Kids' Summer Strategy

An Older Child's Set of Punch Cards

Summer Break contains so much potential for kids, and every year I strive to make the most of the time we have together.  This summer I have created a series of punch cards for each of my children.  The goals that we are trying to accomplish through this system are the following:

1. Control the time our children spend wrapped up in technology- based entertainment.
2. Have a visual representation of how our children spend their time.
3. Give a fun incentive to make progress in several areas of our children's development.

BRIEF OVERVIEW
Each child has four color-coded punch cards as follows:

• Reading (Orange)
• Music (Yellow)
• Exercise (Blue)
• Tech Time (Green)

When a Reading, Music, or Exercise Punch Card becomes full of punches, the child earns a Tech Time Punch Card.  When the Tech Time Punch Card is full, the child is out of tech time.  My children also have Bible verses to memorize each week, academic lessons online to accomplish, cooking and baking to learn, and standard household chores to maintain, but I chose not to include those activities in the punch card system for simplicity's sake.  We also sprinkle our schedule with trips to a park or the library, and we try to take breaks for fun games and activities we can do together.

Punch Cards Neatly Stored in a File Box

I store the punch cards in a 3x5 card file box with a divider for each child, dividers for extra cards in the back, and a hole punch in the front.

PUNCH CARD DETAILS
Reading
Older Kid Version: Each "Reading Punch Card" has places for 5 punches, with each punch representing 100 pages that they have read.  So, once they have read 500 pages, they have completed a "Reading Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."

Younger Kid Version: Each "Reading Punch Card" has places for 7 punches, with each punch representing a book that has been read to them.  So, once they have had 7 books read to them, they have completed a "Reading Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."

A Younger Child's Set of Punch Cards

Music
Older Kid Version: Each "Music Punch Card" has places for 6 punches, each punch representing 1/2 hour of practice time.  Once they have practiced for 3 hours, they have completed a "Music Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."

Younger Kid Version: Each "Music Punch Card" has places for 6 punches, each punch representing a music activity.  Once they have done 6 music activities, they have completed a "Music Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."  Music activities consist of learning a new song, spending time doing listening games, rhythm games, pitch matching, etc.

Exercise
Older Kid Version: Each "Exercise Punch Card" has places for 6 punches, each punch representing 1/2 hour of exercise time.  Walking, running, bike riding, or playing basketball are examples of what fills exercise time.  Once they have exercised for 3 hours, they have completed an "Exercise Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."

Younger Kid Version: Each "Exercise Punch Card" has places for 6 punches, each punch representing 1 exercise-based activity.  Taking a walk or a bike ride are examples of what qualifies for an exercise activity.  Once they have gone on 6 walks/bike rides, they have completed an "Exercise Punch Card" and may turn it in for a "Tech Time Punch Card."

Tech Time
Older Kid Version: Each "Tech Time Punch Card" has places for 4 punches, each punch representing 1/2 hour of time spent on technology based entertainment (ie. Wii, computer, tv/movies).  So, each of these "Tech Time Cards" represents 2 hours of time spent interacting with technology.  I figured it would take approximately 12 hours a week to earn 6 hours of tech time a week: twice as much time doing other valuable activities to earn some fun time that isn't readily available during the school year.

Younger Kid Version: Each "Tech Time Punch Card" has places for 6 punches, each representing a children's show on Netflix (ie. Curious George, Busy Town Mysteries, etc).  So, once the children have completed a reading, music, or exercise punch card, they have earned some time watching Netflix.

The PDF version of these punch cards is available to our readers for FREE upon request.  We just need you to e-mail us at albright.sisterhood@gmail.com to request a copy for your own printing. I hope this is a help to any of you moms looking for a summer strategy!