What are you doing today with your children? (school summer holidays)

MERFE

We had picnic in the park yesterday and they played playdough all morning today. DD has optician tomorrow so not planning too much for the morning.

Other things I have planned to do over the hols are more picnics and beach days, first ever trip to chessington for the kids now they should enjoy it, zoo, farming world and one day catching train into london and going to natural history museum. its just filling in the gaps, may also take them to the cinema one morning and maybe bowling one day too. Was also thinking of taking them to the build a bear shop one day will have to see how it goes. They are going to grandmas for 2 nights at the end of august so a small break there but we have already had our main family hol. DD broke up from preschool on thurs and doesnt start her new school until 10th sept so its a long holiday and somewhere in there we are gonna need to be sorting out uniform and shoes.

bestpud

DD(7) has found some local friends to play with so is out and about quite a bit of late, and that will make the holidays much easier!

Today it is pouring with rain so we went to see Monsters vs Aliens at the Vue Kids screen (can't think what they call it but it's £1.70 for adults and children free). It's a great film imo - very funny!

There are various things we/she will do at home, but we also hope to:

Get to the beach a few times.

Visit Bristol Zoo and Chester Zoo (we are members of Bristol Zoo so both will be 'free').

Walking with Dinosaurs at the NIA - the tickets for that were expensive! :eek:

Swimming (children go free at local pools).

She has a dance day booked - cost £15, but her friends from school are going too.

Have her school friends over a few times (we have to organise that as they don't live by us).

There is activity days at our local museum that are free or a couple of pounds, and same at our local wood.

Her Brownie pack holiday will take up three days too.

Great thread btw!

gghh

this is a great thread, thanks op!

where can i find out about this free swimming? we went yesterday and had a great time, paid for all of us but will go more often if i can get the kids in free!

i've used tesco clubcard deals to order cineworld tickets so will be going to see harry potter when they have come!! only cost me £5 of tesco vouchers for two cinema tickets!

we will also be going to the natural history museum at some point and we are going to the stage production of "We're going on a bear hunt" in London

Nicki

gghh wrote: »

Spendless, do you know why Harry Potter is rated a 12A?? My 5yo wants to see it (and so do I!!) but I wondered if it wasn't suitable for him?

Toonie, I love the scrapbook idea, might have to do that too! London Zoo is fab, we went there at half term, food and drink very expensive so take your own!

I went to see it with my 9 year old yesterday and there is no way I would take a 5 year old to see it :eek:

Certificate 12A is given because it is unlikely to be suitable for most children under the age of 12. There is a grey area which runs between about 9/10 and 12, where depending on the exact reason why its a 12A and your own child's personality, it might be suitable, but not for a 5 year old! Even PGs are not really intended to be seen by 5 year olds tbh, as the official guidance on these is that they are likely to be suitable for age 8 and above but to use your own common sense at these ages.

Would your 5 year old not be mollified with a trip to see Ice Age 3 which is also out at the moment and much more suitable for a younger child than Harry Potter?

gghh

Nicki wrote: »

I went to see it with my 9 year old yesterday and there is no way I would take a 5 year old to see it :eek:

Certificate 12A is given because it is unlikely to be suitable for most children under the age of 12. There is a grey area which runs between about 9/10 and 12, where depending on the exact reason why its a 12A and your own child's personality, it might be suitable, but not for a 5 year old! Even PGs are not really intended to be seen by 5 year olds tbh, as the official guidance on these is that they are likely to be suitable for age 8 and above but to use your own common sense at these ages.

Would your 5 year old not be mollified with a trip to see Ice Age 3 which is also out at the moment and much more suitable for a younger child than Harry Potter?

We have the first two Ice Age films on DVD but he's not really into them. He has seen the first four Harry Potter films, I wasn't too keen on the idea of him watching them at first but his father let him without my knowledge so now he really wants to see this one! I've decided I'm going to see it first even if I have to go alone so I can see for myself whether I want him to see it or not.
Just to add, I also have a 3yr old and the favourite films in my house at the mo are Disney's Cars and Bolt which are both PG!!! And in fact when we went to see Bolt at the cinema a few months ago, my friend's 9yr old was not interested at all and kept saying he was bored!

mum26

Today we are having a dvd day and they've been taking turns on the pc (timing with the oven timer, lol!).

I've been booking things:

converted £20 of clubcard vouchers into Bella Italia vouchers
also converted enough points for 7 child tickets for cineworld - that is ds1's birthday treat sorted out!

Also going to see Harry Potter next week with my mum and eldest two

have been totting up my walkers points too and adding them to my account

dd1 has a manga drawing course to go to three days next week

we have the library again on friday as some of them are doing the quest seeker reading challenge, library is right next to the park so that takes up a bit of time if not raining.

Have wicksteed park vouchers already converted thanks to mr t

Have travelodge rooms booked for 31st august so lookng out for cheapest way to get 2 adults and 6 kids into chessington and or legoland or thorpe..

Spendless

Monday- went to local park and then a friend called, so had lots of peace and able to tidy up.:T

yesterday-went into town in seach of a pressie for BIL. Going by train spinned the trip out a bit longer.

Today I work at a voluntary job, so the kids are going to a 'Sports camp'. Eldest (9) has done this sort of thing before, but youngest (6) hasn't. It's 10-3. Hubby is working from home so he can take them but I'm going to ask if I can finish work 5 mins early so I can pick up as it's only a few mins drive away.

gghh-As you know I took my 6yo with me to see HP and my reservation is to do with boredom factor setting in, rather than it's too gruesome.I'ts a long film with little action scenes. Unless there was anything I missed during my toilet trip there's only 1 'makes you jump' scene. The sexual references are mainly to 'snogging', anything else went over my 2's head.

xmaslolly76

gghh wrote: »

this is a great thread, thanks op!

where can i find out about this free swimming? we went yesterday and had a great time, paid for all of us but will go more often if i can get the kids in free!
London

We just went to the pool and asked we are actually registered with three different councils as we border all of them so it gives us a choice of pools some will offer when you go in others you will have to ask. You fill in a very short form, one pool took a photo of the kids so they have a record they give you a little plastic card and away you go :money:

Nicki

Spendless wrote: »

gghh-As you know I took my 6yo with me to see HP and my reservation is to do with boredom factor setting in, rather than it's too gruesome.I'ts a long film with little action scenes. Unless there was anything I missed during my toilet trip there's only 1 'makes you jump' scene. The sexual references are mainly to 'snogging', anything else went over my 2's head.

Emmm - Draco Malfoy breaks Harry's nose in a graphic and violent scene at the beginning of the movie, and then Lula fixes it in an equally yuck scene with lots of bone crunching. There is some more fairly explicit violence with punching and kicking to the body (not in a cartoon, action hero kind of way) and Harry attacks Draco and leaves him apparently dead and covered in blood on a toilet floor. Oh, and Severus Snape attacks Dumbledore and throws him off a building several stories high and leaves him dead on the ground below with lots of crying kids looking on.

Stand by my contention that its not suitable for a 5 year old, and not because of the boredom factor!

liney

My 5 year old has seen the other Harry Potter's but I wont' be letting him see this one, and judging by the book the last 2 movies will also be unsuitable for a few years yet.

You have to bare in mind that the books were written to grow with the child, so we are now at late teen theme time.