School is the last thing children want to think about during the Christmas holidays. On much-awaited days off from school, children tend to watch TV, play video-games or engage in activities that don’t require much thinking. One or two days of this “mind-mush” may be fine, but imagine one or two weeks of it. It’ll take quite some effort to get back in the zone when it’s back-to-school in January.

So, parents, make sure your children don’t waste away in front of televisions and game consoles this holiday season. Make sure they stay mentally active even out of school. You don’t have to impose math drills or writing exercises to do it. Just take advantage of the everyday learning opportunities that this season brings, and your children can be learning new things without them noticing it!

Traffic Trivia. Use Christmas traffic to your advantage! Play trivia games in the car with your children while traffic is at a stand-still, or on long drives out of the city. You may want to prepare trivia questions in advance by getting facts and figures from their own textbooks. I don’t suggest merely drilling them on names, dates and places—that’s no fun! Try to connect trivia questions with places you are visiting. For instance, if you happen to be swinging by the Intramuros area that day, ask them tidbits from history related to the Spanish era. If you are able to make interesting connections between the facts and figures in their textbooks to the landmarks they experience first-hand, there’s a greater chance that your child will remember those facts and figures.

Grocery Games. A trip to the grocery or mall can be a learning experience as well. While buying food items or gifts for the many holiday gatherings you’ll be attending, bring your children along and make shopping one big math game. Ask them questions like, “If I have three-hundred pesos, and these gift boxes cost fifty pesos each, how many gift boxes can I buy?” or “Tonight we are having twelve guests for dinner. How many bottles of soft drinks do I need to buy if one bottle is enough for three guests?” Of course, you’ll need to make sure your math questions are appropriate for each child’s age and ability.

Kitchen Conversations. If the holiday season means hours of cooking and baking for you, then use this to your advantage as well! Let your child help you bake and cook (keeping safety in mind, of course!) and discover the many learning opportunities that kitchen time provides.

Your child can practice math skills while measuring ingredients. He or she can practice reading skills while reading the ingredients out of a cookbook. Challenge your child’s thinking abilities by having him observe and explain the changes that happen to your ingredients at various stages of preparation: “What happens to ice when I leave it out on the table for a long time?”… “What happens to an egg that’s been placed in boiling hot water?” … In training your child to observe, make hypotheses, and suggest conclusions in the kitchen, you are actually training your child in the scientific method! And not only that, your youngster develops language skills as he explains his observations.

Kiddie Christmas Cards. Another great way to keep your child busy this Christmas vacation is to have him make personalized Christmas cards for family and friends. This activity will nurture his creativity and develop his art skills, while he practices writing and sentence construction. Not only that, his home-made cards are sure to be more charming—not to mention, less expensive—than store-bought Christmas cards!

So don’t let “mind-mush” accompany the holiday rush! Look for ways to apply textbook concepts to real-life, everyday situations this holiday season.

I also strongly suggest familiarizing yourself with the various topics that your child will take up when he goes back to school in January. If you use these topics in your everyday learning experiences, you are actually doing advance study with your child without him knowing it! When these concepts are formally introduced in the classroom, your child will be able to comprehend the topics more easily and thoroughly. (December 14, 2010)

(Angela Abaya-Garcia has worked for multinational corporations as project officer and team leader. She now divides her time between doing freelance editorial or consulting work and being a mother to 11-year-old Enzo and one-year-old Amanda.)