Summer is an ideal period for expanding a person’s horizons by learning new things. Learning something new makes one feel intelligent, empowered, and productive. A person is also exposed to new ideas and cultures. Additionally, acquiring new skills may also contribute to a person’s career success since they add additional skills to their performance.

The following are some fun and new things your family can learn this summer.

How to Operate a Boat

Boat riding is a fun activity, especially when you are with your family. The warm weather offers a perfect atmosphere to teach your family how to operate a boat. However, boat riding requires observing safety precautions due to the risks involved, especially with kids. For instance, you should always wear safety jackets while on board. Other essential things you should understand include the meaning of red and green flags and reading clouds.

Boats are designed to accommodate a limited number of persons. 95% of boats on the water, including personal watercraft, sailboats, and powerboats in the United States, are small in size, about 26 feet in length. Therefore, they can be transported by a vehicle to local waterways. If your family already has a boat, consider taking it to a local lake to teach your kids this new and important skill after they’ve completed a licensed boat course.

How to Cook New and Intriguing Dishes

Cooking is another skill you can teach your family members during the summer. Delicious dishes make a home more precious for everybody. Learning new cooking skills creates an impression on family and guests. Acquire skills at cooking your family’s favorite dishes. You can also seek more information from comprehensive online classes and resources.

If you’re kitchen newbies, you can introduce yourselves to cooking art by preparing simple meals, such as an egg. You can choose to cook it either fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, or poached. Mastering these simple cooking arts allows one to familiarize themself with kitchen tools and utensils.

How to Speak Another Language

Many people perceive speaking a foreign language as a difficult thing. Some people believe certain languages are impossible to learn. However, it is possible to learn to speak a foreign language. This may be beneficial, especially when visiting areas whereby the language is common. Although there are some challenges involved, with a good instructor, a lot of practice, and focus, learning the basics of a certain language during this summer is possible.

This is a fun challenge for a family to tackle during the summer when there is more down time available. With online language learning options for adults and children, your family can enjoy a fun trip to a new and appealing place and understand some of the language spoken. It can also be helpful in daily lives due to the cosmopolitan nature of major cities. For instance, there are more than 200 languages spoken in New York City.

How to Meditate

Meditation is a quieting practice that involves the mind achieving total awareness of the environment and self. Although it seems simple, beginners find it quite overwhelming to empty the mind and allow thoughts without hunting them down. This is a lifetime practice with countless mental, physical, and mental health benefits, such as increased compassion and reduced stress.

Luckily, meditation can be done anytime and anywhere. You only need to look for a quiet spot away from noisy activities. Pay attention to each inhale and exhale as you slowly breath, and refocus on your breath every time your mind starts wandering. This is a healthy activity to do with your family this summer. Invest some daily time in this practice, and you can start for two to three minutes and progressively increase practice over time.

How to Support Local Businesses in Your Community

Your community members own and operate local businesses. These businesses are more responsive to their local neighbors. Local businesses have a smaller carbon footprint than big companies; therefore, supporting them is beneficial to the environment. Supporting local businesses also helps support the immediate community since spending your money locally stimulates the local economy and enhances the success of local companies.

You can also support local businesses in your area by visiting and interacting with their websites. For instance, research indicates that the first five organic results of an online search account for 67.6% of all clicks. Leaving positive online reviews and liking and sharing their social media posts is very helpful to get a small brand’s name known throughout your community. If you have teenagers in your home, this is an important lesson to teach them!

There are many activities and skills your family can learn this summer. Take advantage of the season to open your minds to new ideas!