Tell npower your top tips and ideas for enjoying the summer school holidays - you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

The team at npower would love to hear about your top tips and ideas for enjoying the summer holidays.

npower say "We know that the summer holidays can often be stressful and finding activities to keep your children busy can be a challenge so we’d love to hear your hints and tips for a fun-filled stress-free summer. We can’t wait to hear your great creative ideas for getting through those 6 weeks come rain or shine."

With 6 weeks or more off in the summer, finding ways to keep your DCs entertained can sometimes be a challenge. So, what are your top tips for planning summer holiday activities? Do you like to do some research and advanced planning? Or do you prefer to be spontaneous? Does the weather affect your plans at all? What top tips do you have for having fun whatever the weather?

Please note, your comments may be used - anonymously of course - by npower on their social media channels, website and possibly elsewhere, Please only post if you're happy with this.

Everyone who posts on the thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Standard Insight T&Cs apply.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

[VickyRsuperstar]

I find it quite a challenge to keep 9 kids occupied for 6-7 weeks over the Summer holidays and sometimes the break does feel like it's a little bit too long! Luckily the weather has been pretty good this year so we have been able to be outdoors a lot. It gets quite difficult in London when the weather is continuously wet as happens some years, because round here most indoor activities cost a lot of money. When the weather is good the kids play a lot in our garden as we have toys and a sandpit. They also love the local parks and they all have scooters that they like to take with them. We used to use playschemes when they were younger as they had a lot of activities and trips to go on, but now the older children have outgrown them and the younger ones are no longer keen on it either so we have had to think of something else. We are lucky enough to have a free BMX park and a Skate park near by so some of the older kids go there most days. Other days we plan picnics and go to the free museums. Most of the children love drawing and art & crafts so most days they spend quite a bit of time drawing and sticking things on papers with glue. So far it has been nice to be free of the school runs and to have some family time, we are now at the half way mark and I still have a lot of bits and pieces in the cupboard that they haven't seen yet. Books and craft projects that will interest them and hopefully keep them busy until school starts again!

[Jenba590]

Space out the activities you have planned! so one week (sealife centre) then smaller trips of to the park, family visits including PJ days where you get to relax and play games at home etc

[UnicornsPooFairyLights]

Luckily we live near the beach and some woods, plenty of picnics and walks. A lot of councils offer free swimming in the holidays for children. make sure to check it out :)

[meggysar]

Join together with other children and families in your street and share the responsibility for providing entertainment and child care x

[snare]

It is good to involve the children in discussions and have different options depending on cost :)

[bex552]

Plan,plan, plan! Have a list of ideas of activities and places to go that you can tick off when done

[Stoodles]

Be young - join in the play and forget the house - it will all be there later

[buckley1983]

A big bucket of water provides hours of entertainment for my little one! He spends hours rooting through his doors trying to find ones which are dunkable & them runs round the garden trying to find other items which can be added to the 'soup' - stones, twigs, mud, pegs.
We break for lunch which is a picnic in the garden & then do some den building which basically consists of some garden chairs & a sheet!
If the weather is bad, we head to the library - but a rainy day walk is fun too :)

[emily13]

Get on Google and find out what's going on in your local area. Also look up the museums etc. that have free entry and save yourself some money.

[JoCar72]

Inspired by the Anniversay Games, we've set up our own mini Olympics where we have fun competitions ranging from sport to art to cooking to quizzes. All the kids get involved including their friends...each choose a nation to represent and if they break their personal bests or make something really good they get a 'treat token' which add up to a DVD, magazine or little toy. x....it's amazing what you can get in the poundshops

[Lydia30]

I start looking a couple of months before for all the free activities that are around and book in. Also if you haven't got one buy a family and friends railcard and have days out at a reduced cost

[GeorgeW78]

Geocaching is great fun and you may even find some places you didn't know were there! Combine with a nature hunt and a picnic, maybe a bike ride too! Fun, free & fresh air, what more could you want?!

[bluebubblerose]

picnics even in the garden

[lisajordan]

I recently bought my son a kite for about £10. He has played with it all summer holidays so far! Great bargain for hours and hours of fun.

[feeona123]

Don't plan too much - make a few special days out, but have plenty of free days in case the weather changes so that you can make plans at the last minute.

[SoupDragon]

Children do not need to be actively entertained every hour of the day. Just relax and enjoy not being tied to the school run or regular out of school activities. Have a few things up your sleeve for wet days, some day trips for sunny days and spend the rest of the time relaxing.

[marymanc]

My DC are now 10 and 6 years old and do not need that much of entertaining than when they were younger. I used to start in June to make plans for the Summer holidays and pack so much in...

Now we just live a day at a time and if the weather is nice we go to the beach, if not we visit the cinema, arrange sleepovers with friends, go to the library and museum. Also we have days out on towns nearby by train and go visiting parks. So far we have really enjoyed each other company and we are pretty happy also to read a book or watch a DVD.

[carpathian]

we try to use the many free things around us so we spend a lot of time down our local mere i have boys so they love it getting mucky climbing and exploring it has the bonus of having a bike park so my boys love using that i find if i tire them out doing physical things in the day they flake at night so its win win :)

[alison991]

Check out what is going on at the local sports centre and library, they often have things on for kids. Craft activiites are fun as are days at the park

[FrenchieMum2Be]

I work through the summer holidays so we cram the family time at weekends. The beach is a family favourite as well as weekdays evening barbecues.

[12LuDo]

Plan ahead. Whether it's a day in playing games, a walk or a picnic, or even an organised trip somewhere, planning what you are going to do, prevents the days from just drifting away with good intentions!

[Pinktilgate]

We try to vary our summer activities and make use of the good weather...though we haven't had much of that in Northern Ireland! We have been doing our weekly feeding of the ducks and swans at the park, going for lots of ice creams, having water fights in the garden and some DIY around the house!

[el2606]

Do the reading challenge (read 6 books) at the local library - fun, educational, and free! :)

[dandanrawlings]

Take the kids to the park and go on mini adventures with them i.e the climbing frames are a jungle

[jacqroberts68]

We take it in turns to do one activity a week that costs no more than £20 and a free one. Makes it fair and interesting