What do you do with your kids when they are on a long vacation from school?

This is a really difficult for me because all of my children are grown up, and the grandkids just want to watch movies are shop when they are here..My sister has a step son that has downes syndrome and i know that what they are interested in in different..The thing about "Lonnie" that is his name he has hobbies and that helps my sister find things for him to do while he is there with her.It does make you feel bad to not do something for them, but as far as the chipmunks thats a No no , since you listened to that the whole time at Christmas..LoL.Well these special children do not have to be entertained all the time, she is happy to be with you,and that is why she always wants to come back.they are more adult minded than most children,and they just enjoy being with you..I know that when I see "Lonnie" I just talk to him about all the things he likes to do,and we always talks and he really likes that,he tells me all about girls (laugh) he likes the girls haha..anyway since i cannot think of anything, we can see what suggestions someone else might have.I wish i could be of more help to you..

I do not have kids at home, or even the grandkids right now. I do work with adults with disabilities, like Vicky, only older. On snow days and bad weather, their day services are canceled, and their community based jobs, as well. One of my ladies does word finds, and makes lists, the other one, given a chance, would eat, continually. Those are the two that I work with directly that have Downs syndrome. They both love to dance. I can get the one that likes to eat to help me make healthy foods and help in the kitchen. They love to do scrap booking, so if you have some pictures, even some that are not the greatest, you can have her sort them by theme--family, friend, pet,( shoot, you could do this with old greeting cards, too, or magazines.)and glue them to pretty paper. We like to use bubbles, some of the ladies like to color. Some of my clients are very high functioning and do needlework. My word find girl likes to make lists and recopy them. She does not write the prettiest in the world, but she is very detail oriented. Actually, that girl is a fantastic country music fan and sings along and does gestures, it is fun. Vicky knows you care about her, and she forgets she is bored, if she is. Look at things from her point of view: she is safe and loved and warm, what else could possible matter? Have a good time with her, maybe play an adult form of "dress up" where you fix each other's hair. When I was younger, which would correspond with her mental age, I loved to look through my grandma's button jar, paint my nails, look at grandma's old costume jewelry. I loved to sort things, and I bet she might, too. Coloring is very popular, especially if you have lots of colors. Hugs to you for being such a special Gram.

Usually my son is playing with his friends during vacations...but we also have around an hour of structured work every day. He also likes to do craft work with me. But he missed two months of school when I went to my mother's place to have my second baby. Mornings we focussed on academic work...around 2 hours. Afternoons he was free to watch T.V., read and do puzzles...whichever he chose based on his mood. Later afternoon he had a keyboard class alternating with vocal music classes and later on in the evening.....his cousins would be home from school and he would play with them. Worked perfectly for us. He also missed another month of school this year when he fractured his leg. Then he couldn't do much except watch Television...study a bit to keep up with his classmates and read books. His homework would be sent home and he would do it and send it back the next day. Since I don't drive taking him out anywhere was a pain and I never did it....except for a trip to the mall maybe twice during the vacations.

Well, we take them fishing of course! I know...the weather is bad there and you can't. It's a nice 74 degrees here in Florida. Maybe you could teach her to build tents with a blanket and some chairs. You could pretend you are camping.

I have let my kids go outside in the snow and build snowman. I have played candyland and spiderman operaton with them I have built with them with blocks they have colored and we have watched tv and went shopping so far we have stayed busy.

I can't wait for my kids to go back to school tomorrow but while they were off on their winter break we did a lot of thing. We went to an indoor play arena that is like a Chuck E Cheese for older kids. We baked cookies. We played video games. I put up a tent in our living room and we made smores and watched movies. I took them to visit other relatives. One day we did nothing but go to central park and look at the christmas decorations. Don't feel like a bad gram though because if she didn't like being there she wouldn't be so eager to return so quickly. Maybe she is just happy having you around.

How about puppets, take an old box, make a theater and she can put on a show. You can make the puppets out of old socks or go down to the library or look on the internet for puppet making suggestions. How about playdoh? or cooking? I'll bet she would love to help you make and eat cookies! All of these activities can be fun...and educational. My son had learning disabilities, we would make letter shaped cookies and then he would also try and contort and twist his body into the shapes of letters. We also found a childs book on sign language which was useful in many ways. He learned to express his emotions and thoughts silently and it was an interesting alternative form of communication.

Unluckily,when I was young,my parents could not spend much time with me when I was on a long vacation from school.Well I'm old enough and I can plan for me own long vacation. If I have kid/kids,I will take them travel around China.Because China is so big and the landscapes in different areas are quite distinguish and amazing.I want my kid/kids know how beautiful their motherland is and I hope them will be proud of their country.