9 weeks of holiday for the children may initially seem fantastic, but one can quickly run out of ideas of what to do to keep their little ones entertained, especially on a budget! But don’t worry, we have you covered for the summer, with a range of activities in the great outdoors, and for inside on those rainy days.
Build a den
This idea sounds simple, but really get imaginative about this (and let us know below what you come up with!). Don’t just build a ‘den’, but build a tent in the middle of the Sahara, where you are hiding from lions, or a submarine in which you are looking for whales. Our favorite idea so far has been turning a whole room into a spaceship by covering it in tinfoil, and then drawing on pieces of paper what aliens the kids think they might see.
Art attack
Dedicate a whole day to various arts and crafts, preferably set up at different places in the house and garden. Take your kids to each station throughout the day, since the new location will keep their interest up. For example, you could have then flower pressing in the garden, friendship bracelets in the sitting room, fancy dress in the bedroom, and finger painting at the kitchen table! If you do a lot of arts and crafts already, then try and mix it up a bit – for example, get the children to draw with their eyes closed or create outfits out of newspaper or loo roll! A fun day like this is bound to be a giggle. This is a really fun one to do with friends, so organize a play date and get some of their buddies over.
Out and about
Summer 2015 is set to be hot, so why not make the most of it and have a trip out to the great outdoors. Grab a bucket and spade and head to the beach, where you can have hours of fun building a fortress against the incoming tide, or even pack up a tasty picnic and go on a walk into the woods. Scavenger hunts are also always good fun, and if you invite your children’s friends along then you can turn it into a competition.
Best day ever!
Trips to theme parks or the zoo can seem expensive, but it is worth noting that you can get coupons or vouchers for trips more easily than you expect! Check out groupon for the best deals, and our blog on couponing for tips! Also, make sure you get advanced travel tickets to save you money, as the later you buy the more expensive they are.
Mini chefs
Not only do you get to have a fun time cooking with your kids, but afterwards there are cheap sweet snacks for everyone! There are easy ways to get creative with baking, without having to use a complicated recipe which the children will not follow – whether it is or even - see the links below! Moreover, if your children are young, maybe you make the cakes and then get them to decorate with coloured icing and sprinkles.
Click for the recipe for butterfly cakes
Click for the recipe for a fancy rainbow cake
Click for the recipe for crazy sweets cake
Or just use our basic vanilla cupake recipe and decorate however you like!:
Cupcake
Turn the oven on to 180 o C
Place cupcake wrappers in a cupcake tray, around 15 will do.
Put all of these ingredients together in a bowl, and mix:
Put into the cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until spongey at the press of a fingertip (GEORGIE’S TIP: make sure you don’t open the oven door again for the first 10 minutes or the cake won’t rise properly!)
Take out of the oven and put on a cooling rack for half an hour before decorating.
Then, mix together some icing sugar and water for simple icing, or make butter icing to put on top of the cupcakes. Add food colouring to this to make pretty coloured cupcakes, and then sprinkle with whatever you like!
Treasure Hunt
Put together a treasure hunt and invite some of your children’s friends over for a day of excitement. Fill the treasure hunt with riddles they will understand
eg. “You will find the next clue, not in the bath but on the ___?”
(Answer = the clue is on top of the loo);
eg. “Find this clue if you are able, it is under the kitchen ____?” “
(Answer = table).”
Eg. Get a picture. Write on the back the answer of where the next clue is.
Then cut up the picture and get them to put it together like a jigsaw to see the clue