this summer that don’t require a syllabus, just a little curiosity and consistency.

If reading feels like an assignment, it loses its spark. But give kids the freedom to follow their interests? Books become portals.

Summer reading doesn’t have to consist of grade-level chapter books or classic novels. Graphic novels, joke books, DIY manuals, adventure stories: if they’re reading it, it counts. Set aside a quiet hour in the afternoon, keep a few books in the car or in the living room, or sign up for your local library’s summer reading programs if the promise of prizes and a little friendly competition motivates your child.

Reading for pleasure builds empathy and imagination. It opens their young minds up to entire worlds they might not otherwise get to experience. And it’s an easy way to fill up slow summer days while still building on skills that will benefit them once the next school year starts.

Don’t worry – we’re not talking about banning all screens until Labor Day. Technology is a part of life, but since summer offers the space to create new rhythms and routines around tech use, it’s also a good time to reevaluate how much time our kids spend plugged in. Here are a few small habits to try surrounding screen time:

• Set “unplugged hours” or screen-free zones in the house, such as dinner time and the hour leading up to bedtime.

• Use a timer to encourage regular breaks from screens.

• Encourage using apps and games intentionally, not just default to them when “bored."

Whether you’re home with your kids all summer or managing screen use from a distance, setting clear family tech values can help everyone – including parents – stay grounded. Instead of banning screens, a little guidance and flexibility can foster a healthier relationship with screens and help kids notice how their tech makes them feel after too much time plugged in.

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) might sound like a complicated “grown-up” concern, but even kids can learn how to manage their exposure and why it’s important. These hidden fields are everywhere, emitted by the tech we use every day. And while most kids won’t be diving into the science behind EMFs anytime soon, they can start learning simple ways to stay conscious of their electromagnetic environment.

Here are a few easy practices to model for your kids this summer:

• Don’t sleep with devices on or near the bed.

• Keep devices off your lap and out of pockets.

• Use speakerphone or earbuds for phone calls, and use wired accessories instead of Bluetooth.

• Turn on airplane mode during downtime.

• Unplug Wi-Fi routers at night or when not in use (this also helps cut down on mindless screen time!)

• Consider bringing an Aires EMF modulating device into your home. Instead of blocking EMFs , Aires technology restructures EMFs into a more biologically-friendly form, creating a more coherent electromagnetic environment.

These small habits stick around long after summer is over. Think of it as giving your kids a little toolkit for digital wellness, and maybe throw in a wearable Aires device for their summer adventures!

This starts with two simple words: “I’m bored.”

Some of the best summer memories start with this announcement. It doesn’t mean you’ve fallen short—it just means their imagination is ready to stretch. It’s an invitation to get some creativity flowing. When kids aren’t constantly entertained, their imagination has room to stretch. Maybe they’ll turn a cardboard box into a spaceship, write a comic strip, or invent a new backyard game involving whatever interesting things they find lying around. Who knows?

You can encourage this creativity with tools like a “boredom box” with open-ended art or building supplies. Make plans to have no plans by scheduling unstructured, screen-free time into the day and see where their imaginations take them.

For children who struggle without structure, think about having choice boards available with activities to choose from that can offer gentle guidance without feeling like a rigid schedule. The key is to offer enough direction to help them get started, while still giving them the freedom to make their own choices. You might even rotate the options weekly or include a “mystery pick” to keep things fresh. For some kids, just having this visual menu or list of ideas can ease the overwhelm of open-ended time.

Even if your kids aren’t yet online, this is the perfect time to lay the groundwork for healthy and safe online habits. The online world adds a layer of complexity to adolescence that most of us didn’t experience. Having the important conversations now can set them up for positive interactions later on.

Take time this summer to talk about what it means to be kind, thoughtful, and safe online. Kids are navigating a digital world that moves faster than they can process, and a few small talks can make a big difference.

Start with the basics: remind them that every username belongs to a real person with real feelings. Encourage kindness in comments and messages, and talk about the importance of asking permission before sharing someone else’s photo, idea, or post. Help them think before clicking “send,” and to pause when deciding what should stay private versus what’s okay to post publicly.

These conversations don’t have to be lectures. They can happen in the car, at the dinner table, or while watching something together. Little by little, these small talks build the kind of digital awareness that lasts well beyond summer.

The truth is, you don’t need to plan a “perfect” summer to help your kids thrive. What matters is the foundation you’re laying – one conversation, one habit, and one moment at a time. These practices are simple ways to help kids build self-awareness, stretch their creativity, and develop a sense of balance in an always-on world. They’re more than summer habits. They’re life skills in the making.

Whether you’re around for every moment or doing your best to be present between work and daily life, remember: the small things add up to create resilience, curiosity, and confidence that will carry your kids into the next school year and far beyond.