Wellbeing: Holiday Boredom Busters

Daniel A, Nic C and Tara S | Year 11 Students | Grammar News | 10 September 2021

 

Ok. Here we go again. Holidays. 2 Weeks to do exactly what you’ve been doing for the last 4 months - nothing. For some, these holidays will be a welcome break after a busy end of term, and for others, this unique lack of things to do is going to be a challenge. But that’s where we come in! I know, I know. What would you do without us? Here are our Top Ten Tips To Tackle Time Off (try saying that 3 times fast!)

  • DO NOTHING: That’s right. I said it. The best thing to do after a period of stress is simply nothing. Maybe you can watch that series you’ve been meaning to watch, or catch up on some reading (The staff at the LearningHub are always one email away). Whatever it is, as long as you get a break, then it sounds like a pretty good deal.

 

  • DO SOMETHING: Let’s not pretend that you haven’t spent the majority of the last term glued to a screen. Well now is the time for a change. Go for a bike ride, a pogo-stick, a rip-stick, a skate, a luge. Find a new hobby: stamp collecting, bird-watching, metalwork. Just change things up a bit and give something a go. Who knows you could end up becoming the next Aussie Luge Olympian.

 

  • CATCH UP WITH A MATE: Yeah, those people you once knew. Phone them up and go for a ... (wait for it, you’ll never guess), walk! Nothing better than a good chat, especially now that our lives are full of riveting stories and exciting new experiences.

 

  • BUILD SOMETHING! If you have learnt anything from the years of Design Tech at School, it’s that you can make a surprising amount of stuff out of cardboard, sticky tape and a bit of old fashioned creativity. Will you make a mess and probably spend hours cleaning cardboard off-cuts off of the dining room table? Almost certainly, but as the saying goes, no pain no gain.

 

  • WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR FAVOURITE PERSON: Not me, my mailbox is overflowing with fan mail already. Maybe your nan or your favourite uncle? Whoever it is, they’ll be sure to enjoy a bit of snail mail, and if they reply you can even continue your stamp collection.

 

  • COOK SOMETHING FOR THE FAM: Whether it be cheese on toast or a spicy new chicken curry, put your culinary skills to the test and bestow onto your family the gift of a cooked meal.

 

  • RENEW YOUR PASSPORT: Who knows when Scott Morrison will decide to open up the borders again? I don’t know about you, but as soon as those flights are up and running, I’m getting out of here - and I need a passport to do that.

 

  • BLAST FROM THE PAST: Dedicate a day of activities to a simpler time. Whether it’s a 9-5 of straight 90s movies, hard 60s rock, a book from a period when shortening words was seen as obscenity or a classy evening tributed to jazz and blues. Bring the past back to the future. An opportunity for parents everywhere to reminisce on how the fruitful endeavours of their youths were ones in abundance of culture and today's kids “just don’t understand”.

 

  • GO FOR AN OCEAN SWIM: Yeah, that’s right. Whip out those flippers and goggles from that swimming phase you had in Year 4 and go for a splash. Best results acquired to finish with watching sunset (or sunrise, but c’mon...us teens love a sleep-in) and during calm conditions. Bring a Go-Pro if you must, but savour the moment.

 

  • WRITE A MEMOIR: There is literally no better time. For all the Year 7’s out there, this might be trickier, but I’m sure you can whip out some defining moments of your tumultuous 12 years on earth. A surprising amount of writing-worthy events can happen when you get confined to the neighbourhood so get keen and write it all down.