To be dreading the summer holidays

[EmptyBoxesss]

I have a son I adore, more than anything, but I never know what to do with him. I really struggle with entertaining him! He’s 6. I take him swimming and to the park and on his bike and we do the library and crafting, but there are 12 hours in a day for 7 weeks! It’s so long I run out of ideas and I find it so hard. We will visit my family for a week but that’s 6 other weeks of the two of us and it’s so overwhelming. I’ll try and book in a couple of okay dates but I haven’t got links with many of the other mums to be honest, I’m trying to change this.

Is it just me? How do people keep their kids busy every day?

This is one of those “grass is always greener” situations. I’d really love to have the whole six weeks off with my kids - they’re older now but would have at any stage.

I had one full summer off with DD when she was five as I was on mat leave and that was great. We did stay with family for a bit more than you’ve said though.

We did lots of play dates and picnics in the park I remember - which was how DS weaned himself on cheese sandwiches and picnic fruit.

Can you afford to go away at all? (Sorry if you’ve already answered that)

What’s with all the shitty ‘do you not work OP?’ 🙄. Literally the poster has confirmed they flex their work in the holiday. RTFT already before defaulting to bitch mode.

The key to the summer holidays in this house is pre-planning. Grab the calendar and plot in play dates/any other plans. Then check Facebook for free library events, church holiday groups etc. There’s usually stuff on but it takes time to find. Ask other parents to recommend local activities too. You never know until you ask. Get your son to make some suggestions too. Once the calendar stops looking so blank then it’ll be less intimidating.

I always appreciate a weekly routine, eg, day trip once a week, friend round once a week, cook something once a week, watch a movie once a week, slobby day once a week. Go through all the craft kits, games etc you have at home and do one of those a week (I’m sorting those out tomorrow!).

https://fis.cornwall.gov.uk/synergyweb/CornwallFIS/
Every local authority has a Family Information Service ( FIS) Ask them about free and liw cost activities. Hope you find some activities that make the summer a bit easier. A previous poster mentioned HAF for children entitled to free school meals.

Are u near the beach

You're in Cornwall!!

Do you drive? (If not can you investigate thoroughly the summer bus routes)

I'd love a whole summer school holiday in Cornwall, just so many beautiful places & interesting places!!

you're not 'a shit mum' but despite what you've said, I think you're trying too hard to 'play with him/keep him entertained' you should do some of your work for half days & let him learn to find his own enjoyment in boredom!

( if we ever complained of being bored my parents would offer a few suggestions, but if we said it again, they would say 'great I have plenty of jobs you can do - you wouldn't see us for dust😂😂 but I did enjoy doing some ' jobs' with them, kids don't see them as 'jobs'

Take him places where other children play and he'll soon join in. My two often make friends with new children at the local park/ splash pool. If you get chatting with their parents, you can make friends, too.

If you have any left over wall paper cut off two pieces longer than his body then tape them together side by side.
Place the wallpaper on the floor, white side up. Get him to lie on it and draw round his outline. Repeat as he changes pose.
You’ll end up with something that looks roughly like Vitruvian Man. Colour in each section differently then display it in his bedroom.

There is no way you're a shit parent. If you were you wouldn't be worrying.

Why don't you try involving him in doing stuff with you? So - writing a shopping list then going to the supermarket together. Or packing up stuff for a charity shop and dropping it off. Or going on a nature walk, photographing stuff then coming home and looking things up online.

I know it depends on the child but my dd is similar age and she loves things like that.

A 6 year old might like geocaching. Download the app. It’s good fun for adults too. I can’t wait till my dgc are old enough so I can do it with them.

My kids favourite thing is to take every blanket, cushion, duvet and sheet and make an absolutely epic den. Then they have "picky lunch" and different hours for about 3-4 days. 9-10 is dressup, 10-11 is reading, 12-2 is a film, 2-3 is teddy tea party then 3-4 is Legos.

I always make sure mine help to make every meal during summer holidays. Learning to cook is one of the best skills we can give them, and the prep and washing up takes forever. Chop, cook and prepare and wash up after 3 meals plus a snack and that'll fill some time!

excuse my dodgy dark screenshot but AI wrote these ideas apparently! Someone asked for a planner of things to do for an 8 year old girl (but would of course be just as great for a 6 year old boy) and I liked the look of most of them so will endeavour to do these over the next few weeks

I'll also be letting my 6 year old be bored, very bored (with no screens, muhahaha!) But it's not always easy op, I am a mixture of excitement and dread about it! I'll be re-watching maddie moat's 'let's go live' on YouTube when screen time is allowed. Watched this everyday during lockdown (shudder) with my eldest but it was so educational and good fun to watch so will hopefully nice to watch again with the youngest

If you're not particularly crafty I'm sure hobbycraft do tutorials online for very easy and not too messy, plus cheap craft ideas which should kill and hour or two of an afternoon 🙂and I know its not for everyone but I'll be brushing my 6yo up in his writing practice of letters, numbers and sounds so he doesn't forget what he learned so far. Learn a new song with him amd rehearse it daily? Just keep it lighthearted and fun, it's not your job to entertain him, just relax and enjoy being together

If finances allow, i would also highly recommend a yoto player. There's a 10 minute podcast for children everyday as well as a child friendly radio station and you can lean into his interests with specific cards which he can listen to. We love the 'draw along' card which has loads of inspiration for drawing and making art. And every birthday and Christmas the collection of cards grows. The podcast is always so upbeat amd fun/educational. We listen to it whilst eating breakfast and it just sets the tone for a day of fun 😁

Oh and baking, lots of very basic baking of cookies and also testing out healthy treat recipes maybe one new one per week

I used to try to have a bit of a routine with a trip out in the afternoon to break the day up with a change of scene.

First thing: lounge about in PJs - telly is fine

Telly off. Breakfast, get washed and dressed and then do something at home for the rest of the morning. Puzzles, colouring, reading, playing with toys, cooking together etc

Lunch - main meal of the day. Pack up a picnic.

Get out for the afternoon - bike ride, library, walk, park with friends, supermarket, etc etc - and have the picnic tea on the grass somewhere.

Home, bath, telly for a bit. Milk.

Teeth, stories, light out.

I get it! I too adore my DD but 6 weeks of a 40 year old being with a young child alone as a personal entertainer is not sustainable.
here are my hacks:
•Book art clubs just 2 or 3 hour workshops where you can have a bit of time to yourself.
•Set up a childcare swap with one of his friends families so he will have someone go play with at your house and you can get some time to yourself.
•Ask your partner to take time off work to pick up some of the load
•Check if you can use childcare vouchers. These can be used for Ofsted registered holiday clubs.
•Invite a friend who has kids round for the day so kids can play.
•Drop your standards with screen time.
•Host play dates so they’ll be reciprocated
•Visit grandparents

6 is a great age to entertain, out the toddler phase but young enough that not everything is expensive! Try looking in your local area, I have 3 kids and am a teacher so have the whole summer to entertain the kids and usually manage ok.

Around our area library's do some different workshops, pets at home do free animal workshops, mine used to like a trip to a garden centre at that age. 2 for 1 cinema, kids eat free at lots of places over the summer. It's it's nice park, beach, hill climb. Might be some hunts in your local area, town near me there is usually a Lego hunt. Swimming usually cheap.

If you can afford a holiday club one day a week that would give joh a wee break. Try and enjoy it, I know it's a long time but it gets harder to entertain them as they get older so appreciate it while you can.

A great thing to do if they're 6 and up is send off for a blue Peter badge.

With that they get free entry to loads of places until they're 16. Both my girls have one and it saves a fortune plus you've got a whole day of activity.

I'd also get to hobby craft and get supplies. Let his imagination run.

Our summer hol is only 5.5 weeks which is better and I only do 3 weeks of it (ex does the rest) but I have a loose plan as follows (DD almost 6):

Week 1 - DD doing an intensive swimming lessons course Monday-Friday with her usual teacher. Because of that commitment we are staying local and doing 2 adventure plays with picnics and 2 different museums that both have free stuff on. Then a library trip. That means something on every week day but only for a few hours. DD won’t care it’s a bit samey as she LOVES the museums and library.

Week 2 - staying with family for 4
days, then a theatre trip (which I will make a day of with lunch out etc) and a kids theme park day.

Week 3 - not planned this one yet but the local museums all have different themed activities every week so might do more of them, return trip to library and if funds allow I’ll do a zoo day or Warwick castle which will be expensive full on days as not local. We will probably bake too.

The local nature reserve also has pond dipping which is cheap and there is an inflatables day but I can’t remember when. Plus we have numerous farm parks available but we have done those to death so I’m not especially bothered about spending on those.

I’m on a bit of a budget so trying to keep it low key, with just the 3 or 4 bigger ticket things (theatre, theme park, zoo, castle). But to be honest holiday club at £25-£35/day is often cheaper than a day out!

DD happily plays at home on her own or with neighbours in between trips out, but I like to have something on for 4 or 5 days out of 7 even if it’s just the local park.

We won’t get many play dates in as annoyingly most of her friends are away when I’m off and back when ex has her. Otherwise they would feature.

Check out local art galleries and museums to see what activities they have. They're usually free near us or only a few quid.

Í

Ooh yes blackberry picking! So many great memories of doing that as a kid & still enjoy it now.
DM took me & DBro to a pick your own place once & we came back with buckets full of various fruit & veg. Great fun plus encourages healthy eating!
Does your DS like animals? DD enjoyed visiting the RSPCA & we ended up adopting a rabbit. Can also do pet care workshops at Pets at Home which I believe are free.
Circus Skills Workshops but you have to pay.
Street Dance etc. I live in mid Cornwall & there’s a fab dance studio which does special holiday classes.
Brass rubbing

Charity Shop - set a budget to buy the daftest outfit you can find!

Pond dipping
Bug Hotel in the garden

Can you have another child? Your problem will be solved in about 3 years haha

I enjoy the summer holidays with my dcs. I have to plan it on a spreadsheet as there are so many activities on offer that I lose track otherwise. I check the SM of local organisations that run activities, big attractions like museums and galleries, have a bucket list of big parks where we spend the whole day out, seaside trips and blogs that list events going on. It's nice to be able to do some bigger day trips as we usually have weekend classes in term time so we can only do long trips (like theme parks) during school holidays.

Check what your local council offers as all the nearby ones offer Holiday and Food activities in school holidays - summer clubs running all day at leisure centres. We can use the ones in our borough and also the borough where my dcs go to school so there's a big range on offer.

Our Family information service always used to put together lots of information about things going on locally.

I don’t know what part of Cornwall you’re in but have a look here. https://fis.cornwall.gov.uk/synergyweb/cornwallfis/activitiesandservices.aspx