Summer Time with ADHD

Summer Time with ADHD

It’s Summer and finding things to fill the time for school age children and adolescents is sometimes a daunting task especially for those parents with an ADHD personality child in their home. Summer is a time of relaxing, temporary schedules, vacations and much more. Unfortunately, while the changes from a normal school schedule and routine may seem fun, for those with ADHD it can be very overwhelming and frustrating for everyone in the family.

Having less structure can make a person with ADHD brain struggle with procrastination, lack of motivation and complete frustration during those summer months. They have too many choices, activities, household responsibilities or just too much undirected free time.  The less structure the more frustration for everyone.

GOOD NEWS…There are a few things families can be do over the summer to help navigate the summer months.

The First one I would suggest is a daily routine for the ADHD child. They may have one for the school year but often it gets dropped for a period in the summer along with medications breaks. My suggestion, pick it up and keep it in tack as much as possible. Obviously, you would replace the school hours and homework time with other activities and hopefully family time.

 If you do not normally have a daily routine, this might be the perfect time to start one. Starting the practice of a daily routine in summer could create new important habits and help your kids to be better prepared for the upcoming school year. What a blessing for all!

To help you navigate a good daily routine here are some things to include and consider as you create a one for the first time and or manage the one you currently have:

Getting up                                                                                     Lunch time

Getting Dressed                                                                          Chores

Making your bed                                                                         Summer job, for those able to work                    

Eating Breakfast                                                                         Dinner Time

Playing and doing outside activities                                     Family time

Time on Devices                                                                         Bath time

Add things you feel need to be included and delete where necessary. You get the picture.

Another suggestion would be to create a family calendar for the summer. This could be a fun time together as a family. Use a large poster board and colorful markers to write out dates and or events. You could include pictures of places you are planning to visit, or pictures as symbols of things you are going to do together over the summer. This is a wonderful time for families to bond and to just laugh and have quality time together. This also helps to create a positive mindset toward keeping the habit of a daily routine and calendar for each member of the family.

For more tips and activities for navigating the summer months visit my website, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Happy planning and Creating!!!  DARA