Many children eagerly await the school holidays so they can spend time with their families. There are many activities organised through your local council, leisure or community centre which can entertain, engage and educate your children. Many are quick to organise, low cost, and allow you as a family to spend quality time with each other. We have shared some ideas for holiday fun below.
Look local.
Shopping centres, libraries, community centres and leisure centres often arrange activities during the school holidays which are either low cost or free. These activities could be anything from art and craft workshops to movie screenings and storytelling.
Museums and galleries.
Check out galleries, museums and local tourist attractions that have child-friendly interactive displays and see whether they offer holiday deals or special programs for children.
Get outdoors.
Pack a picnic and head for the beach or your local park. Your children will love to be involved in the preparation of the picnic or planning of outdoor games such as frisbee, backyard cricket, soccer etc. Check if your local council has nature walks planned for the holidays where they can learn about their natural environment.
Garden fun.
Your own backyard is the perfect place for holiday fun. You can make an obstacle course, plant seeds in pots or in a small patch of garden, hide toys or dinosaur bones in the sandpit to excavate for endless fun.
Kitchen capers.
Choose a simple and healthy recipe that your child will love, take the family shopping for the ingredients and then help children to create a meal you can share together.
Create a scrapbook.
Children love learning about themselves, so you could spend a morning immersed with old photographs, magazines and coloured pencils making a scrapbook that showcases their lives.
Showtime.
Encourage the children to put on a play or musical. They will love getting creative with dress-up clothes and props and will feel a huge sense of accomplishment sharing their talents with the family.
Make an ant farm.
This project will engage children for a long time which is easy to create using ordinary, inexpensive household items.
It is important to remember children don’t need to be entertained all the time. Encouraging independence and imagination is important to support children in developing self-sufficiency and resilience in later life. School holidays are an important time for families to bond and children to continue their journeys of inquiry and discovery. Selecting activities which engage children and supports their innate love of learning make for memorable times together.
Author:
Bella Robinson-Jones has extensive experience supporting educators and implementing curriculum development for young children. She is skilled in strategic planning, coaching, and educational research and has significant experience in Reggio Emilia at Nido Early School.