Half-term holiday activities

[worldshottestmom]

Hello all, just wondering what other parents do to entertain their children during half-term?

My two DC are 4 and 2. If i have to go to the park or soft playing one more time I might just start crying.

We also like to go to the farm, but our local one is closed until spring. We do all the normal colouring, play doh, playing with toys etc, but want something new to try with them.

I want to take them swimming but my eldest has autism and is very unpredictable, it just makes me really nervous. Not saying I won't take them because of this, but yeah. Just a bit nervous about it.

So what does everybody else do? Preferably something that won't break the bank lol

When my sons were that age we used to get sandwiches and cakes from a local bakery, a DVD and books from the library then go home and have a picnic. Also the cinema used to do a kids club for about £2.50 each child (parents went free). How about a bus ride to a different town ? Could your son cope with that? Some place have a toy library if they like that sort of thing x

My sons are now 20 and 17 , they still remember the picnics and how much they enjoyed it

That's a great idea, thank you! I'm trying to save money so dont want to splurge on expensive activities every day, and trying to think of more stuff to do at home given the poor weather. Will try the indoor picnic and Film, it sounds fun! Thanks :)

@worldshottestmom you are very welcome x we also used an old clothes airer with a blanket over the top to build an indoor den/picnic spot 😁 the works have some good craft kits/books. Making paper planes used to fill an afternoon/baking rice crispie cakes etc. also used to buy little icing tubes and sweets and make those

Mine are a bit older, 3 and 7. We aren't spending much, but we have zoo and Merlin passes so are doing those at least once. Then we have some free workshops booked at museums. We have some craft kits we haven't opened since being given at Christmas so will spend time doing that. And we have some spare swimming lessons to use up (cancelled from previous weeks and given credit to use). That should fill up the week I think. Not planning to have much outdoor time, the forecast is too cold.

If mine were still young enough we'd go to our local children's centres as they stay open during half term. And things like concerts and baby gym for under 5s.

Cineworld are going £2 films

National Trust family membership - £14 a month, if you manage to go once or twice a month, it’s £1.75-3.50 per person per day out for a family of 4. They usually have activities on for all the school holidays. Bring a picnic, get a cake or ice cream in the shop. There are usually adventure trails and a playground at all the major ones.

Go find a river or beach to dig in. Bring your beach toys and a chair and a picnic. Doesn’t matter if it’s 10c, they can still dig in waterproofs and wellies.

Library for a morning. It literally takes an hour or so but will use up a morning. We stop at the bakery for a treat after.

Do you have any free museums near you? Our nearest (not very big) city has an excellent free museum.

We usually manage to fill up a morning with swimming and the library ( which are helpfully really close together in my town, but in most places both are fairly central). Mind you mine are older now and can swim, but our local leisure centre has a baby pool that even a two year old can stand in which made supervising both when they were tiny easier.

Any free local museums. A lot are surprisingly child friendly and small enough that they don’t get bored.
If you’re near a city there’s probably a few more options.

Trampolining is also good for tiring them out but may feel a bit too much like soft play. Also there’s a reason I waited until they were big enough that I have to go near a trampoline before taking them.

We used to do the library and a carpet picnic too. Inviting friends over for lunch. Cheap Children’s shows at the Cinema too. Our local library usually had at least one free event on during half term.

If your eldest has ASD are there any Autism friendly events going on near to you?

Ikea
toddler groups
library
shopping centre to play on the machines if you’re desperate
park
soft play
grandparents house
give them a bath
let them do messy play in the bath - slime, bath crayons
beach in warm clothes and wellies
farm
arts and crafts
magnatiles
playdates
Cycle/ balance bike/ scoot/ walk etc around the block or to the shops

if all else fails, hide from them in the bathroom and have a little cry. Good luck 🤞

I have taken the mattress off the spare bed and put in down in the living room 🤣 They've played and played with it, jumping on it, jumping off the sofa onto it, propping it up to be a slide for them or the cars, running around it, bashing each other off it gladiator style. DS 5 and 7.

Cardboard boxes, DGD would sit in them to go to Sainsbury's (imagination) make into a shop, toys in for a farm, dolls infor a bed, really big box a house(appliance box) draw on them, tie string and pull them. She can still play a whole afternoon with a spoon and piece of string and paper. Also cutting paper , she spends hours doing this. Sometimes makes me wonder if the toys are necessary??

A train ride always went down well with mine. Didn’t matter where to, it was the journey that was fun (and free for under 5s). As PP said, bus rides also exciting at that age. I’d spend a whole day getting the train somewhere about an hour away, getting something to eat and maybe going to a museum/gallery/park in that place, then getting the train home.

What about looking for some free/cheap toys on your local Facebook page or freecycle? Hit up the novelty factor and you can pass them on after a week. Today I’ve seen someone giving away an old dolls house, which made me think of it.

February is a tough one because it’s such rubbish weather usually, and lots of usual spots are closed for the season.

National Trust would be less than that as the children are under 5, if it's just one adult and the children going it's around £8 a month.

The big yoga balls are hours of fun and pretty cheap. I also bought one of the little spinning disc waist trainers. Excellent for little ones to spin around on.

I love National trust places in the summer but not in February! I still have nightmares about the time I thought it would be ok to take a toddler into the actual historic house to get out the rain. I spent the entire time trying to stop her touching anything she shouldn’t, and realised that she was shorter than the barriers they use to rope off areas you can’t go in.

Just going out, ours are a bit older but basically pack some food and we will go out on the buses and trains. My eldest is train obsessed so sometimes we literally go on a train circuit and back home, that can easily use a day, but with the youngest also then we can visit something along the way.
The trouble with one Nd and one NT child is that they have different focus. Even with a museum they both enjoy the eldest wants to find one thing and stay there for hours but the youngest wants to go round and look at all the things. So it can help to stick with things which have simpler transitions.
When ours were the ages of yours last year or two we had child minders so the holidays were generally covered from that side. This is the first year they are in pre school and school with no child minder cover. It's going to be tough.

My dad took an idea from SM and made our 4yo an ‘invention box’ and it’s kept him busy for ages so we’ve added to that. It’s basically a plastic box with random stuff in (paint brush, piping, string, straws, springs, a measuring tape, empty plastic bottles, those plastic plug things that go into wall around a screw, little tubs and jars, sponges).

We live near a river and a wellies and puddle suit walk along it with a giant bottle of bubbles can take an hour easily.
I also like to stick wellies on and do some random garden stuff. LO will come out to ‘help’ then get distracted by clipping leaves or watering plants.

Activity-wise we’ll be going swimming, a play date with a friend, local park and maybe the cinema.

All kids are different but I know mine will also want some time at home just chilling with toys, singing and dancing etc so I don’t want to try and entertain him the whole time.

We love NT places. My 4y and 2y came home and decided to rope off their bedrooms (with the dressing gown waist belts) to turn the house into a museum 😆

Other things we're doing this half term:

• pottery painting cafe
• local museum story time
• scavenger hunt
• den building using sofa cushions, dining chairs and blankets
• gymnastics stay and play
• meeting friends at a NT property
• swimming and cafe
• home cinema (I've printed popcorn box templates/nets and ticket templates, they'll cut them out and decorate them/write their names, then I'll load their popcorn pots with snacks (blueberries and pretzels!), shut the curtains and turn the volume up, and probably watch Toy Story)!
• early bath time and then snuggle in my bed with as many stories as they like. Last half term we did this and it was my eldest's favourite thing, we read about 28 stories!

And the usual playdoh, baking, crafting, chilling out playing at home.

My LO 2 loves helping cook, if you don’t mind some mess her favourite is making shortbread and bread (she can stick her hands in to mix the dough) and it also keeps snacks up for half term week.