The summer holidays are looming. The children are starting to dream of those carefree summer days without schedules or having to get out of bed in time for school, free of homework obligations and routine. It sounds blissful, romantic, even, but wait…How long will it be before the children start with the ”I’m bored!” or the ”What’s for lunch?” or ”Mum, what are we gonna do today?” questions. Now is the time to be proactive to avoid those holiday frustrations that every parent experiences. Here is a list of ideas to give your holiday and kids some structure for their free time and to give you some peace of mind:
- Go for a breakfast picnic (the Stepping Stones, Bollihope or Stanhope Dene make good picnic places)
- Visit the Open Air Swimming Pool
- Plan some day trips in County Durham in advance
- Have a water balloon fight
- Visit Bowlees Visitor Centre
- Get crafting…here are some unique ideas
- Pick a chapter book and read aloud one chapter a night together as a family (The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Treasure Island, Charlotte’s Web, Where the Wild Things Are, A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Willows, Black Beauty, The Call of the Wild are good ones…but there are so many more!)
- Have a backwards day (snack for breakfast, dinner for lunch, lunch for dinner and breakfast in the evening. Wear your clothes backwards etc)
- Have theme dinners with food, music, costume: Italian night, Mexican night, Greek night etc…
- Make fancy ice cream sundaes and name them after book characters or celebrities (get creative with the ingredients to represent the character i.e. ”The Gruffalo”-Chocolate ice cream with purple sprinkles, a green wine gum and 2 orange sweets)
- Play cards in the sunshine
- Go on a wildlife search and identify and write down what you see, who can identify the most animals?
- Set up play dates with friends
- Play the alphabet game…Take turns thinking of an animal, country, food or fruit that starts with each letter, can everybody think of one for each letter?
- Have a utensil meal. Make a big pot of spaghetti and pick a kitchen utensil to eat it, selected from a box at random (potato masher, egg cup, soup ladle, tongs, large spoon, whisk, wooden spoon etc…). It will be messy but it is guaranteed silly fun.
There are many helpful websites, too, to give you more ideas. Good luck parents!
