Collaborative Post
Now that the summer holidays have arrived, you may be excited at the prospect of venturing off on a family holiday at last, but at the same time you also need to think up various different activities to keep your little ones occupied, otherwise you will be greeted with the usual, ‘I’m bored mummy!’ which can be somewhat distracting when you also have work to be getting on with as well. So here are some ideas to help you get through this holiday and keep yourself sane.
Activities to Do At Home
These are activities which are easy to organise from the comfort of your own home and will not require you to spend much money either.
Do Some Baking
You can’t go wrong with baking up some tasty treats with the children, whether it is making fairy cakes, biscuits, a lovely victoria sponge cake, pizza or bread, it is a fun way to pass the time. They can help make their favourite goodies, and provide them with a task to do during the day. Each child could be responsible for a different role and at the end you will all have something delicious to eat too.
Cosy Nights In
Snuggling up on the sofa together to watch a film, even if it is Frozen for the millionth time or a series you haven’t seen before like The Witcher on Netflix, can be an enjoyable way to spend the evening. You can set up the living room to be like a cinema, make a few admission tickets for the children to give you and make plenty of popcorn.
When the weather is a bit warmer as well you could even create an outdoor cinema by putting up a large bedsheet and using a projector to play your chosen film. It is a good way to spend time together without even having to spend much money. Plus you will be creating some lovely memories for your children to enjoy at the same time by being a little creative with the decorating.
Play Board Games
It doesn’t just have to be Boxing Day to bring out the board games to play, so why not dust them off and sit down one afternoon to play some with the children. It is an easy way to pass the time and can be enjoyable for them to get involved in an interactive activity.
Opting for games where they can use their imagination and drawing skills is great to boost their creativity levels as well. They might also learn lots of interesting facts if you play a general knowledge, quiz based game which will be useful for them to learn from as well. It is certainly much more fun for them to learn this way as opposed to staring at a laptop screen all day.
Grow Fruit and Vegetables
If you have a garden, you could buy some fruit and vegetables seeds and start growing your own produce in the garden. It will give the children something to focus on each day and provide them with responsibility, to help you look after the plants. They can assist in watering and pruning the plants each day, watching as their vegetables grow eventually into something tasty to eat. It will certainly keep them busy for a few hours each day too and help them to get some outdoor exercise, even if it is just in the garden.
Outdoor Activities
If you are looking for an outdoor activity which enables you to all venture out of the house, then these will get you feeling inspired.
Nature Walk
Your children may have read about nature and all the different bird species that you get, but why not show them in person. What better way to learn about the local wildlife then actually see it for themselves. Visit your local park or common and see what kind of local wildlife you are able to spot with the children. You could print out various bird species and get your children to write down and colour in the different varieties that they see on your walk.
Go Camping
What better way to be close to nature than to go camping for a few days. There will be no distractions from tv’s or ipads, but instead you can all enjoy the relaxing calm environment of the countryside. It will give your children the opportunity to play, run around and be creative which is certainly good for their cognitive development.
An Adventure Day
If your children tend to spend the majority of their time indoors when they are not at school then why not do an outdoor activity like rock climbing, canoeing, archery, paintballing or go karting, so that they can try out something new and immerse themselves in a group activity. It allows them to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and try an activity that they may enjoy taking up outside of school. Plus as a family you would be enjoying the new experience together anyway.
Book a Staycation
There are lots of lovely places to visit in the UK that you could take your children to. A short staycation is the ideal opportunity to get away for a few days to a brand new location without all the long travel and delays at the airport. If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should appreciate all the interesting and picturesque locations there are in the UK, without having to step onto a plane. So use the summer holidays to take your children to new destinations if you feel like getting away for a last minute break.
