What did YOU do during the summer holidays?

[halloween41]

I’ve seen threads about summer holidays and about entertaining children etc. When I was a child (only child), I was expected to play with my toys and watch tv with very occasional visits to my similar aged cousin (maybe twice). Apart from that, I was just expected to tag along food shopping or go to church as usual. From about 12+, I arranged my own schedule unless there was something specific planned, which in fairness my mum gave me money to do ie if it was the cinema or swimming or whatever. We never did days out to the zoo or farm or beach or theme parks or anything (I’m 27 so it’s not like this was a long time ago). We could’ve financially, but my family had no interest. It’s a very different summer holidays to what my kids have, which is days out to zoos/farms/soft play/beach etc but we don’t usually holiday in the summer, we had ours in April and last year it was February. I’d say on average, we have two ‘days out’ a week during the summer plus other days going to the park. What did YOU do in the summer holidays as a child/teen? How is it different to what your DC have?

Went to my grandparents. Sat at home waiting for my mum to get home. Watched movies. Played games. Fought with siblings. We never went on holiday in summer as we always did May and October.

we were certainly not entertained.

Made a veg plot one year. Turned the garden shed into a secret gang meeting place. Had water fights with all the other kids on my road. Went on a week away in a caravan to wales. Climbed trees, played football, went swimming. Cycled over to grandmas for lunch.

We made perfume out of flowers in the garden.

and we made paper out of paper…

we also reenacted a lot of scenes from movies. ‘My name is inigo montoya… you killed my father… prepare to die!

1970s/80s - We would have a week's holiday in Cornwall at the start of the school holidays, then three weeks of not really doing anything which I remember as quite blissful - I spent the time reading, drawing, making cartoon books or doing craft things by myself, or (when we could manage it without getting into a fight) playing with my sister in the garden - we did things like making dens, or 'tents' out of garden canes and old curtains. Until we were old enough to be left, we'd also get taken shopping with our mum, on the bus because my dad had the car for work, which we found something of a drag.

For the last two weeks of the holidays, my grandparents would come down to stay (they lived at the other end of the country) and my dad (whose parents they were) would take time off work and we would do some day trips, mostly to the seaside, and the rest of the time was mainly spent in the garden with all of us watching/helping my dad do tasks like creosoting the fence. We loved our grandparents and just having them there made the time special.

I don't have DC so I don't know what they get up to nowadays!

Played with my brother.
Played by myself.
Watched the TV.
Went to the park and the library.
Went along shopping etc. with my Mum.
We usually had a week at the seaside.
We'd maybe have one 'big' day out.

I think kids being over stimulated/over entertained is contributing to the mental health crisis in young people. They haven't learnt to mooch.

We would do a mix of holiday camps (mainly sport ones), staying with grandparents and then holidays. My mum owned her own business so we’d often spend 3/4 weeks away in France with my dad joining us when he could.

Go to grandparents for a week or two some summers, play out all day with other kids most days , play at home by myself, read, watch telly. We had one early sept holiday most summers until I turned 14. As a teen , out and about all day with my friends, either hanging out around internet cafes, long walks on the river bank, BBQ’s /parties, drinking etc.

I spent a lot of time from a young age alone in the house, maybe a few playgrounds and picnics thrown in. From the age of 10 I was also responsible for my baby brother all summer while my mom worked.

I work term time only so I can be there in the summer. My kids get 1 activity laden week in a caravan and maybe a couple of other big days out - castle, zoo, theme park etc. The rest of the time is entertaining themselves, bike rides, playgrounds, picnics.

My parents both worked full time.

I largely sat in the backroom of my mum's workplace and read, coloured, etc. Occasionally spent a day with friends.

Played out with friends mostly. Mum would organise a day out per week, swimming, park, small kiddies theme park.

Went camping for 3/4 weeks (both parents teachers).

other than that played out with friends, family visits to cousins or they came to us.

TBh camping was a lot of self entertainment but the park had pools and beach etc on site and also activities in afternoon such as rounders etc. we walked somewhere everyday

Does anyone know the game kerbsies? I spent most of my summers playing kerbsies with my neighbour.

I think primary school age was slightly better than high school. It was so rural that no other child lived within walking distance but occasionally a child would be driven round for tea. (Maybe twice in 6 weeks).

I was much older than my siblings but watched tv and read. Sometimes we would go to my grandparents'.

High school was also rural so had a catchment area of 20 miles across so your friends could be miles away. Zero public transport (still the same!) We literally wouldn't see our friends for 6 weeks in the summer.

My children also grew up rurally but there were 6 other children in the village. They would come round or we would set up a tent, play football, kites, go for walks etc. We would also play computer games and I would organise days out 2-3 times a week, sometimes to the cinema but often to the woods or to swim in the river.

They went to a different high school from me so only a 7 mile bus journey and there were 3 buses a day so they could travel or I would drive them to friend's houses.

Caravan park or Eurocamps in France for a week, then we’d usually do 1 day trip to a theme park or something towards the end of the holiday. The remaining time we would entertain ourselves. I grew up in a reasonably small village with lots of kids around and all at the same school. So we would just go out every day and explore from about the age of 7. We’d somehow meet up in the morning, no phones or forward planning but it always worked out and we found each other, then we’d go on bike rides, play football in the street, go to a stream or the fields and find bugs or little fish, go scrumping for berries, combine our cash and buy as many sweets as possible from the corner shop and stuff like that. We’d descend on someone’s house at lunch time and get sandwiches and crisps from whichever mum had been blessed with our presence that day, then we’d play out again all afternoon until it was time to all head to our homes for dinner.

I was born in 83, so this would have been early 90’s.

Usually had a week with grandparents. Sometimes sent to friends for the day (for childcare - Mum sometimes had paid work.)

At home - picking soft fruit, helping Mum with housework and preparing fruit or veg for the freezer. Going with Mum on her housebound library book delivery round, which might mean we got a toffee or 50p from one of her old ladies, who seemed to like to see us. Occasional days out to a local town to their museum and a town trail. Picnic teas in the harvest field with Dad (he was a farmer, so we never went away in summer.) Sometimes down to the beach for a swim early evening.

And otherwise, reading, playing in the garden, playing with Lego, doing art/craft stuff... we were left to our own devices a lot, as long as we didn't get under Mum's feet.

Read books, played/hung out in the garden, played with pets, did some drawing, had friends over, watched TV, listened to music, made banana milkshakes, walked to the library, a few playdates and trips to National Trust houses / the local swimming baths etc.

We had a field opposite our street where we played with other local kids when I was about 8-12. After 12-ish I remember walking to the library with friends, going round to their houses to do things like crimp our hair and make “perfume” out of petals in the garden. Right at the end of the summer holidays we sometimes went to France for a couple of weeks of Eurocamping, but not every year (it was around the early 90s recession).

Really relaxing and enjoyable summer holidays as I recall - I miss that time! I was obsessed with books so I spent a lot of the holidays reading or just pottering about listening to music and crafting (I could hand-sew pretty well so I used to make little clothes and patchwork quilts for my sisters’ Sylvanian Families!) Recall fondly the summer of good weather when I was 14, when I worked my way through the entire oeuvre of Georgette Heyer sitting in the garden. Good times.

Played in the garden, read books. No TV then - this was back in the Dark Ages. Parents too skint/busy doing the big garden for outings. And no car until I was 9.

Lucky to have a big garden though, and we did usually have a fortnight at the UK seaside - always S/C so not much of a holiday for my DM, 6+ to feed, usually a GM or aunt came with us.

I loved those holidays though!

We'd have perhaps 3 "big days out" spread over the 6 weeks. Somewhere like a theme park, a zoo, or a day trip to London. Quite often our similarly-aged cousins joined us.

We'd probably also go away for a few nights to somewhere like Wales, or somewhere generally on the coast and stay in a BnB, sometimes a hotel. Occasionally these hotels turned out to be quite fancy places, with formal sit-down evening meals. But that's where I learnt my "posh table manners". I remember at one place being presented with an artichoke, and the friendly waiter offering me individually wrapped chocolates if I could correctly name it.

Otherwise, the rest of the holiday we were expected to entertain ourselves. I'd watch films, read, draw, play with my toys. We'd still have our weekly trip to the library, and would accompany mum on the weekly food shop.

Listened to the Radio 1 roadshow on the radio. ‘‘Bits n Pieces’ anyone?

Got bored.,

Hmmm we used to do a week at my grandmas , often a guide camp , then we played with cousins a lot or went on walks . I hated walks 🤣

we could only watch the telly until mum got up . If I was lucky that was untill 9 am 🤣

we did entertain ourselves a lot , even though mum was a sahm

my kids have had a mixture- years where I was working/ had no money but they have definitely had more days out then we did as kids .

the youngest has also had far more screen time then I did as a child.

I can see how they don’t get as much down time . We wouldn’t have ever complained we were board - my kids might have done though!

I watched tv
my children’s lives are so much nicer

I watched tv all day and played outside a bit at my grandparents. There were definitely no days out. 😂

From about 10, I was just left home alone and expected to sort myself. I watched tv, read, walked the dog, cooked lunch and dinner for myself.

My mum was a teacher so she was around. We usually went to France (camping) for a couple of weeks and the rest of the time I rode my bike with friends, read, listened to the radio, did crafting (plaster of Paris gnomes were were a particular favourite), helped with the housework. Picked fruit and beans from the garden.

My Mam was a SAHM, so I didn't need any childcare during the summer. As a child I played out with friends. There was a laneway at the back of my house and at the end of the lane, it opened into a wide circle. There were very few cars back then and virtually no cars during the day, because the Dads were all at work (it was only men who could drive in my neighbourhood back then). As soon as I'd eaten breakfast, I headed down the lane to play with my siblings and the other kids on my road. I stayed out until late evening. I'd just pop home for a sandwich if I was hungry, or for dinner. We played out all day. Activities included:-

• games like chasing or hide and seek
• skipping
• tennis (obviously we'd no tennis court or nets or anything - just passing the ball back and forward to each other)
• skating on our roller skates
• cycling on our bikes around the lane (it looped around in a circle)
• hitting tennis balls against a wall and chanting rhymes

My parents couldn't actually see us, but figured there was safety in numbers. There were at least 20 kids out playing together - probably more. One family alone consisted of seven kids! The older kids were expected to keep an eye on the younger kids, and the younger kids deferred to the authority of the older kids. There was an unwritten rule that you didn't go into anyone's house - no parent wanted 20 odd kids traipsing in and out. Not to mention what it would have cost to give them all snacks - you went back to your own house for food.

We had toys at home, but I don't remember playing with toys much outside. Toys were more for the winter and because we were a mixed group (boys and girls), we were less likely to play with gender specific toys like dolls. Occasionally, someone would have a birthday and get something really cool like a kite or space hopper or Rubik's Cube and everyone else would be green with envy and queue up for a go.

It must have rained occasionally, but I don't remember any rainy days. It seems to have been always dry or sunny. I guess that's just rose tinted glasses.

Hobbies and clubs weren't such a thing back then. A lot of the boys played football but it was all done locally. My brother headed off to his football training by himself. I don't know how he got to matches - public transport, I guess? I had a brief stint in the girl guides, but I never joined anything else and I wasn't aware of any of my classmates joining clubs or groups. I think one girl went to ballroom dancing classes. Maybe a few girls did Irish dancing, before Riverdance made it all cool and sexy.

If it was a very hot day, everyone would head to the local swimming pool. We'd run home to beg for money for the pool and change into our swimsuits. Obviously there were no parents to be seen. Those who could swim headed to the deep end and those who couldn't, stayed at the shallow end. I've said it before, but it's a miracle nobody drowned. I mean, there were lifeguards, but there would have been so many kids in that pool and not a parent to be seen.

When I got to around 10 or 11, the group dynamic changed. My older siblings hung out with their school friends more and stopped playing down the lane. One of the girls who was my age was quite bitchy and I wasn't comfortable hanging out with her anymore. I made friends with two different girls. One of the girls wasn't allowed to play out on the street, so she mainly played in her back garden with her siblings (big family). She's now my best friend. I hung out in her house a lot - her family were like my second family. On a Saturday we'd go roller skating together at the roller rink and then we'd buy goodies and magazines like Jackie or Blue Jeans and spend a very contented hour or so eating our snacks and reading our magazines.

I also hung out with my friends from school occasionally. One close school friend and I walked around the area a lot and eyed up any boys we came across. If we came into money, we'd go to a kebab place (kebabs were new on the scene and considered very exotic) that played videos. We'd order food and play our favourite videos/songs - we thought we were very cool and hip.

I read a lot (borrowed books from the library) and played my records and tapes. Sometimes we'd go to the local shopping centre and check out all the clothes and albums and posters, but we very rarely had money to actually buy anything.

I haven't mentioned my parents at all. Occasionally they took us on day trips, to the beach or the Zoo. Mostly at weekends, when Dad was off work. My parents never drove, so we'd use public transport to get places. We had to take two buses to the beach and then two buses home again - it took half the day just to get there and back. We couldn't afford to eat out, so we'd bring sandwiches and a big bottle of Coke or Club Orange (bottled water wasn't a thing back then) and buy some chips on the beach. We drank directly from the bottles - we didn't bother with paper cups or plastic cups. We weren't too concerned about hygiene . And of course, we didn't know about the dangers of sun exposure. If it was a really hot day, then it was just accepted that you'd get burnt. Although I don't remember burning very often. I think I acquired a bit of a tan from playing out all the time in summer.

We went on a holiday some years, but not every year. Mostly it involved a week in a caravan by the sea. We loved it. It was so much fun staying in a caravan. I remember being really impressed that there were beds that pulled down from the wall at night time etc. It was such a novelty to be so close to the beach and not have to endure endless bus journeys to get there. And we'd go to the amusement park maybe once or twice and go on all the rides - the helter skelter, swing chairs, Waltzers, dodgems, swing boats etc. We went to Butlins once and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Unlimited access to the amusements, a roller rink, a swimming pool, a beach etc.

It never entered my head that my future DC would have a different summer to me, but DD's summers were a world away from mine.

We needed two salaries to pay our mortgage and bills, so I couldn't afford to be a SAHM. DD spent her summers in the creche and then with a child minder, until she was old enough to stay home alone.

DD didn't experience a free range childhood - that's both a positive and a negative. She played outside on occasion, but I kept a close eye on her. She also played at home a lot more - either here or in her friend's house. I had much greater autonomy as a child - we arranged our own days to suit ourselves. There was no adult telling us what to do or (pretty much) caring what we did, as long as we stayed out of their hair. Although I worked outside the home, I put a lot of thought into DD's activities and arranged to do things with her on my time off - day trips, art and craft activities, making jigsaws, baking at home etc. We also read together and watched movies together etc.

DD was in two clubs. They generally broke up for the summer, but there would be the occasional group activity over the summer. She also had birthday parties to attend over the summer. Birthday parties weren't really a thing when I was a kid.

There's a much greater focus on health and safety these days. Not just playing outside without parental supervision, but things like sun cream, bicycle helmets, elbow and knee pads for roller skating etc.

DD got to experience foreign holidays. Not every year but some years.

I separated from my Ex when DD was a teen. That impacted her summers in a way I never experienced - she spent some of her holidays with her Dad and some with me.

And Covid hit around the same time. I didn't experience a pandemic which meant I couldn't see or hang out with my friends.

We live near a beach and we went to the beach every day unless it rained. Jan sandwiches and an ice lolly are part of the memories. Playing cricket with my uncle and cousins. My dad listening to the test match on the steps down to the beach. We also went to Pontins every summer for 10 years.