Looking for your top tips on how to "cope" with the kids during half term

[OliviaMumsnet]

Hello
We've been asked this for a radio interview this evening.
How do you get through the week?
Thanks as ever

plan to get out of the house everyday, even if it's to the library or local highstreet! (although proving hard with 2 kids taking it in turns to throw up......)

We've just done the week. am i in a time warp?

Going away is good!

But if that isn't possible, see if the local swimming pool does free swimming for kids over the school holidays.

Library visit, and reading the books with cups of hot chocolate!

Share the kids with a friend, they are often easier with company and you'll get some time to yourself.

Public transport! A bus ride or a train raide is a real excitement to many kids, mine used to love a trip into town, on the bus!

Get them out of the house at least once a day, not matter how awful the weather. Mine are like labrador dogs, fab as long as they are exercised!

Don't do what I've done this morning and completely lose the plot with them .

We all ended up in tears.

Meet up with friends.
Accept that the place will be a tip.
Have Early Movie Nights starting so that just as the movies ends they go straight to bed

get them tonsillitis then dh can stay at the hozzie with them.
Its working a treat with the loudest one

Give them your attention (she says, sitting on mumsnet while dd watches a dvd!)

Don't be over ambitious, small outings are fine

Give each other turns at a lie in (dh had his this morning)

So, have 2 adults off work if you can

Wine

Plan 'outings' for at least 2 or 3 of the days, and make sure there is some running around time every day.

On the days when you are not going on an 'outing', have something up your sleeve that is unusual, i.e. bake together, or do some craft together, make a den under the dining table all together (pretend you are a child too for this one), actually take out some time to PLAY with them.

Also make sure you can get some time out for you. Make sure they have some books or activities they can get on with while you take a little time out. Don't feel guilty about some TV time for this, but plan it. We sit down with the Radio Times and DS choses one or 2 programmes he particularly wants to see. That gives him something to look forward to.

IMO this half everyone ios knackered as xmas is not a proper break with all the excitment.

go with the flow with lots of stay at home cooking and play dough and mumsnet that kind of thing.

Morning acitivites ( I have boys)
1.Bike rides
2.Remote control cars with friends
3.PLay dough (Can make own and add food colouring, rice to add texture, glitter, oils to make it smell)
4.Making dens (2 chairs, broom handle and a sheet)

1. Swimming

Afternoon
1.Nature walk (let's spot winter) use a plastic bag to take twigs, leaves, home. Once home use to make a collage about winter.
2.Take a camera out and let them take photos (we went on a snail hunt just after the rain and took photos of snails and shells) I let my 3 yr old use the digital camera and he was fine.

Just before bath
1.A bowl of water outside with old spoons, jugs -general kitchen equipment.
2.Painting
3.Clay models (air dry clay then paint the next day)

Will add more if I can think of any

Take daughter to stay with my mother. I stay too, and let my mother do all the housework, cooking and childcare while I go shopping and invite friends round .

My sister has now taken this strategy one step further and is going to be dropping her daughter off at my mother's and taking a holiday on her own. (Her DH is taking their two boys ski-ing)

agree about getting out and exercising them but I also believe that sometimes people 'schedule' too many activities for their kids - you have to let them get bored sometimes because that is when they are at their most creative and start to use their imagination. So yes do an activity with them, take them out but don't plan the whole day - give them some time to use their imagination like we did in the olden days!

Oh, saying all that my ds 1 did go and stay with Grandma for the whole week I was at home with ds 2

Check out the local museums, libraries, council and park websites for half term activities. Mine love all those things and they are very cheap or free.

Our half terms are a mixture of free/cheap days out, the occasional expensive day out, visiting friends, and having friends round to play.

Yes just sit on MN and ignore them....mine are behind me with sellotape and scissors, they have been raiding the recycling bin and seem to be making some sort of cardboard town.
No imput from me, lots of chattering and no bickering at all as yet.

Half term is not really that much of a biggie for me because I work 3 days a week anyway and on the other days have my 3yo at home with me. So we are only adding the 6yo into the mix for two days.

What we did:
Mon - morning I cleaned while they amused themselves, then we did some colouring type stuff, went to friends with children same age for lunch, then off to local country park with two friends and their children, doll's prams and football.
Tues - DD to nursery as usual, DS to childminder, she took him to soft play
Weds - DD to nursery, DS to CM, she took him round local museum, and then to country park see above) in afternoon playing football and cricket, DD to Dr in afternoon for pre-school boosters
Thurs - DD to nursery, DS to CM and then to holiday club
Friday - shopping in am with vague ambition of preventing DS from looking like a vagrant, friends round in pm, followed by DS going for sleepover and DD having friend round for a sleepover
Monday (was training day) - cleaning in morning, then walk through local woods (trying to smash ice in stream etc) with DS taking camera he got for Christmas and DD taking pretend one. Made DS's birthday cake with him. Then DS to friends for tea and then Beavers while I took DD and her friend to the library and then home for tea.

Old carpet tubes are fab for cars, I have given my son all the old milk carton plastic lids I've been collecting and he loved sorting them, building with them. I've also collected lots of different lids of different sizes and colour. Amazing what imagination can make of 'stuff'

Junk modelling is also fab. Raid your recycling bin and just say your making robots or something - my son loved that.

I agree with schneebly too. Don't plan to fill every minute, kids do need to learn how to keep themselves occupied.
Our half-term was last week, and on one of the days I had some work which HAD to be done. DS kept himself busy for ages with lego, and reading, and playing on his PC (in the office beside me).

But that should also be part of weekends and other non-school time. I think it's also nice if you can make them feel you want to spend time with them in school hols.

We tend to go away a lot, but if we are just staying home, I plan a treat for the end of the week "if they've been good". I might also link this to a star chart if there are extra chores that need doing, or extra piano practice for an exam, or something. That tends to focus minds a bit.

My boys generally like time to chill during the holidays. We relax rules - DS time, PC time, TV time and bedtimes: but still maintain some limits.

Also things that have to be done (eg haircuts, new shoes, that sort of thing) are marketed with a positive spin; so they even enjoy those too.

We also invite friends round to play as much as possible, as that is then reciprocated, which gives us a break.

get them out (even just to the local park) as early as possible.

Take a book and possibly some lunch.

Don't let back into house until to tired to move.

Repeat daily.

try to get together with friends at their house.
when at home, do some baking, always fun.
whenever else, turn on babytv, that way i can continue workign on my laptop and join in for the songs.

try to get together with friends at their house.
when at home, do some baking, always fun.
whenever else, turn on babytv, that way i can continue workign on my laptop and join in for the songs.

Ask the grandparents down!

Try and stick roughly to their normal bed-time.

For myself, definitely need to get to the the gym and back before dh leaves for work - feel I have much more energy and patience if I do that perhaps every other day.

Try to do a bit of work - reading, writing or numbers every day with them. I find that my two dss really enjoy sitting down for half and hour and doing some sort of work - ds2 (3) just wants to draw shapes some days and ds2 (6), might write Batman stories - but only if they want to.