nearly summer hols how to have an os school hols

sandraroffey

my eldest son (he is 43 now) used to love making tents in the garden with a big blanket over the line and the sides pegged out. played in there all day; lunch in there as well. there was always games to play in the garden, or we would go to the park with a picnic. and maybe a scavenger hunt; find something that begins with each letter of the alphabet. that can take up a whole afternoon!!!

now, all my grandchildren love to come and stay with me at the seaside, and we still do picnics out or the day on the beach. doesnt cost any extra. and when i go and stay with all of them, the theme is the same; games in the garden and picnics out.

Toonie

I work as a nanny and have four children to look after. I try to organise one trip a week, so either a museum or a gallery. I'm lucky that my families live on the edge of London, so we have a lot of free museums to visit. The rest of the week we'll go for nature walks, trips to the park, picnics with friends and playdates at other peoples houses (other peoples toys are always more fun).

If it's raining I have three bags full of crafting materials, so they can make collages, models, paintings, clay objects, paper mache models and so on.

I need to stock up on a few things before the holidays for these bags, so will be heading to the pound shop and to The Works (air drying clay is good fun for the kids).

My older two have just discovered water colour paintings, so that will be a themed week. We'll visit one of the galleries in town and then we'll go for a walk to the local parks with paints and paper.

The younger two are still young enough to enjoy playing with lego and cars for hours, so that's alright and of course we have a paddling pool and a football in the garden.

A great website for crafting ideas is www.dltk-kids.com where you can print loads of things out to make and colour.

I forgot to mention, making scrapbooks for the holidays is also good. I bring my camera with me wherever we go and I take snaps of the kids and then print them out and the kids can write about what they've been doing. They are great for the traditional first week back at school "so what did you do in your summer holidays?"

MaggieBaking

This website has lots of fun projects for kids (of various ages) to make and is constantly updating
http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

building_with_lego

Last year or the year before I found a link on one of these threads to the Times Educational Supplement's list of 100 things to do over the summer. I've just spent half an hour googling and searching on here for it to no avail.
It was things like: write the numbers from 100 to 1000, going up in 5s; find something in your house that starts with each letter of the alphabet; write and perform a play to your family and friends. PLEASE HELP ME FIND IT!! DD IS BEGGING ME FOR IT, AND CLAIMING TO BE BORED OF THE LEGO THAT'S ALL OVER THE TABLE! :eek:

building_with_lego

Bump bump

icelandic_queen

My kids have been off roughly 4 weeks, nearly 5 and I'm ready for the hills!! Their father's family have offered to have them for a week in their caravan and I can't wait. I have done nearly all the things people on this thread have suggested and I'm worn to a frazzle. We're off out tomorrow on a 'cruise' to Scotland with entertainment on board so that should keep them happy for a day. I'll bet the Butlin's Redcoats don't work as hard as I do!!

eandjsmum

For older children on a wet day try http://cp.c-y.com/en/counter
Cannon papercraft .you can print out in black and white. will need printer paper glue and printer ink though.