Holiday Activities for the kids: share with Lidl your top tips - vouchers to be won NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at Lidl know how hard it can be to entertain your children during the school holidays, whether that’s the cold February half term, the longer Easter hols or the never ending Summer break. So we’re keen to hear all the activities you do with your children to stop them from uttering those dreaded words… ‘I’m bored…’

So, what’s your saving grace? Do you try and get them outside for for a kickabout in the park or a game of rounders with friends? Or - if the weather’s not playing ball - do you have some ideas for keeping kids occupied when they’re stuck indoors. Maybe you have some Easter-related food you make together, or arts and crafts tricks? And above all that, how do you stick to a budget and keep costs down?

Add your top tips and plans of action to this thread and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where 5 winners will each get £50 to spend in Lidl.

Thanks
MNHQ
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We always do lots of different things. Whether that's crafts indoors, baking, playdough or going to the museum or taking a walk to the nature reserve for a picnic. Sometimes we will go pokemon hunting or we will go to the park. I try to avoid soft play but if they've been especially well behaved then I do take them.

Our fall back activity is baking, We have cake molds and cookie cutters in all shapes so we can generally bake to match the season/festivities. Often my DS will want to throw a birthday party for his teddy bears so we make small fairy cakes for them all. My DS loves the stirring of the mixture (and licking the spoon) and the decorating afterwards. It is a great activity that makes my DS feel grown up (helping in the kitchen) but also allows messy play (icing everywhere and little silver balls found for days after!)

We try and get outside every day, helps let the children run off energy and helps break up the day.

DS who is 2 fell full length in the mud last week at our local National Trust place. There were many laughs from other adults and a couple of comments that he had clearly been having a very good time! Mess is fun, especially when its outside so you don't have to clean it up after.

My approach is outside time every day regardless of the weather, they actually prefer the rainy weather (they love splashing in he puddles)

I also tried to have different activities every day, e.g soft play, cinema, library, & museum.

They also enjoyed staying home and playing with their new toys.

My DD (2) loves to help me with cooking... But she's not too fussy about her role. So if I'm not doing something she can help with, she will happily stir a bowl of her toys instead to "help".

We have older kids ie teenagers who often don"t want to do a lot. However, found that ice skating was a bit hit and not massively expensive if you got a free ice skate care before you go.

In the summer a day's boating on our rubber canoe goes down well - not cheap, but bought the paddles off Ebay and the canoe in a sale.

I hate the holidays as they just create childcare problems, and DD is not with me for a lot of the time, but Christmas I always do take the week off.

On one day, I banned her from the TV or her kindle, and she entertained herself quite happily all day with her Annuals, doing the quizzes and crosswords and colouring in.

I also make time to play Top Trumps, or play a board game with her

The town I live in - Milton Keynes - has an amazing Play Association which runs lots of regular sessions throughout the holidays in parks throughout the town, so I try to go to at least one a week as something to aim for to get out of the house.

They also run a scrap store which sells amazing bits and bobs very cheaply (companies give them things they don't need that they'd otherwise need to pay to have taken away, scrap store sells them cheaply) - so for example, a company that needs to cut plate size holes in wood for their product give them the round cut out bits, another company that used yarn on big cones that needed to be thrown away gave the cones - which were fab for all sorts of Christmas tree craft projects - that you can then buy really cheaply and they're great for craft projects.

So a long holiday will always involve a trip to the scrap store to get some bits and bobs for craft projects - for a fiver I can get a bootful of bounty that lasts the dc for weeks. They have a whale of a time planning what to do, they love looking at the store itself and of course they then spend hours doing their crafts.

(there are lots of scrap stores around the country, they're a fantastic resource and I wish more people knew about them - both to use them and to be able to donate to them)

DC are just getting into geocaching - which can provide a 'reason' for going for a walk or exploring somewhere a bit different. And now of course there's Pokemon Go which is a very similar thing, just lots cooler when you're 11 . Our council has also started to make apps to encourage people to go out and do things - like treasure hunts for example - to give other things to do.

Benign neglect is also important - making sure the tv and all devices are off and so they have to do something else if they don't want to be bored - but it's important to have things around for them to pick up and do - craft stuff, books, music, games, balls, racquets, lego, basic cookery ingredients and so on - so that there are lots of things available to do should they want to.

I'm always amazed by how much stuff is on locally - although much of it is very badly publicised - so it becomes a challenge to find cheap or free things to do. But it's also good to try and go to some of the stuff on offer - because if you don't and nobody else does, then they'll just stop bothering to offer it.

Setting the dc a challenge for the holidays can also be fun - but something that lasts a while and involves lots of different things, so it could be a surreal treasure hunt that involves their imaginations (Tomorrow's newspaper for example), or drawing pictures/taking photos/etc of plants/things/cars/whatevers for each letter of the alphabet, creating a holiday blog (or scrapbook if you're going old school).

We go out to local park, fly kites or feed the ducks. Getting out is my saving grace.
We went to the deer park a lot last winter as its lovely in the snow.

Indoors it`s colouring, playdoh, baking cakes if I can face the cleaning up afterwards or TV.

Planning and cooking dinner or picnic ( indoors or out) always occupies my 2. Menus, invitations, table settings, the list is endless!

We have activities that can be used on rainy days, playdoh, board games, puzzles and crafts etc are all great.

We also make use of free trips to the park, library and local museums.

Cheap outings include swimming, soft play and the cinema's mini morning showings.

I have a 1yo and a 3yo. They're both pretty good at entertaining themselves or playing together, but when they get bored we tend to have dance parties in our lounge, or I gather up blankets, duvets etc and throw them on the lounge floor with the sofa cushions to create a soft play which they love!

We do a couple of big days out or events but planned well in advance to take advantage of cheap railfare and discount offers.

The inbetween days we usually do some type of walk/treasure hunt (homemade) to get some fresh air and excercise but keep them occupied whilst doing it. Also good to buy/borrow from the library a couple of books at the beginning of the year about something I know my son will be interested in then plan craft activities around this - birdwatching, science experiments, solar system.

Cooking.
Start with plain digestive or rich tea biscuits to decorate with icing and sprinkles. Some simple cooking next, bread rolls, scones, biscuits, fairy cakes. The children love making and decorating them. Best of all sharing something they have made with the rest of the family!

We live near a forest so lots of muddy outside play, but if it's too wet we build dens inside.

I think kids are worked pretty hard at school so come the holidays I reckon they need time to relax and wind down. For that reason I don't tend to schedule lots of activities. We try and get out somewhere every day whether to the park, shops, library or to the grandparents but aside from that I'm happy for them to laze around, watch TV or spend a limited time on screens. In addition the younger two will often have spent time at sports club when I'm working so I like to give them a break when we're home.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We like days out on the train as my son 9 has ASD and is obsessed with buses and trains. He also likes to bake cakes or cookies so we often get different ingredients and things to decorate and leave him to design his own cookies or cakes which he loves. he also likes walking the dog in the woods and going in muddy puddles and running through the woods with the dog. i find it has a calming effect on him which is great.

We go to alot of free museums. The kids like to learn about dinosaurs and the natural world. We also try to go on lots of walks with the dogs.

We divide our time between spending time with family, doing activities with me and dh and independent play/activities. My dds are 7 and 4 and have just started playing together nicely.

At the moment dh is very busy with work during the week and I'm very sick with morning all day sickness, so I'm mostly having to be creative indoors. So for example, I give them a piece of packaging a day and let them lose on it with their stickers/markers. Today they made shower cubicles for their dollies

1. We had hugely enjoyable treasure hunt and tracking/trailing activities in the woods located beyond the edge of our town (National Trust land). To round it off, we'll picnic on the lush green fields, hopefully bathed in glorious sunlight. The trail ends onto a path which leads back down to town and a park. The kids can enjoy the swings, monkey bars, ropes and roundabouts there to conclude our trip day.
2. On a rainy days, board games always go down a treat, especially as an activity filler if the rain looks like it might clear up in an hour or two. The classics - Snakes & Ladders, Battleships, Connect 4, Guess Who, Scrabble - much better if you're lucky to have a range to choose from.
3. Other 'table top' activities like colouring/painting, or jigsaw puzzles are still popular.
4. And if you want to just leave the kids to it, the boys will not say no to a battle-royale with their Transformers (Bratz dolls fashion show for the girls), or, dare I say it, a few family challenges on the PlayStation / Nintendo Wii!