Add all your holiday activities for under 5's in here!

[JackBauer]

As all the magazines/papers/tv are all about how to entertain your school age child over the holidays, and all the playgroups shut and parks/pools etc become no-go areas for preschoolers for fear of being trampled by school age children can we add all our summer holiday activities on this thread? (inside/outside etc)

Mine are
Buying a roll of lining paper from DIY shop, rolling out a couple of metres and chucking crayons at it.
Going down alleyways on puddle hunts
Making playdough and baking it
Anything at the beach.
Crayon rubbing, works well in 5m radius of house, walls, pavements, fences, cars (although probably best to use your own...)

Or not......

I did mean to add 'free' activities BTW.

ooh playdough making and baking? How do you do that?

Mine are...

Clearing out clutter draws with DS (checking for dangerous stuff) and putting in little boxes

Collecting leaves and sticking them on paper to make a picture

Filling old containers with compost and planting salad/cress etc.

Collecting flowers and pressing them to make an album

Cake making

Treasure hunts( picture clues of things to find)

junk modelling

daily picnics( they help with the planning and preparation, then choose location for eating it) - ours vary from the park, beach, woods, to garden centre, mummys bedroom and the car.

Chalk in the garden(all washes off and they love being told they can draw pictures on ANYTHING)

Painting the garden fences( water/ bucket /paintbrush)

Anything very little for us is still major for them

Chalking in the garden here too.
Playing in our water trough (old disused sandpit on legs)
Daily walks
Trampolining

Salt dough here I love it as it is so salty DD2 won't eat it (after the first mouthful anyway and as it air dries we 'bake' it in the turned off oven overnight or outside in teh sun ina pretend box oven.

Feeding the ducks.

Going to the station to watch the trains (not actually free this one, but it only costs £1.70 for a trip on the local train)

Going to the library

Painting/drawing.

going to friends houses
playing ball games in the garden

You're all very dedicated!!
I don't remember my parents doing any of this with me during the summer hols. Well I remember a bit of drawing and playing board games etc, but I don't remember the investment of time today's Mums now put in.
We spent most of our summers out playing with our friends, though, but we were a bit older than this. Kids did that more back then.
Hensmum, my DS is only 2 so this is the kind of thing we do. Add in the park, picnics, playing in the garden, beach or river (when nice). I don't think they need much more at this age.

Addendum: when I said "I don't think they need much more at this age", I was referring to two-year-olds. Obviously older children do need more.

Bumping

Lots of these are out for me over summer (DD's are 3.5 and 1.9). Can't go to the parks as the playground (which they beeline for) is overrun with bigger kids(and DD2 shoves and hits does not play well with older children if they push past her) So feeding ducks is out
Library is off for same reason.
Also soft play.
we don't have a garden either so need to get out, looks like beach all summer!

Bumping....
At least teh rain has stopped.

The last few days we have been confined to house with lots of rain and no car to get to anywhere (local park is covered in poo and not safe)
We have made tiaras out of cereal boxes and stickers hideous looking but DD's won't take them off.
They have helped me sort clothes for charity shop, pretend washing and hanging out.
Been to local charity shop for play jewellery. Have tied ribbons to some palstic bracelets (20p) and they are twirling with them now.

And now the sun is here!

DD (2) likes "helping" to wash the car and bikes. In fact, anything water related is a hit.

She also loves dancing to music (we usually make up dances whilst doing the housework )

I am very of you being near a beach though

If it makes you any less we can't go to the beach this week as the tides are all wrong

Nope - still

We were on hols in Cornwall last week and dd loved the beach (as did I). Its rubbish living in the Midlands sometimes

we do quite a bit of gardening. Veg growing is rewarding at this time of year. We planted herbs yesterday.

Hunting bear/svages/dinosaurs in the woods.

Collect kindling in ou wagon

and fight lots

"Tents" is usually good for an afternoon or so. Few sheets/blankets, the clothes airer, the back of the sofa - children in, and I retire to MN.

The younger two (18mo and 4.5) like cleaning. They have baby wipes or the dustpan and brush, I get the proper/bigger cleaning stuff. They do fight over who gets to wave the feather duster around though. Changing the beds is good too - big pile of duvets, sheets and pillows on the floor, with giggling children somewhere underneath, mummy lying on stripped bed with her eyes shut - bliss. Temporarily.

Our leisure centre runs a soft play thing 3 mornings a week that is for under-5s only. So that is good, if I can persuade dd (7) to sit and play on her ds at the edge of the hall!