Thursday, October 1, 2026
It’s every child’s favorite time of year — school’s out for the summer! As all parents know, summer is a wonderful time when we can travel and do fun things together as a family. Some of my best summer memories (as a child and now as a parent) involve beach trips, road trips, backyard grilling and outdoor games.
As all parents also know, keeping our kids active, with healthy activities, over the summer can be challenging, particularly for those of us who work during the summer months.
So what can busy parents do to ensure that our kids are engaged in healthy summer fun that doesn’t involve excessive use of those simultaneously magical and diabolical screens? Here are some practical suggestions from an educator – and a mom who’s been there:
Plan together as a family. One thing I’ve found helpful is to plan each week with my girls. What fun adventures are we going to do together? Setting up the week’s schedule in advance helps give us all thing to look forward to, and holds us — especially me — accountable for a plan.
Read, together, as a family. One of my favorite things to do with my girls is read together. When they were little, that involved me reading to them and talking about the book. What was funny? What surprised us? How would we have ended it differently? Who was our favorite character? As my daughters have grown, we mostly read different books now, but nearly every day we still make time after dinner to talk about what we’re reading and share what we like, dislike and learn from our books. It becomes more of a fun habit than a chore —trust me. It’s like having your own book club in your home.
Plan as much outdoor time as you can. I try every day, even on days when I’m working, to be outside with my family for at least a little while. Maybe we eat dinner outside, take a walk together or a ride to get some ice cream. We live in a beautiful area surrounded by water — people pay to come visit here in the summer, and the treat is ours to experience every day. I try not to take that for granted.
Try a new craft or painting project or hobby — even with older kids. OK, so, full confession, my kids totally make fun of me for this, but every summer we try a new craft or hobby together. Watercolor painting, puzzling, kayaking, crocheting, mini-golf, even birdwatching — believe it or not, some of these things have stuck with my kids. Trying out a new hobby together is fun, most of all, and sends the message to our kids that discovering passions is important.
Visit local museums. There are great museums on Long Island —Garvies Point, Tackapausha, Tanglewood, the Gregory Museum, the Cradle of Aviation, the Long Island Children’s Museum, Raynham Hall, Vanderbilt and many more. Just Google Long Island museums and you’ll see many hidden gems just waiting to be explored. Tack on a trip to Marvel and you’ll have a perfect day planned.
Don’t despair or give up if you’re struggling with the screen-time battle. And try not to make it a battle at all. More than anything, I’ve found over the years that offering children fun alternatives to screen time was a much better preventive approach than banning and battling.
And give yourself lots of grace. I just reread this column, and it sounds like I’m such a well-planned parent and that my girls have amazing summers filled with perfect days. Um, no. I struggle, too, and there are days when we end up doing none of my plans, when my kids spend too much time on screens, and when I feel like a mom failure. But I’ve learned to forgive myself, to get up the next morning with a better plan, and to keep trying. Know that you’re not alone in the struggle.
Speaking of screens, we’re having some important conversations about significantly limiting screen time in instruction in the lower grades in Long Beach. But I’ll save that subject for my next column in the early fall. For now, it’s summer! I’m sending you my very best wishes for a safe and enjoyable one.
Jennifer Gallagher, Ed.D., is superintendent of the Long Beach City School District.
