What to do with the kids on rainy days in the school hols - we need your ideas!

[rachel(mumsnet)]

Scottish schools are breaking up for the summer hols from Monday and BBC Radio Scotland have asked us to us come up with some ideas of what to do with the kids.

It's cold and wet in Scotland right now and, for many parents, the idea of eight or nine school-less weeks is challenging. Can you help? It's not so much about where to go, but more things to do in the house and out and about; How to survive even if the weather prevents you from hitting the beach or local paddling pool...

Post your ideas and tips here and big thanks in advance for your help.
MNHQ

[MarsLady]

I'm guessing CBeebies isn't the right answer!

[tortoise]

Raincoats and wellies, puddle jumping!

[giraffeski]

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[giraffeski]

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[Miaou]

We have made a "plan of action" for the summer holidays. I asked dd1 (11) and dd2 (9) what they would like to do. So far we have "learn to knit", "paint our bedroom" (we are going to do a seascape mural), "take part in Team Read" (the library summer reading challenge, go along to your local library to find out how to take part). I am sure the list will get longer!

Also - we will be baking, drawing, painting, sewing, playing with the little ones (2 boys under 3 as well as the dds).

[OsmosisBanana]

treasure hunt round the gdn and house with easy clues leading to prize. Have to do as team....

Go to stony beach when not nasty weather. collect stones for use when rainy. paint n varnish. Good G'parent presents....

Buy terracotta plant pots from ikea... or wherever. Decorate.

woodland walk with an 'identify' kit. ie has red leaves with five fronds on each etc etc

[cremolafoam]

haha yes dd of from yesterday here in ni.
2 months of glorious rain no doubt
here goes:
always take public transport on days out.it takes twice as long as the car and can be more entertaining if a train journey is involved. go with another mum and children if poss.
have a picnic at the ready at all times so if the sun does come out you can go and have a picnic somewhere pretty and fly a kite
dispatch child to a summer scheme for at least one week of the hols
go to the library a lot
go to a local museum a couple of times .ask at reception for a quiz to fill in on the way round or write your own
have 1 child in rotation have a friend over at least once a week( chances are he or she will get a play date out of it)
go to pound shop and acquire supersoakers and water pistiols for hot days
get dh to take them camping and fishing for one night on his own(hahaha)
stick to one paid for activity per week- ie cinema,bowling.iceskating,pool
put up a tent in the back garden or build a den or tree house
go to a bookshop (second hand if poss) and give them a couple of quid to choose something
employ all relatives to look after them for 1 day each.
do painting, cutting out and craft or baking in the afternoons for an hour before teaso you can dunk them in the bath straight after.
buy some blackout blinds so they can get to sleep early.
mumsnet if running out of ideas

[PinkTulips]

well my dd has been on holiday for a week already and has spent most of that week either trashing the house or watching tv while i sleep..... but as i am pregnant i almost have an excuse

when i do get off my bum though they love playing outside even if it's bucketing, just watch them from the door while they run around and get soaked.

playdates! nothing entertains a kid better than another kid.

puzzles, dd is addicted to them atm so she can spend hours doing them quite happily.

teach them the joys of lying in in the morning

lots of cuddling on the couch with books.

making forts and castles with furniture and sheets.

board games if they're old enough, most kids love a good monopoly session, invite a few friends around, provide them with snacks and they'll be entertained for hours.

let them 'garden'. give them a plot amd some trowls and forks and let them dig for worms, plant twigs and rocks and generally make a mess.

[cremolafoam]

forgot -the dressingup box is a vital part of the summer hols.
gather up a load of silly hats and clothes form charity shops- the sparklier the better- i got a pile of stuff from freecycle recently
get them to organise a play- if they are older they can write it themselves or little ones can act to you reading out a favorite book
dressing up is great.

[UnderRated]

Empty a bag of rice or lentils into a tupperware/ big cardboard box to make an indoor sandbox for trucks. Keeps small children occupied for ages

Make Playdough

Baking/ decorating cookies

Build dens/ tunnels

Indoor obstacle course

[janeashersbookofspacecakes]

Do starfall on the computer

[Psychomum5]

ice biscuits and decorate

make jelly and then play with it...(they are meant to eat it, but these are kiddies, who are we kidding!

have a carpet picnic (of course, if you are precious about your carpet, cover well first!)

have a non-birthday birthday party

have a halloween party at the worng time (kiddies LIKE dressing up)

take them south, to bournemouth, visit psycho, come to the beach

[Aefondkiss]

apart from the obvious dvd fest...

local museum, is free here, so if you need to get out then that will do one trip.

I am signing my dd up for a couple of arts council classes, very cheap.

At home, we will be playing v annoying games my dd has made up..."it is so and so's birthday and we have to have a party.

plus inviting friends/family to stay who are very good company for the dc

endless drawing and writing to friends, and my mum is planning to paint an old play house in the garden, turning it into a shop.

buy the Saturday Guardian, it has lots of rainy day things to do for dc in the comic.

blink and the holidays are gone

[twentypence]

Go swimming - you can't get any more wet after all.

Play Monopoly - it goes on for ages and ages and ages.

[Eulalia]

Oh are they?! We're in Scotland but don't finish till a week later....

This thread will be useful though.

Weather seems to have improved where we are (NE Scotland) for the moment anyway!

[Eulalia]

Sorry, I should add ideas! My older two like making maps and putting treasure in a part of the house for me to find.

Taking all the cushions off sofa to make into a den or just for jumping on (dh not too keen on this one!)

Go on the internet and just research something - fine for slightly older kids, younger ones can find colouring in sheets. ds1 likes fast cars and plenty of sites with pics and short videos.

[ChippyMinton]

Install the biggest pool you can reasonably fit in your garden. It will get used regardless of the weather. Also uses up lots of energy.

Get together with a friend and swap some children - eg one has the boys, one has the girls.

See what's on in the parks, museums, libraries for free or a small charge.

Rope in relatives to have one or all DC for the day or a sleepover.

Get annual passes for days out to your favourite places.

Have reams of paper, pens and glue for craft projects. Junk modelling is a good one - raid the recycling and see who can build the best robot.

Lego etc are great, have some suggestions for what to build. Use websites for inspration.

Limit screen time (TV, DVD, computer games), so it becomes something they want to do rather than a babysitter for you.

Book a playscheme for a couple of days.
Book a week's day camp - sports, drama etc.

My top tip if you have more than one DC is to split them up so they all get some time with you on their own.

[ChippyMinton]

Visit a charity shop and let them buy whatever game takes their fancy, or hold a swap-shop with friends.

Face painting & dressing up.

Put on a show.

Go and visit Daddy/Mummy at work

[MamaG]

Play hide and seek in teh house! Sounds a bit lame but its great fun.

Treasure hunt in the house

Baking

Obstacle course in the house (hilarious seeing 4 yo frantically doing a forward roll so he can climb tghrough the hoop)

[micci25]

teddy bear picnic on the carpet
craft kits
learning to sew (dd1 seems to be obbsessed with sewing or knitting atm and since i cant knit it will have to sewing)
put on music and make up a dance competition
soft play centers/fun pubs for dinner
cinema
baking
cooking
learning games on pc
board games/kids games (elefun/bounce bounce tigger etc)
card making
'fun' games that involve using mummies big hoover or dutsing!!
bathing baby born
salt dough/modeling clay
making scrap books with fave pics of friends/family
grow cress heads
egg decorating
bowl of soapy water and straw and see who can blow the most bubbles (best done on a towel/mess mat)

[harleyd]

xbox
and i make no apology for it

[theITgirl]

Make a scrapbook of the summer holidays.
Use photos, drawings of places they have been to. Collect souvineers when out on sunny days to use in the scrapbook later.

Other craft stuff eg sticking, playdoh, painting
Baking cakes etc
Big Read at the library
Local museums (ours does a different craft activity every week)
Teddy bears picnic

[Pavlovthecat]

Definitely raincoats, wellies - maps and treasure hunts.

[Blu]

Use your cam corder to make a 'film' of a favourite book. We did The Tiger Who Came to Tea - using a toy stuffed tiger, shots of or table set up for tea, empty food packets, a homemade cardboard claw peeking round the front door. You can do lots of voice overs to explain what is happening, or do it documentary style and interview the Mummy, the child, the cafe owner, Daddy, The Tiger etc.

OR

use your digital camera to make a 'photo-comic' story. With hand-written speech bubbbles, or use the computer.

[WideWebWitch]

We have a projector, which was one of the best things we ever bought: it means we can have 'cinema on the wall' and so we often have a movie afternoon where we have hot dogs and popcorn and watch a film. When ds was younger I used to get him to make tickets, a poster advertising the film etc.