is anyone else dreading summer holidays?

[griffalo2]

Wat do u do with the kids? Without spending lots of money.we have a week holiday abroad booked but thats it,ds is goin to be so bored.
Do u do any educational work with them? I was thinkin maybe half hour a day maybe few days of the week on maths and reading just to keep him from loosing his ' school head'.

No I make a point of not doing anything educational! dd needs the rest. Library visits are good and free and keeps up their reading. Also libraries often do some sort of children's entertainment in the holidays - worth checking.

Swimming is also quite a cheap activity and local leisure centres often run stuff fairly cheaply in the holidays too. Also if you have tesco vouchers - can make days out stuff eg: theme parks etc much cheaper. How old are your kids?

Just have ds whos five.always on the go,i have to take him to the woods with dog every night after tea to wear him out.im goin to be exhuasted lol

Collect stuff when you go to the woods - press and put leaves/flowers in a scrap book,make a collage with twigs and whatever, identify trees and their 'fruits' - acorns, ash keys, elderberries. Look for squirrels, count how many blackbirds you see. When you go shopping count the number of silver cars, look for cars with a particular letter or number in the registration. Count how many steps it takes to get from one lamppost to the next. Read the signs in the shop, the labels on what you buy...
Make up stories with lego people and build them 'fantastic structures'. Make a den in a spare space somewhere that can be a 'secret hideaway' using a clothes airer or chairs with a curtain/bath towel. Play at washing up with bubbly water... its all educational, but not 'schoolified'. Then let him tell Dad, auntie, gran, next door or whoever's about what he's done.
All good fun and all it takes is your time to enjoy it too.

The library does a reading scheme - you get stickers and a chart for joining up and good prizes for each level (which involves reading two books of your choice). Great way to get the kids interested in going to the library regularly, and all free!

We have one week in cottage, one week of swimming classes, one week of (very cheap, council-run) tennis lessons in a local park. We'll do various playdates etc, and spend a lot of time in parks.

This is the reading scheme:

www.circus-stars.org.uk/

Am I dreading it? Of course not. I'm a teacher!

Count your lucky stars you are not in the US. Here they have been on holiday for 7 weeks already!

Love the summer holidays with my children, always have. Bit sad that DD stayed at uni through the summer.
It was the time that I really got to have a go at being a SAHM for 6 whole weeks.
Bliss.

In Scotland it is already week 2

I am dreading it but maybe my own fault because I have booked too many activities (mostly sport, some art, will be an interesting experiment!); I expect to drive about 300 miles ferrying them around to specific booked events this summer holiday.

Many summers we have spent barely getting out of the house all week which I loathed.

If you have a big enough garden, make "camps" or dens and have a camp-fire (under adult supervision of course) to cook baked potatoes, baked beans etc.

Go for bike rides in the park.

Depending on the age of your dcs you could try instituting a "quiet hour" where everyone has to find something quiet to do on their own. - eg reading, lego, drawing, jigsaws etc. ( TV, computers and electronic games are cheating and therefore not allowed in that hour!). You might get to sit down and have a cuppa and read the paper!

Unfortunately for us, we have to pay for kids club, and at £20 per day it hurts the bank balance!!

But my DD loves it so cant really complain.

This year, my hubby & I have been able to stagger our holidays so she is only in kids club for 3 of the 6 and a bit weeks. I have also been able to change my days around so we only pay for 4 days per week.

The week that I am off with her, I hope to do a bit of painting, shopping, bike rides and lots and lots of cuddles! :) Hoping to get one or two of her friends around too. No idea what my other half is planning, but I will leave that up to him!

As a working parent, I do try to make the most of the time I have with her. It sucks only having 4 weeks holiday a year!