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How do you get your children busy and active over the holidays? Tell us for a chance to win Ready Steady Mo!, signed T-shirt PLUS £100 John Lewis vouchers

179 replies

SorchaMumsnet · 21/07/2016 16:30

Run in a straight line, Run round some bends, Run with your family, Run with your friends

Ready Steady Mo! is a fun action-packed rhyming picture book that will get kids reading, and running too.

To be in with a chance of winning the book, signed T-shirt and a £100 John Lewis voucher, just tell us - how do you get your children busy and active over the holidays?

This discussion is sponsored by Hachette and will end on 31 August

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How do you get your children busy and active over the holidays? Tell us for a chance to win Ready Steady Mo!, signed T-shirt PLUS £100 John Lewis vouchers
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voyager50 · 25/07/2016 04:56

Lots of days out to parks, museums and other free places with activities - living near London really helps.

Play dates are useful as they can be recipricated and give one family a day off whilst another looks after all the children.

Baking and crafts at home always goes down well too.

When they are older holiday clubs/play schemes like the ones I went to as kid will be good - I loved them!

Whyisitsodifficult · 24/07/2016 21:12

Put them in the garden and lock the door! Water bombs, paddling pool, cricket, trampoline. I don't have to try too hard as mine love playing outside.

PolkaDotFish · 24/07/2016 20:59

Some really good ideas on here Smile

I am on maternity leave this year and feeling a bit daunted about coping with 2 children on my own! DD1 (7) needs getting out the house every day or she gets grumpy and difficult so I have to think about it. DD3 (5 months) is just going to get dragged around after her older sister!

DD1 and I are doing a weekly planner together so we have something in the diary every day to look forward to.

This week we are going to a free event at our local Foyles bookshop (there's loads on throughout the holidays so worth a look), to a free teddy bears picnic run by a local parenting network and to a free art session in our local park.

Olympics themed garden activities are really good as well and are on our list. Obstacle races, long jump, shot putt style throwing are all good fun and can be done together. Cheap medals from the poundshop always go down well.

I just trawled the internet for local parks, organisations and facebook pages, as well as Park Lives, and have managed to find lots of free activities. I was surprised at what's available! Some lovely generous people and organisations out there making the summer hols great Flowers

rosiewil58 · 24/07/2016 18:43

I take mine horse riding and also make sure she pulls her weight when caring for the horses as I do all the hard work during term and in the winter months, we also go to shows with them to enter or just watch as you can imagine takes up lots of time but we still have days out to the beach of canoeing on the river.

MummyBtothree · 24/07/2016 17:02

All three of my kids absolutely love playing outside rather than indoors so I don't get any problems with getting them active. They do have alot of outdoor games etc for the garden but we also go to the local park to play group games and have a picnic.

darlingred · 24/07/2016 16:52

We go out come rain or shine whether it's for a walk, a cycle or a scooter. We usually end up at the park where they will happily play for a while.

We have friends round or go to friends so the children can play on the garden or outside. Last week this involved a water fight.

I make sure they spend time in the garden as much as possible. They have hoppers that they like to race on and also enjoy building and completing an obstacle course.

If the weather isn't so good we go swimming or to soft play.

gemmie797 · 24/07/2016 16:33

I encourage them to design a dog agility course in the garden for our dog, Buddy. They get busy collecting things for the course, then they can while hours away running around training my (apparently untrainable) dog

sharond101 · 24/07/2016 14:36

Lots of planning. Enjoy the little things like going on a bus or train, watching a digger ir throwing stones in the water.

bletheringboys · 24/07/2016 13:16

We make a list of stuff that we want to find out more about and put them into a bowl. Every time someone is bored or looking for something to do, we pick a topic or activity out of the bowl and that's what we do. So then it's a trip to the library for info, or a walk to find it, or an activity about it.
It's not difficult to come up with activities either - we just type "something" activity into Google or Pinterest and the chances are, somebody somewhere has done it before in the guise of a simple craft or activity.
We also play a game in the garden where i've drawn small symbols in different areas. I sit on a chair and shout out symbols and the kids run between them. We can add new symbols or have them do activities at the symbols, like "hop at the square" or "crawl to the triangle". They love it and will do it until they are knackered!

Leeds2 · 24/07/2016 12:56

Another one saying Pokemon Go! this summer.

SouthWestmom · 24/07/2016 12:44

I work so I only have two weeks at home with them - we have a holiday booked so lots of splashing in the sea and walking around castles will do. Otherwise they have member cards for swimming pool so my mum can take them and sit watching with a coffee, we walk to the local shops for ice lollies and my mum tries to take them somewhere she can sit and they can play - country parks are great for this. I tend to let the mornings drift and then get busy in the afternoons.

welshmumof3boys · 24/07/2016 09:42

We've been to parks and country parks for lots of fresh air fun so far this holidays plus yesterday myself and 7 year old had our counties Beaver fun day. Where we did a high rope course, trampolining, bushcraft and taboganning. Lots more fun to come over next six weeks

starlight36 · 24/07/2016 09:05

Charging at the waves and chasing them back up the beach is providing lots of entertainment / exercise whilst we are on holiday.

Back home we will be heading to lots of different parks to charge around. DD wants to master riding her bike without stabilisers and DS is really into his football. I imagine we'll be watching lots of the Olympics so I'll try to re-create some races / events for them.

If it rains then we'll do some of the indoor 10 minute shakes or head to a soft play.

JulesJules · 24/07/2016 08:47

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JulesJules · 24/07/2016 08:45

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Catsgowoof · 24/07/2016 08:06

I don't know howto stop them! Lots of running/biking round the garden, trampolining and we've also been doing a lot of pokemon hunting

Emmad1977 · 23/07/2016 20:41

My children are quite 'outdoorsy' anyway but to encourage this to continue as they get older, I make things fun. We go geocaching, make up scavenger hunts, try pond dipping, go for bike rides and walk up the Malvern Hills. A popular activity recently has been putting on our own mini olympics in the garden. The children decide on the activities which could include how many bounces on the trampoline in a minute, who can hula hoop for the longest, throwing a ball the highest/furthest, who can jump the longest distance and keepie uppies. The children certainly get the most fun out of seeing my attempts!!! It doesn't matter that I usually look really silly - their giggles make it all worthwhile. Now that we've all broken up for the Summer, we're looking forward to six active weeks of fun, fitness and sunshine.

londonmummy1966 · 23/07/2016 18:04

Mine are older so I signed them up to the 8-16 sessions in our local leisure centre. They usually go with friends and as there is a scaled down gym they think they are very grown up. I also found a cheap watersports centre - lots of free sessions and a £5 for a whole day so they can sail or kayak. Also I try a bit of bribery to get them to run with me (so I am less bored). If they've had an active week I'll give them the money to go out for a coffee.

allthingsred · 23/07/2016 17:04

We get our money's worth out of national trust membership.
Also £1 shop tennis rackets & balls over the park.
We are lucky to live close to the beach & have very understanding neighbours that don't mind chucking the football's back when they get over the fence.
My eldest dd had recently gotten into running & every time her younger brother & sister are annoying her she will put on her trainers & go our for a run (even if just 5 mind away to local park) it makes her feel better.

FoxInABox · 23/07/2016 13:39

We visit as many different playgrounds and parks as we can- take a picnic and try to make a day out of them, a long walk through the woods etc. I also buy lots of toys for the garden from pound land- bat and balls, footballs, bubble wands, water guns etc. If the weather is bad then good old soft play is always there, and an easy way for the kids to work up a sweat!

GruffaloPants · 23/07/2016 13:29

My DD loves going to the park and running around or going on her scooter, so it isn't much of a challenge to get her active. She also loves football with Daddy. I like the sound of Geocaching.

I'm heavily pregnant so the only problem has been her getting so tired that she wants carried afterwards.

FeelingSmurfy · 23/07/2016 11:48

By joining in with them, much easier to convince them if you are doing it yourself, even if you just go out to get them started and then go back inside and carry on with what needs doing

Dsiso · 23/07/2016 11:31

Walk rather than take the car, if possible. To make the walk go quickly (and to avoid the whining) we play the finding game e.g find me 6 green leaves, a yellow flower, a red sign, etc.

hermancakedestroyer · 23/07/2016 11:21

I like to give my Dcs a little time at the end of term just to relax and recover from the hectic summer term. Left to their own devices they get out board games and make up games using cushions and I have heard a lot of laughing this morning. Once they have chilled for a couple of days they are recharged ready to go walking and getting involved in other activities like swimming and going to the beach.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 23/07/2016 11:21

Going off for walks 'over the fields' is a popular choice here... We live the middle of nowhere and there is a lot of exploring to do... Just pack up a little snack and a bottle of water in a backpack and they'll be gone ages.