My kids are out of school for the holidays for 2 weeks starting next week. This means they will be here… with me…. for a long time. Sigh… I do love having them home. I do. And I love not having to get up at the crack of dawn to get everyone ready for school. We have some fun, but it is not always easy. What do you do with your kids on long breaks at home? The below guest post may give you some ideas. The one about building a fort out of sheets is totally my kids. This is usually what my family room looks like when the kids are home for more than 2 days in a row. 🙂
School holidays are a time when the kids are around, and around, and around, and if they are not occupied then they will soon become very bored and will start to get under foot. The best way to prevent this from happening is to plan ahead and organize some activities to take them through the Christmas break. Another aspect of this time of year is that there is less money around because all the funds are geared towards Christmas, so you will want to think up activities that don’t cost the earth. Here are 5 ideas for cheap school holiday boredom busters.
Visit the Library
Most public libraries have a school holiday kids program which includes games, activities and story time so the kids will have something to do over the holiday break. Not only will they be able to see their friends while they aren’t at school, but it would be good to encourage them to choose some books to borrow so they have something to read while they are at home.
Learn Magic Tricks
Pretty much any kid, young or old, loves doing magic, so why not look up some magic tricks online and get the bits and pieces together so you and the kids can make some magic! With a bit of practice they will be able to master some of the tricks and then they can put on a magic show for you when they feel confident with them. It’s a great way to involve the whole family in the fun too and build kids confidence!
Make a Fort Out of Sheets
If you haven’t had the opportunity to make a fort or cubby out of sheets and furniture at home, then you really have not fully explored being a kid. This activity will provide hours of pleasure for kids, especially if there are more than one, and making a fort is relatively easy. If you have a bunk bed then its even easier as you just need to sling a sheet over the top bunk and you will have an awesome cave-like area for the kids to play in. Bunkers Brisbane has some great bunk ideas that are ideal to give that boat feel to a bunk bed fort.
Visit the Local Park
A visit to the local park during school holidays is a lot of fun, and not only will the kids get the chance to hang out with their school friends in the casual setting but you will be able to connect with other parents while the kids are playing. It’s a great way to organise a play date too, or a sleepover and you could do swapsees with other parents so you each get a day off from the kids.
Make Puppets and Do a Puppet Show
If you are like most parents and seem to often find odd socks in the laundry then why not turn those socks into a fun game. All you need (apart from the socks) is a few buttons and some thread and you’ll pretty soon have some puppets so the kids can do a puppet show for you.
Thank you for this lovely article! I created a set of alphabet exercise cards (A is for “Arm circles”, B is for “Bounce”, C is for “Crawl”, etc.) and a set of animal exercise cards (R is “Run like a Racehorse”, S is “Slither like a Snake”, T is “Trot slowly like a Turtle”, etc.). I shuffle up the deck and each child gets to draw a card. They can read the letters or the phrase depending on the child’s age. Little ones have to make the animal noise, like “sssss” when they “Slither like a Snake.” Then, we perform each exercise for around one minute. Sometimes I have the kids count, such as “let’s count 20 arm circles,”