Activities for the Holidays!

Hello everyone! I’m Mr Ng Guo Liang, an English Language Curriculum Specialist and Teacher at Lil’ but Mighty.

It’s that time of the year — the school year has officially ended and the end-of- year holidays is here! It is also time for your well-deserved break! When I was a student, I always looked forward to the holidays, and used to think that I’d idle my time away (because there wasn’t much time for idleness during the school term!). After a certain point, however, too much of a good thing eventually became a bad thing, and I always got bored of doing nothing after a while — I’m sure that many of you reading this can relate! Therefore, in this blog post, I’d like to mention some enriching activities you can do during the holidays that might not only chase away the boredom of excessive idleness but also allow you to gain something from them.

Create a List of Shows to Watch

In the past, whenever the holidays came around, my brother and I would create a list of shows and movies to watch during the holidays. These included not just movies and TV series, but documentaries as well. This is a great activity because it not only provides you with entertainment but it’s also a great family-bonding activity. Nothing beats a family movie night on the sofa with popcorn and chips!

Apart from movies, I enjoyed watching documentaries or shows about nature and our planet with my brother. Do your research and create your own list of shows to watch during the holiday! With the internet, and media streaming service platforms like Netflix and Disney+, you have a plethora of wonderful entertaining and educational shows to occupy yourself with during the holidays.

Do also check out a previous video post by one of our teachers on some family-friendly shows you can watch on Netflix too!

Board Games

For many of you who grew up in the era of the computer and the smartphone, much of your entertainment is provided by infinite entertainment and gaming apps. Before the smartphone however, many of us grew up with board games as entertainment. The presence and sensory experience of interacting and laughing with friends and family in person, and the physical and tactile elements of board games make them very enjoyable in a different way from the fun you’d experience from playing games online.

My favourite board game is the classic game of chess. I like that hours can fly by without me realising whenever I am playing and I realised that there is much I can learn about a person through chess. There are board games of many types and genres you can find that can last from 15 minutes to a few hours! So why not try playing board games with your friends and family during the holidays?

Hiking

Going for long walks is another great activity to try during the holidays when you get bored — especially when you’ve been cooped up in your house during the pandemic. Going for a hike is literally and figuratively a nice change of scenery.

I enjoy taking a nice long walk at East Coast Park in the late afternoon till evening to see the sun set, and then to Satay by the Bay for a sumptuous meal with my loved ones.

There are many avid hikers who have kindly shared their trails online, so you can choose to go on those which appeal to you. Another great thing about hiking is that you can also document the things you see using your phone and share it on social media, or on a personal diary you keep — this could very well become a new and healthy hobby of yours in the future!

Learn A New Skill

One great way to use your time during the holidays is to learn a new skill. Learning something new is not only a fun and productive way to use up your time, but also keeps your mind active and healthy.

I enjoy learning new skills that allow me to create something such as learning to cook a new dish for my family. In the future, I would really love to learn more things which fascinate me such as the art of origami and playing a musical instrument too!

The great thing about this is that you have the power to decide what you’ll learn — it can be as simple as origami folding, or as complex as playing the piano. What is most important is that you’ll enjoy yourself in the process of learning something new. Be it photography, video-editing skills, cooking, or even singing, there are many things you can choose to learn. So why not start thinking about the things which fascinate you and consider picking them up this coming holiday?

This brings us to the end of this post. Looking back, I really wish I had done more of the things I shared during my holidays when I was still studying. It’s not too late for me to start doing them more often; it’s certainly not too late for you to do so too this coming holiday! I hope I’ve given you some entertaining and enriching ideas of things you can do to occupy yourself during the holidays. If you have any other wonderful suggestions, do share them with us in the comments section below.

On behalf of the Lil’ but Mighty family, stay happy, stay safe, and stay healthy!