What nonessential fun things would you pack for French keycamp hol?

[Howmanymoresleeps]

Ooh so excited holiday next week and I'm doing the packing today.
Dh has suggested packing the electric patio heater so we can sit out late if it's chilly obviously I need to pack the car so THAT doesn't fit, silly boy. But it got me thinking what essential nonessentials am I not thinking of?
We're staying with friends in brittany in keycamp chalets who have two dds the same age all under three and desperately in need of loads of fun with the kids and each other after bedtime!! (big breath v long sentence)

inflatable paddling pool
badminton set
plastic cricket bat and ball for beach cricket
buckets & spades

a couple of fun board games

If you have a freezer in the chalet, stock up on supermarket ice creams for the kids and a bag of ice for your sundowners.

Thanks chippy
Good advice sundowners mmmmm and er the ice lollies.....
They only lick them for thirty seconds and abandon them anyway so a freezerful of supermarket lollies would save us a fortune. Good one

i second the inflatable pool idea. Also, when dd was little she was terrified of the shower, so I used to give her an al freco bath in it.

al fresco

We went to Brittany doing Keycamp last year and it was great but it did rain a lot! some indoor jigsaws etc for kids would be good.

They have all that badminton costs games stuff in the office thing.

We travel by car to France every year and I find taking as much food as possible really does help e.g cereal, tins, packets etc and plan meals round them by getting the fresh fruit, veg and meat in the supermarkets. This year for example Im taking some packet mixes to make cottage pie, lasagne type meals and tuna and may for baked potatoes. Its not just the cost of eating out we save, we dont like to eat out at night anyway - its so much easier having dinner in our own villa or cottage and suiting ourselves - somehow cooking when Im wearing a swimsuit and can jump in the pool every so often to cool down doesnt bother me!

We did loads of these holidays when the DC were younger. Happy days!

I remember building a stockade with sunbeds to prevent the toddlers from escaping from the pitch! You should be able to request a stairgate for the chalet door to stop the DC falling down the steps.

Paddling pool useful when the Dc want water play and you just want to relax rather than hauling them off to the pool or beach.

Get the kids used to showers, or take a large bowl or bucket to turn the shower tray into a stand up bath. One of these for about £4 in Tesco, would be ideal. Pack it full of stuff on the journey.

Baked potatoes ? In France? In the summer with a packet mix. Utter tragedy. :(

Marmite. The only thing I could get DD to eat on one holiday was marmite on crackers and weetabix.

i can't believe someone takes food to france (ok gravy granules and baked beans) but why anything else?

lots of sports equipment - eg rounders, cricket set and badminton net. buckets and spades, kids favourite toys such as cars. decent tabletennis bats/balls. tennis rackets

as someone else said, keycamp will have loads of board games in their office.

Dreaming because eating out on holiday is never really important to us, generally we are in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, its nice to relax after a day out at our own pool. Its cheaper and I dont have to pay for food in restaurants my kids probably wouldn't eat anyway. So much nice to sit out at the patio and watch the sun go down over dinner and a bottle of wine for us. I go to the supermarkets and markets and buy lots of lovely fresh bread, veggies, meat and fish and plan meals around them, whats wrong with that!

No I dont eat baked potatoes with a packet mix anna - we have them with tuna and salad. The packet mix was for cottage pie that my boys love. Utter tragedy? For goodness sake their are things that are tragedies in this world, eating baked potatoes is not one of them!!

we took the children's scooters last year - they enjoyed scooting around the campsite.

otherwise we had the laptop for the children to watch dvds on too - but I was in spain and we needed to sit inside in the air conditioning for an hour or 2 in the afternoon. (well I did as I was in the early stages of pregnancy and felt awful!).

I love ready trashy magazines like Take a Break on holiday so always take a stack of those.
The scooters are a really good idea BeattieBow.

GRAVY GRANULES? Shit. They need to man immigration better

You eat packet mixes. Ew. Disgusting. (one)
In a country rammed with supermarkets packed with cheap delicious fresh food.

Why not go to Bogor

"bog
nor "

Loads of crayons and paper. We found them good for on the journey and when we got there. Also small toy cars and polly pocket for young dcs.

If you are particular about toilet roll I'd take some of that too as the stuff provided is rubbish.

Very rude post AnnaMosity. Posters are only trying to be helpful. Why does it bother you what people eat on their holiday?

It does.

I too feel it's a shame that the op has to bring food from home but she knows her family best and if they won't eat what they can find there then bringing it from home saves money and waste.

I really think she can judge that for herself.

A former colleague of mine used to go to France every year in their caravan and take a shedload of Mini Babybels with her (amongst other things, I daresay). She said she didn't like "that vile French cheese."
Each to their own, eh?

Really Anna, really? there are much worse things to be bothered about.
Going back to the OP, towelling dressing gowns are also brilliant for drying off after pool or bath.
If you are close to a Decathlon, they do fantastic and cheap wetsuits and beach shoes.

I went with the inlaws to France once (just the once!) and they took cheddar cheese and pickle!