Home based Summer Hols activities

Frugal_Pupil

Sorry if this is not the right forum - couldn't work out where would be best.

We'll be staying at home this summer, possibly with the odd day out here and there. Just wondering what (mainly free) activities you do with your children during the school hols to distract them from the ever-present TV & computer games. We have DS(13), DS(11), DD(8) & DS(7) - range of interests & abilities.

Any ideas/suggestions welcome! Thanks

Northern_Princess

The National Trust have launched a 'Bucket List' of things to do and they also offer great activities for kids come rain or shine. Picnics are always a favourite in our house as well. Helping with cooking ie home made pizzas was another favourite as well as cakes and bread. You can pick up loads of craft materials from ebay and if you have any old wallpaper lying around feet and hand painting is fun. If the weather is good get a bit of polythene and make a water slide with a hose. They could also keep a diary of their hols to take into school on their return? My daughter loves looking back on her holiday diaries. Most local Councils provide lots of ideas as well, it's well worth looking at their website to see what they offer

MandM90

Have you got a tent (if not you could check Freecycle). When I was a kid we'd camp in our/friends gardens and it was good fun!

GlasweJen

Be a tourist in your own town. Last year I took my nieces for a week and visited the museums, peoples palace, picnic in the park, took a walking tour and had a great time doing it.

davenport151

Check out the local (free) museums. Have a walk/bike ride with picnic.
Some spend required-go fruit picking at your nearest farm/farm shop.

lika_86

How about cooking? You can start teaching the older ones about proper cooking and baking for the younger ones, it's the perfect time to start teaching them cooking basics.

SailorSam

Are there any ideas on here.
http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/3379/Keeping-Kids-entertained-during-school-holidays/

teabag29

Not sure if its everywhere but our local swimming pool has free swimming for kids over the school holidays.

We often go to the woods and take a picnic or to the park.

Barbeques on good days and get the paddling pool out (usually results in a water fight!).

Camping is another good one, either in the garden or friends/relatives house or a cheap camp site.

As someone already said kids love cooking so we usually bake some cookies to take on our picnics.

Vue cinema have family films for £1.50 at weekends and school holidays.

Family bike rides and walks, we like badminton and take our set to the park, dd likes to have a go at flying her kite.

If you do go away for a weekend camping is much cheaper than renting a caravan, I have 3 nights booked at haven in July for 6 of us at £35 and that includes the passes for swimming/entertainment etc. This site gives details of some campsites round the country http://www.pitchup.com/

kingfisherblue

Some of the things we do:

* picnic indoors or outdoors, depending on weather. Get the kids to help find food in the cupboards or do the shopping. See if they can stick to a budget :rotfl:

* visit local museums. Don't just look within your own town, try nearby towns as well. In the last holidays we visited catalyst in Widnes. It's a great museum for kids, with lots of hands on activities. We only live ten minutes away, but had never considered it before. My youngest now wants a season ticket

* check to see if your local council has any activities on offer. Sometimes libraries hold extra actvities that are not on the website, so it might be worth looking there as well. Our local council produces a 'diary' of activities, most of which are sport

* again the local council, but sometimes advertised separately - your local ranger service might do activities. Ours offers a variety, from planting to bat walks.

* get some scrap books and research a project - whatever interests each child.

* the younger ones might enjoy collages. Start collecting bits and bobs now. For my Brownies and Rainbows, I use coloured envelopes cut into smaller pieces, any bits of ribbon (including 'hanging ribbon' cut from clothing), pasta, odd scraps of fabric, buttons, leaves, etc.

* Have a colour walk. You can either collect an item for each colour of the rainbow, or get some paint charts of greens, browns, yellows and oranges. Match different leaves, etc against the shades.

* Make fruit kebabs

* Go to pick fruit at a local strawberry farm

* How many items can they find to fit into a matchbox?

* Junk modelling

* Cooking - try pizzas, scones, shepherd's pie, spaghetti and homemade meatballs, etc

* Sort out bedrooms. Donate old clothes and toys to charity, or have a car boot sale. Any profits could be used towards redecorating, buying new accessories, or a day out.

* Cycling as a family. I'd love to do this, but as one of my children has severe disabilities it just isn't possible. Instead, we sometimes go for a walk locally, with my son in his wheelchair and my other son on his bike. We take a soft football and a picnic.

* have a DVD night. Choose a film that everone likes, get pop and popcorn, close the curtains and enjoy!

* Try some badges from Brownies or Scouts. they're available online, and for children who enjoy a project, there are plenty to choose from. Lots of ideas and you only need to do as much as you want!

* Visit a town farm. They're often inexpensive.

* Get the children to help with the gardening. Grow herbs in pots.

* This might be sexist, but on the Brownies website there are some great games that your daughter might like. This one is great:

http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/brownies/games/decorator.html

Others are here:

http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/brownies/games/index.html

You don't have to be a member of Guiding to play!

* Ice digestive or Rich Tea biscuits. Use food colouring or coloured icing. Try using liquorice laces to make spider legs. Use a mix of icing sugar and water to make things stick.

* Have a paper plane competition, or make simple helicopters

* Try some origami. Try this site - my 12 year old loves it!

http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/1006/

* Join the reading scheme at the library

http://readingagency.org.uk/children/summer-reading-challenge/

* Make tents over the washing line

Ruthy1604

Is there a Playrangers scheme in your area? Ours offer 2 free sessions a day in the park come rain or shine. They organise activities such as circus skills, sand play, food tasting, raft building etc. My two love it & theres no limit to how many times you can attend.

bestpud

If you have a smartphone you could have a go at geocaching: http://www.geocaching.com/

The site is free to join and you can download an app for a few quid.