Three Summer Recommendations for Adolescents
Looking at Summer Downtime from an Intellectual, Social-Emotional, and Physical Developmental Lens
Summertime has long meant freedom from school and schedules, tasks and responsibilities. But students shouldn’t take the break to mean a complete shutdown.
Get Out and Get Active
The first recommendation, and arguably most important, might come as somewhat of a surprise. It is crucial for children to be active, and though they should be all year round, summer provides a particularly great opportunity with warm weather and no school. Daily physical activity is highly beneficial for a number of reasons including physical fitness, mood stabilization, and neurological health. Physical exercise makes us feel and think better.
I recommend being outside for much of the day when possible. Go to the park, take a swim, ride your bike, join a summer sports league, or attend a summer camp. Just be outside and be active.
Have Meaningful Interaction
Hanging out with friends and having social time is undoubtedly a good idea, but look for more meaningful interaction. Interactions that will provide dialogue and discourse. You don’t have to sit around a fire discussing the meaning of life, but it might not hurt to do so! Having a back and forth with others provides us with a “centering of self,” and in doing so we find out more about ourselves and others. We become more interested when we explore the world through discussion and become more interesting people for it.
Start or Develop a Hobby
The last recommendation is to be creative. Starting or developing a hobby is a great place to start. Make things. It engages parts of our minds that normally go untapped. It provides tranquility and mediation by focusing on and getting lost in the creative process. Learn an instrument, start painting, write poetry, pick up arts & crafts, or get into car mechanics. Though great as a solo activity, these hobbies (and many more I didn’t mention) can be great to do with a friend or a group of friends. Since when did some friendly competition ever hurt?
These three recommendations, when taken together, create a triangle of development that we are focused on. This triangle— physical, social/emotional, and intellectual— provides a comprehensive developmental framework.
Notice I didn’t add learning to the list. Though I left out conventional learning (i.e. academic subjects), all of these experiences provide important learning experiences. As Aristotle taught, learning is not merely about skills and knowledge but about character development. So get active, get engaged, and get creative.
