Things for Toddlers During the Summer Holidays

Cruiksl

I know this is probably already been a topic but hoping you moneysavers might come up with some ideas. :j

I have a dd who will be 3 in August and looking for ideas to keep her amused during the summer holidays as her playgroup has stopped and she doesn't start nursery until late September.

I'm looking for ideas that cost little money as I only work during term time and don't have an income coming in.

I thought 2 headings - summer days and rainy weather so will start us off.

Summer Days
Picnic
Playing at the park
Walks

Rainy Days
Picnic in the living room
Baking fairy cakes
Painting
soft dough - although I could do with a recipe

Hoping we can come up with lots of ideas !

Lynn

Aoife's_mum

hello

I'm also a bit worried about what we're going to get up to - will definitely miss all the playgroups and activities. My dd will also be 3 in August, and have a ds who is 15 months. I'm sure I'll think of some more things, but in the meantime here's what I can think of off the top of my head:

rainy days:
trip to local library (often have events on for littlies as well)
grocery shopping - I do my dd a list with pictures on it so she can find things herself
loads of art-y things she can do, sticking, making crowns, collages etc - I've got some excellent books on this (e.g. usborne activities range) from the library
dressing up
also can get kids cook books from library for lots more ideas
splashing in puddles

sunny days:
paddling pool and some friends
some places have big council paddling pools in playgrounds
outside art - e.g. painting with feet
teddy bears picnic with all her soft toys
obstacle courses (jump into hoops, run to a tree, etc)
chalk drawings outside

sarahc44

We regulary walk or you could drive to our local RSPCA centre - donation of a pound gives us a an hour or more looking at all animals.

I am sure I can think of more - bear with me x x

BernadetteN

You could see if you could use some Nestle vouchers to go somewhere :

www.nestle-gofree.co.uk

jackomdj

grrr - logged in & typed whilst eating dinner - by the time I had typed it I was logged off!

Anyway oldest DD is 2 (3 at end of Oct), youngest is 14 weeks.

We have lots of friends over & go to their houses.
We walk to our local(?) duck pond - this can take 5 hours as DD walks most of the way, we usually stop for 2 baby feeds, lunch & wees at the local library. At the pond we feed the ducks & collect bits (feathers, leaves, flowers, seeds) for pictures on rainy days. We take the papousse (sp?) & put our eldest daughter in the pram on the way home (else it would be another 2 hours ontop!)
On sunny days we have the pool in the garden or if it is not hot enough we swap water for balls (all bought from car boot sales/freecycle etc)
We take aqua draw outside & a bowl of water to use, or sometimes just use the hose on the patio & do hand prints/footprints etc.
We take DD's "baby" for a walk in her pram - usually end up at the park.
Local PYO has animals as does a garden center about 20 miles from us - take lunch & make a day of it.
We have lots of garden toys (most bought e-bay, car boot or sales) & we can make great little obstacle courses.

On rainy days we love to draw, stamp, stick, do pictures with bits we have picked up previously (talk about what we did when we collected it), bake, read, have lunch on a mat in the middle of the floor with the dolls....I could go on, I will think of some more later!

Looking forward to everyone elses postings, always great for some new ideas.

Nicky

jackomdj

As that posted I will just add another!

We have been a couple of times to Paultons, a theme park near Portsmouth for (IMO) 2 to 12 year olds. It costs about £16 for an adult & free for children under 1m (DD is a shorty so not sure about ordinary childrens prices!). It has loads to do, it has some limits on heights (90cm is the ifrst cut off & DD is just too short for a few bits!). If you take your own lunch you don't have to pay any extra - we arrived 10 mins after opening & left 10 mins before it shut! If you are in the area well worth a visit!

Nicky

Lurleene

How about a makeshift sand-pit for a few hours of fun? Just get a large shallow container such as an underbed storage box and fill it with play sand and toys and pop it in the garden. Lots cheaper than a sandtable, and you can always use it for storage when your LO gets bored.

Woby_Tide

jackomdj wrote: »

As that posted I will just add another!

We have been a couple of times to Paultons, a theme park near Portsmouth for (IMO) 2 to 12 year olds. It costs about £16 for an adult & free for children under 1m (DD is a shorty so not sure about ordinary childrens prices!). It has loads to do, it has some limits on heights (90cm is the ifrst cut off & DD is just too short for a few bits!). If you take your own lunch you don't have to pay any extra - we arrived 10 mins after opening & left 10 mins before it shut! If you are in the area well worth a visit!

Nicky

if you don't mind a longer trip then Adventure Wonderland near Bournemouth is aimed at similar age groups but accepts Tesco Clubcard deals so tickets are only about £2 worth of vouchers.

Park, buy some cheap seeds/sunflowesr etc to plant in garden(then daily watering etc. going forward), beach, walk to shops, library, painting, glueing, baking, building, paddling pool

And for a cheap 'zoo' the local "Pets at home" superstore...!

emmaBZ

my 3 yr old is more than happy to sit outside with a bowl full of water and her dolls....you could also try getting some plants or seeds and letting her help you plant them and check them ect my dd does this at my mums ( as im hopeless with plants ect ! )
a pot of bubbles...and some music ....inside or out for a little fun

Gingham_Ribbon

Another idea is board games. We adapt our grown up ones to play with our toddler. He plays connect 4 by making patterns with the colours and calling out 'catagories' when we drop the disks in. eg all the colours we can think of, all the shapes, all the planets/cars/names from balamory...
We play trivial pursuit using the dice and the same catagories but make up the questions so he can answer them. eg geography - what's our address? What country do we live in? Where do kangaroos live; literature - what happened on planet zum zee? What was strange about mr magnolia? Name an animal the mouse tricked in the Gruffalo? etc
Make a fishing game with a magnet on string and some cut out fish with paperclips on them.
Make a kite and wait for a windy day (if you're more talented than me anyway!)
Try to turn everything into a game. Going to the post box, dress up and be a postie; baking buns, make it for a 'restaurant' and have her be a chef and a waitress etc.

Cruiksl

Thanks for all your responses. I'm hoping the weather is nice as we can play outside !

Lynn