Summer Activities For Kids ~ Voice Of The Township
School is out for the summer, and this means a big change in routine for students and their families. During the school year parents could count on their children spending the day in a safe and enriching environment. Now summertime often leaves them scrambling to find other options. They need to cover other daycare options if they have to work, and they often have to find other ways to feed their children who were used to getting lunch and sometimes breakfast at school. Even parents who choose and can afford to stay home with their children now have to find ways to keep them busy.
All children face a loss of structure when school days become summer vacation days. The excitement of new-found freedom wears off pretty quickly, and then it’s up to the parents to find things for their children to do. Some kids thrive while others can become bored and unhappy. One of our staff members here at Wayne Township said that she is already struggling to keep 7-year-old Phoenix from getting bored. He had depended upon the routines of getting up at the same time, travelling the same route to school, getting breakfast and lunch, learning new things, seeing friends—all in the typical school day. Now he seems a little bit “at sea,” free-floating and looking for things to do.
Here in Wayne Township and beyond there are lots of activities planned and in the works for children to do over the summer. The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department prints the “Fun Times” catalog four times a year, and you can pick up the summer edition at many libraries and other public locations. Here is a link to that edition if you don’t find it in print: fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/funtimes/Summer_2024_2.pdf
Besides activities, many families are looking to make up for the meals their kids were getting while in school. One way the state of Indiana is helping with that is with an extra EBT card to help buy food for children. People on SNAP (formerly food stamps) started receiving those cards in the mail in the last few weeks. Here is a link for more information on that program: in.gov/doe/nutrition/indiana-sun-bucks-summer-ebt/
Finally, on May 31st Fort Wayne Community Schools kicked off their annual free summer meal program with an event at the Allen County Public Library. The continuous distribution of meals began on June 3rd. That program will run through July 26th on the weekdays. You can find them at eight different library locations in Fort Wayne: Main, Georgetown, Hessen Cassel, Little Turtle, Pontiac, Shawnee, Tecumseh, and Waynedale. For further information, you can visit the library’s website. You will see there that ACPL has also partnered with the Blessings in a Backpack program to make sure that children still receive nutritious food when the FWCS program isn’t running.
So, know that you are not alone in dealing with the challenges that come about when the school year becomes summer vacation. There are lots of local resources, and anyone can stop by our office for more information. Happy Summer!
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