It’s 3 weeks into the summer holidays and you’re already starting to think about when they’re heading back to school…
There’s nothing better than 6 weeks of bonding and having fun with your children, but when you’re still trying to adult or if you work from home, there’s only so much of the ‘I’m bored’ that you can take. Let’s not forget that trying to entertain for 6 weeks can be costly, and simply, just tiring.
If you’re slowly starting to tear your hair out in boredom we’re rescuing you with these 9 activities to keep your children occupied over the summer holidays that are easily accessible, and best of all, are completely FREE. We promise they’ll make this long hot summer a bit easier to cope with!
1.Puzzle Races
If you have more than 1 child and the weather is nice, get 2 puzzles with the same amount of pieces. Find a shady space outside to setup and let each child race each other to finish their puzzle. It will keep them quiet with determination and depending on the number of pieces in the puzzle, it will definitely keep them going for a while!
2. Green Fingers
Get your children interested in gardening and watching their fruits of labour come into bloom. Buy some seeds together if you don’t already have some, they can choose. Even better, plant some vegetable seeds, they’ll be fascinated for the rest of the summer holidays watching them grow and it gives them responsibility to make sure they’re well watered everyday and are cared for. They’ll be so excited when it comes to being able to eat their own home grown vegetables!
3. Free Museums
Lookup free museums and areas of interest that you can head to for the day. It will get you out of the house and it will be something that your children can hopefully find interesting and educational.
4. Learn A New Skill Together
Juggling? A language? Hula hooping? The Recorder? Ask your children if there is something they would like to learn this summer and do it! Whilst the rest from school is definitely needed, you should still keep their brains ticking over, we bet they’ll be able to master a new skill in less than 6 weeks. Why don’t you join in with them by learning a new skill too?
5. Turn The Beach Trash Into Treasure
Take a road trip to your local beach and do some beach combing. Collect anything and everything that they think could be turned into some great art, think shells, washed up smooth glass, seaweed etc. Take your findings home and challenge them to create some art with it, the possibilities are endless!
6. Journalling
Get your children to start a journal in the summer holidays and fill in what they’ve done each day. It will help to develop their writing skills and they can then share their summer highlights at the end of the holidays, they may even be asked to do this by their school. If they really enjoy it, they may even keep it up when they head back to school.
7. Create A Treasure Hunt In Your Garden
Setup your clues and a map and hide the treasure. It will provide plenty of fun and develop their problem solving skills too. The final treasure could be an ice cream or to pick the film of their choice for a film night!
8. Head To A Car Boot Sale/Flea Market
Get your children to earn their keep in the summer by helping out with chores around the house such as the washing up, hanging the washing up and clearing the dinner plates. If they earn a little bit of pocket money from it, take them to a car boot sale to find their very own treasure. It will teach them a good work ethic and to value the importance of money.
9. Fly A Kite
Aren’t the simple pleasures in life sometimes the best? Windy day? Take the kite out and head to a park or green and get that kite up into the sky. Big kids and small kids alike can enjoy flying a kite, we promise it will instantly transport you back to your childhood, and getting some fresh air out of the house will do you all the world of good!
What activities have been keeping your children occupied this summer? Keep up to date with the latest news and competitions from BabyDam over on our Facebook page or Twitter!