The summer school holidays are back and keeping the kids entertained for the next few weeks are a big challenge. But you don’t have to break the bank this year to keep the kids from burning down the house, even though one of them may result in them burning down the house (stay with me).
We’ve asked around the office on how some of our colleagues keep the little ones busy as cost effectively as possible. Check out our list below!
Day in the Kitchen
A good way to entertain the little ones for the day as well as teach them some vital skills is to host an at home cooking day. Keep it simple, can be simply making cupcakes together or teach the little ones how to a make a simple favourite like spag bol or tacos, then lunch is sorted too!
Camping Out
My mother used to call these offline days. We’d head out into the backyard and build our tents, make them as comfy as possible and we had to spend all day outside like we were camping. We had marshmallows (no fire obviously), played board games, read, drew, and did some sport. Other than going inside to use the bathroom we would be spend the entire day and night camping in our backyard.
At Home Arts & Crafts
Kmart these days offer really cheap packages of arts and crafts material. You can craft necklaces and bracelets, they even having knitting and crochet kits!
Local Library/Museum
Unless you live in a real small, and I mean REAL SMALL, country town, then you can do a visit to your local library or the closest museum. At the library you can try and sell the kids on stories they would love (to then keep them busier on later days) and can even make a fun day out to your local museum.
Scavenger Hunts
Whether it be at home or in a park a scavenger hunt is a great, low cost way to keep the kids busy for a while. If you’re at home you can spread items from around the house out to create a fun afternoon of finding things. But if you go out to a park you can try to use the environment to create a list of things for the kids to collect (personally I’d use lollies as a prize for the winner for that extra dose of fun and encouragement).
Check out Different Local Parks for a Picnic
Who doesn’t love a picnic. We all (likely) have a local park in our neighbourhood, but you can make a fun trip out to explore different parks. A nice picnic in an otherwise new spot is a simple and effective way to mix it up.
Weeklong at Home Games Contest
Boards games, video games, even improv games are a great way to keep the kids docile. But make it a competition, during the school holidays my family used to hold a week long olympics with extended family every year. We competed in board games, video games, sports and then even a talent show. Each day was a different category and by the end of it the winner was awarded their choice for dinner on the Friday night. (Amy always won and ya girl loved Nuggets)
