Winter break can be an informal but powerful time for learning, if families use everyday activities to teach thinking and planning. Jim Egenrieder, director of the Virginia Tech Thinkabit Labs, suggests that parents involve children in real tasks so they practise executive function skills—planning, estimating and decision making—without turning play into formal homework.
He recommends giving children meaningful roles, such as researching or calculating ways to make family events, trips or meals easier or cheaper, and then rewarding their effort. These responsibilities make learning relevant, build confidence, and often lead children to take initiative on their own.
Simple, practical examples include:
- Measure and time steps while baking to practise units and fractions.
- Track day length around the winter solstice to observe seasonal change.
- Create budgets for shopping or event planning to practise math and decision making.
- Identify trees by their winter features to learn observation and classification.
- Predict fuel needs for a road trip and switch clocks to 24-hour time to strengthen number sense.
Families can use the break to encourage practical problem solving and gradual independence while keeping activities informal and rewarding. Source: Virginia Tech
Difficult words
- executive function — mental skills for planning and self-control
- estimate — make a rough calculation or guessestimating
- decision making — process of choosing between different options
- responsibility — task someone is expected to doresponsibilities
- relevant — closely connected to the situation or purpose
- initiative — ability to start actions independently
- solstice — day when daylight is longest or shortest
- classification — grouping things by similar features
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Which everyday task from the article would you use to practise planning with a child? Explain how you would do it.
- How might giving children responsibilities during a break change their confidence or independence? Give reasons.
- The article warns against turning play into formal homework. How would you keep activities informal but still educational?
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