I’m one of those mothers who love, Love, LOVE school holidays. However, that does not mean the journey is a smooth sail. These are my tips for happy holidays.
1. The three day hurdle
In my experience, the first three days are the hardest. Everyone is adjusting to the change of dynamics in the house. The younger children are getting used to having the older ones home all day and the older girls have to adjust to the lack of structure. I find there are a lot of arguments and ‘what can I do’ comments in the early days. For some reason, after the third day, things begin to change; my children start playing beautiful games together and I take a deep breath. I often remind myself that things will get easier after the three day hurdle is jumped.
2. Plan
School holidays can be fun if you plan a lot of activities for the children to do. The key is trying to balance out these things: cost, keeping things busy and down time.
Cost
I like to spoil my children on the holidays; an ice-cream here and a gift there; however, I don’t have an endless supply of money. I plan to do a few costly outings each holidays and space them out between weeks. Activities like going to a play centre or a water park.
Keeping things busy
I believe it’s not reasonable to stay at home all the time and expect your children to enjoy the holidays. I plan a lot of small and big outings to keep my children active, busy and happy. Visiting friends, bike riding and shopping are some of my favourite things to do with the children. See the activity list below for some other great ideas or subscribe to my blog.
Downtime
I try and balance out some home days in-between all the busyness so I can regroup myself and the children can have some rest.
3. Holiday Bag
It’s fun to put together a special holiday bag for each of your children. This does not have to be an expensive exercise. Use green bags filled with some special activities. These sort of items are a good idea: gel pens, colouring book, a toy (I buy a little figurine of a character they enjoy) and a new book to read. You actually can just go around the house and collect some activities the children have not played with for a while. These activity bags can be used for car trips or quiet bed time.
Activity Ideas
Kidspot: I often find great school holiday ideas on this site.
Shopping Centre: The local shopping centres often provide activities and shows for children in the holiday period. Most shopping centres have their own website or you can browse the Westfield and Centro sites for current events.
Play Centre: Play centres tend to be expensive but they are magic! My children magically disappear for hours so it can be a fun outing to plan.
Public Transport: Instead of taking the car, plan to take the bus or train somewhere; children love that.
Beach: Who doesn’t love the beach?
Museum: Our local museum in Brisbane offers fantastic activities for children. Click here for more details.
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Have a happy holiday!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the great tips Kelly. I’m with you in that I just LOVE having the boys home for holidays. They get so engrossed in imaginative play and dig out all the toys that don’t get seen during term time. I’ve been thinking for quite some time that I’d like to do a city weekend with the kids and do some things like visit the museum, science centre, go on a City Cat, ride the river bikepath etc. Do you know if it costs to get into the science centre? I’m hoping to keep the cost right down so that we might be able to afford to stay somewhere in the city!
Happy Holidays!!!
Great ideas here! I especially love the idea of encouraging kids to re-find toys they haven’t played with in a while. If you don’t get to the library much, a trip there can be great. They often have free videos, audio books and of course books. I also like getting together with another family and doing a toy or game swap.
This is our last big block of freedom before the girls start school so I’m trying to work out just the right balance of excitement and relaxation… thanks for the great ideas!
You are such a great mum. I know so many that complain about having the kids home and then do nothing with them.. When Miss 3 and Mr 1 are old enough to go to school Im sure I will be getting things ready for the holidays too. Im sure the next 6 weeks in your house will be lots of fun, Im looking forward to reading about it all.
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