Keeping the kids entertained throughout the six week summer holidays can be hard. Doing so on a budget can be even more of a challenge. With a little bit of imagination and an eye for a bargain, you can still have an amazing time with the children, without spending an absolute fortune doing so. Here's a few ideas of what you can do this summer to get you started:
Having Fun for Free
Not surprisingly, the majority of the free activities on the list take place at home, but that doesn't mean they can't be great fun.
- Build a den. Every child should have fun building a den. Whether it's suspended from a couple of chairs, a sheet over the dining room table, or hanging from a washing line in the garden - maybe even made from branches in the woods - a den is a magical place for your child to enjoy. Perhaps they'll imagine it as a fairy palace, a pirate’s hide or a soldier’s keep.
- Have a water fight. Get their swimwear out, grab those super soakers, or maybe even the hose pipe and have fun running around the garden drenching each other – just make sure your washing is off the line first.
- Go camping in your back garden. If it's warm enough to sleep out at night, the kids will absolutely love curling up in their sleeping bags under the stars and sleeping in a tent in the garden.
- Have a treasure hunt. Use some sweets from the cupboard and hide them around the garden or inside the house. Write out some clues and send the kids off to hunt for their treasure. If you make it complicated enough, it'll keep them occupied for hours.
- Have fun crafting. Boys and girls both love building things, painting, covering stuff in glitter and generally making a mess. If you start collecting yoghurt pots, kitchen roll holders, cereal boxes and bits of spare card now, you'll have a great stash ready for when the holidays begin.
- Make play dough. There are so many recipes for play dough and 'gloop' online that you'll have real trouble choosing which one to try first. Will it be Frozen themed slime or perhaps apple scented cloud dough?
- Hit the beach. Don your swimming cossies (you'll find a great range of inexpensive swimwear from George) and head to the beach for a day of sandcastle building and paddling in the sea.
- Visit the library. These days the kids are pretty much glued to the X box, the TV or their ipods, so why not have a day where technology is banned and head to the library for some good old fashioned reading. Libraries are not the stuffy, hushed, boring and dusty old places they once were. Instead they're bright and airy and have dedicated kids areas full of comfy seating with even the odd entertainer or book reading. Perhaps pick a favourite book from the library and have fun acting it out back at home.
Whatever you decide to do with the kids this summer, you're sure to have a blast, on a budget!
No comments:
Post a Comment