Parents in the UAE often plan their lives around their children’s school schedules, factoring in term breaks, national holidays, rainy days and changes in timings during Ramadan. And 2025 has been no different.
In August, the Ministry of Education announced a new calendar for the academic year 2025-2026 for public and private schools across the UAE, effective from August 25.
“The first term will end with a four-week winter break from December 8, 2025, to January 4, 2026, with schools resuming on January 5, 2026,” states the UAE Ministry of Education website. “This extended break offers students time to recharge after an intensive term and engage in national and community activities.”
Christopher Seeley, principal at Dove Green Private School in Dubai, notes: “The revised calendar brings greater consistency between schools offering different international curricula, while still protecting teaching time and statutory requirements. Feedback from parents has been mixed. Many understand the rationale for the change, and some families have welcomed the longer winter break, particularly the opportunity to travel home for the festive season and spend extended time together.
“At the same time, other parents have highlighted practical challenges around childcare, work commitments and the additional financial pressures associated with a longer break,” adds Seeley. “These are not objections to the change itself, but genuine logistical considerations that families are navigating in different ways.”
As Dani Benny, a stay-at-home mum to two boys aged 10 and 12, puts it: “I don’t mind the extra-long break, although I’d have preferred the extra week added at the end of the school year rather than losing the February half-term altogether. That mid-term break is still useful and a break for both students and teachers.”
Benny is travelling abroad with her family in December, so skipped winter camp for her children this year, but she admits “the longer break can make it a bit trickier to keep the kids entertained”.
Here is how three other families are handling the month-long break, factoring in monetary challenges as well as balancing professional commitments with entertaining their children.
‘I put together a spreadsheet of activities’
Managing and mapping out the days is a priority when children are at home during the holidays, because as many parents know, the bickering begins when children are not occupied.
“My eldest is in the last year of nursery, so I don’t think I felt the pressure as much as parents with school-age kids,” says Archana Patel, who has a son aged five and daughter aged three.
“But when the news about the extended break first came out, the change felt stressful. I was left wondering if I would need to pay for extra winter camps and how to keep them entertained.”
As a stay-at-home mum, Patel doesn’t have a nanny, meaning childcare and entertaining fall primarily on her.
“It is a lot to manage your days,” she says. “Deciding between sending them to camp or keeping them at home, there is a cost attached to both options. We decided not to put them in camp as this year has already been costly, so we alternate between activities outside and inside the home. But even things like going to a Christmas market with free entry means you spend a fortune on food, drink and activities – it all adds up no matter what you do.”
Patel has been using social media for inspiration on things to do in the UAE during the extended break.
“There’s a lot on social media promoting different family-friendly activities,” she says. “My background is in event planning, so my whole December is in an Excel spreadsheet and I plan everything that way.”
‘I had to take 10 days off work’
For working parents, the extended school break means juggling clients, calls and childcare.
“This is my busiest time of year as we are putting on a huge event in January,” says Angela Soudi, business owner and mum of Kyan and Kayden, aged 17 and 11. “The announcement of a whole month off school left me wondering how I'd navigate it. I've had to take 10 days off work to be with my younger son, as usually he would have been at school during this time. Thankfully, I’m in a position to do that, but I’m mindful many others aren't.”
As mum to two boys with a six-year gap between them, Soudi understands the unique set of challenges that comes from finding activities to suit both.
“In the end, my eldest son went on a trip with my husband that made it easier to find things to do with the one I had left,” she says. “He didn’t go to a winter camp, so we’ve been doing new things in Dubai.”
For Soudi, this included visiting Al Seef, taking an abra to Old Souk and spending a day at Sharjah Safari.
“Taking children to play areas can cost a fortune,” she says, “so I had to find things that were entertaining and cost-effective.”
The extended winter break also meant a change of travel plans for the family. “I had booked flights to the UK for December 23, but brought them forward to December 17 when they announced the long break. We do not have extended family here to help with the boys,” Soudi says. “At home we have a big support network, so we decided to go earlier so they have their aunts, uncles and cousins who can be with them for the whole day. It takes a huge weight off.”
‘I changed my hours and work longer in the evening’
Jess Flemming, marketing director and mum to Sofia, 11, and Arlo, eight, says: “Personally, I think this break is too long. It creates more stress during one of the most stressful times of the year. As a business owner, I do feel the pressure. I’ve been changing my hours and working longer in the evenings to catch up from the day.”
Flemming and her husband chose not to send their children to camp this year, instead opting to divide entertainment duties between themselves and the nanny.
“We’ve been muddling through, I think is the best way of putting it,” she says. “Camp is expensive and the ones my children would have wanted to do run from 9am to noon, which is not long enough. We’ve had the odd day out and have been to the theatre. In the mornings I’ll get some work done and then we go out.”
With many of her children’s friends travelling, Flemming says entertainment has come in the form of playing outside in their local community and arranging play dates.
“The big thing is keeping them off their screens,” she admits, adding: “There is one nice thing about not being at school – the alarm clock not going off at 5.30am,” she adds. “So we’ve been letting them have some lazy days and lie-ins.”
