It’s mid-term and baby yoga, swimming lessons and art class are over – what will you do with your littlies this school holiday? Don’t despair. Free time doesn’t have to mean big outings and spending a lot of money. Here are some children’s activities to keep both parent and child smiling; and you don’t have to be Suzy Cato to get the most out of your children this holiday!
1. Polynesian Day Spa
Little girls will love to play grown-ups by having a pamper day just for themselves and a friend or two. Fill a plastic clamshell or a large bucket with water and flower petals so they can sit and soak their feet in the water. Make vegetable based masks for their faces that are safe enough for curious preschoolers. Try mashed avocado or banana, honey and yoghurt with the obligatory cucumber eye patches! Fresh fruit smoothies will help keep energy levels up – relaxing is hard work!
2. Book Corner
Create a book corner in your home by putting a bean bag in a corner next to some books in a wicker basket – books are much more appealing when their covers are showing and your child can sift through with little fingers until they find the one they like. Another idea is to get them to help cut out photographs of your family and friends and create their own book by pasting them into a scrapbook. If they are older, let them come up with captions to write on each page – an interesting story may evolve! This is perfect for those times when kids’ activities need to wind-down rather than rev-up.
3. Obstacle Course
Line dining-room chairs up and drape an old sheet over the cushions. Your littlie will have fun climbing on top and crawling underneath in the ‘cave’ created by the sheet – a quick and easy children’s game. You can put your hand under the sheet and grab a leg, or tickle an arm, to give them a surprise to make them giggle. Other everyday items can be used to create an obstacle course in your living room or place items outside that your child will need to manoeuvre around on their plastic dune buggy or bike.
4. Art Class
Grab a box (the lids off A4 paper cartons are perfect), place a piece of paper inside, put a few drops of different coloured paints on the paper, add two ping-pong balls and watch your child create impressionist masterpieces just by shaking the boxes to move the balls around in the paint. Another simple idea is to cut the shape of a butterfly, let your child add paint swirls on one side, fold the butterfly in two to create a symmetrical pattern then let your child sprinkle glitter on the wet paint when opened. Glitter shakers and non-toxic paint can be bought very cheaply from places like Ike’s Emporium and $2 Shops, or you can shop for craft supplies online.
5. Baking
A perennial favourite activity – cupcakes, blueberry muffins and even pancakes: whatever simple recipe you choose it’s sure to keep your child entertained while giving you both something yummy to eat. Even very small children can help by “plopping” frozen berries into the bowl with the muffin mix or stirring with a wooden spoon. Baking even, apparently, helps with maths and reading skills while encouraging teamwork. For bigger kids, why not create a baker’s certificate for a lasting sense of achievement.
6. Happy Camper
For your older child, an easy and fun kids’ activity is to create a campsite in your backyard. Put up a tent and load it up with sleeping bags and torches. Star gaze and roast marshmallows over candle flames for a more grown-up kid’s activity. Make some masks to aid in the storytelling – a bear mask made out of a paper plate is a good place to start. Ghost stories and using a torch to make hand shadow animals can also add to the fun! The great thing about backyard camping is that you can reduce the amount of gear you need to take and if you forget anything there’s not a long drive home or an expensive trip to the nearest store. Best of all: no traffic jams!
7. Water Cooler Fun
Games for kids can be simple; for very young children, get an empty water cooler bottle and put pegs, ribbons or straws next to it. Kids’ games can be simple; watch as your child spends hours putting them in and tipping them out. If the weather is warm, quarter fill it with water and let children pour the water into containers and on themselves – have a towel handy! Add food colouring or bubble bath for extra effect.
8. Musical Statues
Teach your littlie to listen to instructions by turning fast-paced music up for them to dance and run around to. When the music stops they need to freeze like statues and ‘go’ again when the music starts up. Encourage them by dancing and jumping around yourself when the music starts. This game is fun even with only one child and caregiver but the more children the better and the first one to move is ‘out’ of the game. When there are more children, don’t forget the prize for the winner of each game – a small chocolate should do it! Find some fun kids’ music to make this game extra entertaining for your kids.
9. Treasure Hunt
This children’s activity is adaptable for both younger and older children – hide and seek with items they love or you can use chocolates or small toys from the $2 Shop. You can help by saying ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ depending on if they are close to the objects or not. You can even hide food that comes wrapped in small plastic bags in places like sandpits for lots of surprise factor. Themes work well too – consider a farmyard treasure hunt where your child has to find all the farmyard animals and put them in a ‘pen’ that you can make in the corner of one room out of string or ribbon markers.
10. Dress-up Box
Fill a box with items such as old pairs of shoes, scarves, hats, props like handbags or magic wands, necklaces, glasses, etc. If you have ever watched your child come up with interesting versions on Mr. Potato Head you will now see what they can come up with on themselves, and how much fun they have trying out different combinations. Thrift stores are good places to stock up on costumes. With a bigger budget, try one of these children’s party supplies stores, The Fairy Store or Filiokus for some truly inspirational kids’ costumes – their fruit and vegetable costumes are seriously cute!
There are so many ways to have fun with your child over the holidays and to get out of the playground and shopping centre rut. Why not start an activities box by writing down your favourite ideas or places to visit and putting them on cards inside the box – when boredom strikes you can just rummage through for inspiration and heaps of children’s game ideas.
This article was kindly supplied by NZS.