ADHD: how to help your child during the holidays without letting everything slide?
Holidays are eagerly awaited by all children, but they can paradoxically be difficult for children with ADHD. Without the structure of the school day, without routines and fixed reference points, some children with ADHD find themselves idle, restless or in constant conflict with their parents. Here is how to enjoy the summer in a calm and constructive way.
Why holidays are paradoxically difficult for children with ADHD
The ADHD brain needs structure and stimulation to function optimally. School, despite all its difficulties, provides this structure. During the holidays, the disappearance of routines, fixed timetables and organised activities can create a void that is hard for an ADHD brain constantly seeking stimulation to manage. Boredom, the bête noire of ADHD, sets in quickly and generates restlessness, conflict and difficult behaviour.
Maintaining a minimal structure during the holidays
The key to a successful holiday with a child with ADHD is to maintain a minimal structure without excessive rigidity. Approximate times for getting up, meals and bedtime. Activities planned each day, even simple ones. And transitions previewed to avoid unstructured moments that generate restlessness. This structure does not prevent moments of spontaneous relaxation, but it provides the framework the ADHD brain needs.
Physical activities: essential during the summer
Summer is the ideal period to increase the amount of daily physical activity. Swimming, cycling, outdoor sports and active games: all these activities stimulate the release of dopamine and improve attention and behaviour during the hours that follow. Aiming for at least one hour of moderate physical activity per day during the holidays is a realistic and beneficial goal.
Maintaining therapeutic follow-up during the summer
If the child is attending therapy or psychological follow-up, maintaining a few sessions during the summer holidays is recommended, particularly to consolidate progress and prepare for the return to school. And if medication is in place, the decision to continue or to take a summer break must be made with the prescribing doctor, not unilaterally. For resources on supporting ADHD during the holidays, aidtoi.fr offers practical guides for families.
