To think the February half term is shite?

[dontforgettofloss]

I have 4dcs, two of them teenagers and an 11 and 6 year old, not a lot of money, and the weather is awful here, I don't know what to do to entertain them!
Any ideas?

Our half term plans include swimming in our pool, going to the beach lots and going to the cinema

(Not in the UK - not helpful, I know )

Our February half term is only three days long, it sucks because i wish it was longer.

We have no plans at all this half term. We all love staying in though. DD1 has her GCSEs this year so she has to go into school for a few hours for three days. Also we have prom dress shopping to do.

We are off to Butlins on Monday weather looks horrendous

It's not half term here but raining all weekend. We booked two badminton courts but ended up with the entire sports hall to ourselves. Four boys, two mums. We played football, basketball and the odd bit of badminton. Brilliant!

I miss my childhood half terms....freedom...just my bike and my local friends and the stream near by. My parents never spend a penny. Enjoy op great days

I love February half term as my dd's birthday is on Valentine's Day and we get to spend the day together.
She will be 7.

I have a ds who is almost 15 and he's exhausted from a few weeks of GCSE mocks and I actually said last week that I can't wait for them to be off, to have a break from routine and to chill out.

We have a big day out planned for dd's birthday and will be going for a day out on Friday with my brother/sil and 2 dn's.

Apart from that it will be very laid back here.
Sleep ins for the dc, they both love sleeping, gym for ds everyday and the two days out as mentioned.

Dd will be quite happy at the beginning of the week to do her crafts, to read, play with her dolls etc. When she has her birthday presents she will be entertained and will receive money so will go out at the weekend and spend it.

Children don't always have to be doing something. I love having so called "lazy days" which never actually are that as I tend to catch up on big jobs around the house.

We're in the north west and it's literally freezing here, very much limits what we can do even if we had the money.

Honestly op, free stuff is often under rated. Some of our best days have been when we've just gone with the flow. Last Saturday I played nail salon with dd and put on a posh voice and she was the client and we had a right old laugh.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's your break too

I have 4 children aged 22, 20, 18 and 11. Nowadays I only have the 11 year old at school, so at home for half term. I have never been one to plan all the holidays - until I took ill health retirement last October, I have always had some form of work to do - with youngest, I was working until 1.30pm daily. However, because my annual leave ran from April - March, I usually had holiday to use up for February half-term.

My problem nowadays is that I can drive and can just about walk from the house to the car. Beyond that, I am unable to do anything independently. So anything I choose to do with DD will mean her pushing me in my wheelchair or hiring a mobility scooter in town.

However, I still look forward to having the DC at home. DD met up with a friend today and went to the park for a while, even though it was cold and damp - when they got too cold, they came home to me for hot chocolate and amused themselves in DD bedroom (which is a boxroom she shares with an older sister). I have barely seen her today, except when her elder sister play Yahtzee with her this evening.

I am hoping to do some baking and craft with her this week and, if there is anything suitable on, we may go to the cinema. At the end of the day, I have no money to spend paying for expensive days out or shopping trips, but having some downtime and having my attention will keep my DD happy.

For all but your youngest, they’d love staying at home.

I also have 4, youngest are 11, and they love nothing more than being allowed pyjama days where they can sleep as late as they want and do whatever they want with their day!

We only get one day (staff) so it is a long haul from Christmas to Easter. I am desperate for a week off.

This half term seems to have crept up very suddenly! Only 5 weeks since Christmas for gawds sake!

Generally I find school holidays horribly lonely. I feel like we are the only ones without quizillion plans and friends queueing up to spend time with us. I’m going to take them to the Imperial War Musem, cinema. DS1 has a couple of friends round for a sleepover during the week and I’ve arranged to try and see another friend.

But despite that I still feel lonely. 😔

Oh,I hear ya,OP. Ours doesn't start for another week yet,but already I'm anticipating the "I'm BORRRRRED!"
Seriously, they do my head in. When you've not much money, it's crap as they seem incapable of entertaining themselves at home for longer than five minutes unless it involves wrestling with each other and then screaming 10 minutes later
Have you got -

• a local library? Ours is nearby and holds crafty type mornings that even my 14 year old still likes! Totally free.
• local museums,a lot are free to get into
• park and a football if weather is OK
• if weather's crap, dvd, blanket on sofa and popcorn - have yourself a movie afternoon (get them to make tickets and maybe a film poster of the dvd you're watching, it'll keep them amused a bit longer lol)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I could see what's going on at the library, and movie days are always a success. It just helps to know I'm not alone

Try the Hoop app, there are free activities (as well as some reasonably priced ones) and you can sort by age and area

I love the holidays. I have 4 yr old ds and 13 yr old dd.

We will be doing housework, dd is out with her friends on Wednesday and one is sleeping here, ds has a playdate lined up at softplay hell, we will visit dsis, sort out the back garden a bit ready for spring, hopefully get to the allotment for a couple of hours, walk the dog, feed the ducks, chill out with the tv, possibly some baking.

It is easier when the weather is better but if we waited for dry/mild days all year we would spend far too much time indoors. Ds does much better with a couple of ours outside each day.

Love the lazy days. I’m on term time only contract (although helping out by working Friday) so I enjoy the time off too.

We’ve got nothing planned except one dd is having a friend over Thurs afternoon. Might take them shopping to spend Xmas/bday money one day if weather is ok. Otherwise they need to entertain themselves 🙂.

Swimming is very cheap here. Mine would be happy to just play Minecraft all week tbh but we're going away for a few days so they'll get a bit of both. Take the younger ones to the park and out on their bikes and the teens can join in or not. I like a winter walk and then hot chocolate at home. Also playdates don't usually cost anything.

For those who have large numbers of people out of the office on leave, it is not good. For teachers and teaching assistants who deserve a break, it is.

don'tforget...no, you are not alone...It is the Summer Holidays that always bothers me because I have an age gap between dd's (12 and 4)...actually, it might be easier this time for me to organise activities for elder dd in the Summer; I have a plan...just hoping it will work. I'm trying to get my head around having a baby in the Summer (if all goes to plan) and a 4 year old (4 year old has high energy and is prone to escape if not constantly watched) so it is going to be about containment in small parks and so on for her I think, there is also a lovely little farm park I can take her to...but the cost can soon stack up...at least little one will not be mobile just yet (and hopefully dd will have calmed down a bit by next year). Never really had down days when dd1 was an only child...I think because I was always bothered about seeking out company of her own age and was actually pretty successful in doing so back then...meet ups with friends (who have older children) have dropped off significantly since having dd2! Your thread made me think of the Summer...already planning!

Feb Half Term is a doddle.....it's only ONE week. Try our Oct Half Term which is 2 weeks.......just great when you work full-time.

Two week October half term is the worst. Just recovering from the 6 weeks of summer juggling work and childcare and then 2 more weeks to get through.

I'm actually taking annual leave for Feb half term for the first time since 2010. I'm looking forward to some downtime (I worked all the way through Christmas/New Year - just had the bank holidays off).

You have a two week October half term?!

I always loved half term, two weeks would have been better though. You don't need to entertain children, and certainly not teenagers. It's good for them to learn to occupy themselves, with maybe just one or two outings later in the week to look forward to.

I'd make sure the wifi was turned off for several hours a day though, they need to be getting on with real stuff, not on a screen all the time.