How to keep six year old happy on quiet beach holiday?

[vincettenoir]

The beach holiday we are going on this summer doesn’t have a kids club or disco and we are staying on a quiet Greek island which won’t have many local activities for kids. The hotel is officially family friendly but I think it is more geared up towards couples. I am reasonably confident my dd will be happy with the pool and an IPad with a couple of movies downloaded. But does anyone have any ideas about any toys I should bring or easy activities I can plan to keep her happy for two weeks please?

I'd take simple card games with you (uno/top trumps etc) , and expect that you won't get a huge amount of downtime as she will want someone to play with her (or the endless "watch this" my DD did at similar ages).
Magazines, colouring books, any small crafts she can do as well.

Thanks, magazines are a good shout. She likes word searches and spot the difference puzzles so I’ll look out for a puzzle book too.

Is there a sandy beach? If so, you'll have the best toy of all time for 6 year olds right there. Sand, water, digging, castles, finding shells, etc, - it's fun, creatively stimulating, calming and happily tiring all at the same time. If you can aim for a good amount of beach time each day, prefereably first thing in the morning then again later in the afternoon, you should have very little trouble filling the middle of the day with eating, a rest in front of a film, bit of pool time, maybe a bit of colouring or craft.

You could take her on a bus trip to the next village along the coast one day. Kids love going on a bus ride.

I'd also make sure you have a little spare room in suitcases, because she's bound to want to buy a bucket and spade etc.

No sandy beach unfortunately @Filomena22 but she likes collecting pebbles etc and loves to swim so hopefully we can still pack in plenty of beach time. And @BeNiceWhenItsFinished she does love a bus ride so we will definitely spend an afternoon or 2 exploring.

Underwater camera from Amazon and a snorkel

Bat and ball

What made you chose a hotel without a kids club /maybe not family friendly ?

hopefully be other children there that she will play with in the pool

Usually it’s possible to buy various things in resort.

bucket and spade (if beach sandy)
snorkel and mask
inflatable something - we used to get crocodiles or similar
if the beach has rocks you can collect rocks - many six year olds love a collection of interesting rocks.

rock pools?

We always went to very quiet places for holidays when my daughter was that sort of age. I usually bought her a new Polly Pocket set which I gave her when we were waiting for a ferry or when we arrived. She took a couple of plastic toys that she could play with in the pool, and we took lots of paper and pencils to play games, as well as cards and travel monopoly, and of course a bucket and spade and little flags. She used to spend hours digging on the beach and her idea of heaven was to be buried up to her neck in sand. We didn’t have an iPad in those days, but it wouldn’t have occurred to me to take one for a child to use on holiday. I’ve never liked the idea of a kids club - if you’re on a family holiday, surely you want to be with your children?

This is the kind of holiday that we go on - DS is nearly 6. I agree with card games; DS favourite is Mind the Gap which is a London Underground version of UNO. We have some games on the iPad too and he loves doing Mathletics (which he has through school but there are other activities/games he can do). Puzzle books are great as well.

I used to take some playmobil, can use by the pool - and also used to pack a new Lego set which was a ‘room’ toy, they built it first day whilst I was unpacking/sorting and then had it to play with. Lots of little people/animals so I could swap some during the week!! Sounds like a lush holiday, I’m sure they will love it!!

Taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza is an absolute fave card game with us. It would mean you joining in but it does create fun and laughter.

I also bought some weighted pool toys which they loved diving for and collecting as we ‘threw’ them around the pool.

Some great ideas, thank you. She loves Pass the Pigs so I will invest in some more card games and a big inflatable and sinkies will get some good use.

This is the only kind of holiday I had growing up and I loved them. I remember it so fondly! I was an avid reader - if you can find a fun book series she could get into, that's a good source of entertainment - at six, my kids were reading comic book style books like Bunny vs Monkey, DogMan, that kind of thing and there's loads of them to choose from. Definitely puzzle books too and packs of cards. Swimming, collecting pebbles on the beach, having an ice cream, getting to stay up late to eat dinner in a taverna overlooking the sea, going to buy a little souvenir, these are some the best memories of my life.

If you're taking an iPad, make sure she uses headphones!

Travel games, as many as you can fit in
Colouring things
Play doh (we used to take the ingredients then make it when we were there)
Going for exploring walks
Beach
Swimming
Painting with water (take a paintbrush and then she uses plain water to draw on your balcony/patio)
Sticker book
Magazine
Small amount of Lego in your luggage to build with
A few trips out to local sites

Hopefully there will be kids at the beach even if not at the hotel

Are you renting a car, if so you could explore and find the more kid-populated beaches to hang out on?

Puzzle books eg https://amzn.eu/d/8K0ufSq (sorry for the Amazon link, just to give you the idea- there are millions of these)

Sticker Dolly Dressing - again millions available

water colouring

posca pens for painting pebbles

We took a little pallet of watercolour paints. DC spent ages painting pebbles and arranging them in beach art, then we just rinsed them off and returned them to the beach.

I always take a bundle of new small things, and dish out a couple each day - include sticker books, small figures, puzzles, pool toys.

Last year my then 7 year old really enjoyed creating a playlist on my phone to listen to by the pool.

Do not underestimate the joy of having their own money to spend whilst away, and the underrated fun of writing postcards to grandparents / friends.

We always did that kind of holiday when DS was young and I would never have considered it a problem.

Are you planning on days out? I’ve not been to Greece but I don’t think I’ve been anywhere where there weren’t children’s playgrounds, so we always spent time at these. I would say download more than a couple of films on the iPad - one for each day so you get some relaxing time too. Plenty of magazines so you have all the puzzles and stories but also the little toy that comes with them. And as others have said card games, sticker books, colouring, small figure toys etc. And I’ve bought pool toys in Asda and taken them in the suitcase so you know you’ve got them.

These days are a long time past for us but I love that idea @BendingSpoons