Mumsnet users share ways to keep their children of different ages entertained during half term with PizzaExpress

[EllieMumsnet]

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It’s half term and both you and your DC deserve some family time before the last leg of the summer term begins. If you have children of different ages, you know it can be difficult to find activities that entertain both. PizzaExpress would love find out the ways you bridge the age gap with activities that keep the children entertained, letting them express themselves.

Here’s what PizzaExpress has to say: “We love welcoming families into our restaurants and understand how precious time together is. Our goal is to make the time at PizzaExpress as enjoyable as possible, which includes not only delicious pizza but also fun & creative activities for Piccolos of all ages and the whole family to get involved in. What is it that makes it tick and ensures well-behaved children all round?”

Do you get them in the kitchen helping you create new dishes for the family? Perhaps you take family trips out that cater for all ages or go for a meal out in a family-friendly restaurant? Or maybe you have different variations of the same activity such as a colouring book for your younger DC and free-style painting for your older DC?

Whatever your ways to keep your DC of different ages entertained during the half term, post on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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I have always believed that if you want your dc to be well socialised, and be able to take them anywhere you need to start right away from when they are a baby.
The key is to take them to all kinds of situations but equally to make sure they are always fed, watered, warm and occupied. This will require some thought and preparation but ultimately you will find your life together is fuller because you can safely go out and about wherever you choose without fear of poor behaviour ( well for the most part anyway).
It is also important to expose children to travel, different lifestyles, ages of people and environments to enrich their learning and make them more aware of the world they live in.

We use the local swimming baths a lot, take picnics down to the park and have a kick around with the ball and swing ball game.
Ride bikes through the local wooded paths and enjoy a movies nights on the weekends with popcorn,crisps and pizzas.

multi activity centres are really good for using up energy and catering for all ages

I have found holidays over the past couple of years have become increasingly difficult.
My dc are 7, 11 and 15. I have a young one, a teen and one in between - this is where it gets problematic 🤦‍♀️.
7 yr old is still keen on going to the park - 11 year old is on the cusp, will go to the park sometimes, enjoys swimming and cinema - 15 year old dislikes all suggestions for family outings and can make things quite difficult 😩.
Today we are going to the cinema, climbing and possibly for food (pizza express as it happens). I'm hoping teen is going to be on board with these plans.

Living near the coast makes life easy, we enjoy walks, going to the parks and being on the beach. Fun for all the family

I think a pretty good one for different ages is going out to eat because it is something all can enjoy, also cinema is pretty good too.

My two mix very well despite a 6yr age difference so not usually a problem. We do try to find things they will both enjoy but if there's a specific treat for one of them then we can have those too.

We do a wide variety of activities during the holidays. We love getting out and about. A popular activity in our house is a walk to collect interesting natural items and then coming home to turn them into fantastic beasts ...or whatever is appealing at the time.
We love cooking or making salt dough or model making from junk.
Going to the local wood and working together to make dens is something everyone enjoys.

we do loads of arts and crafts. we reguarly walk in our local forest see what we can collect to use in our crafts :)

We have a merlin pass, but we also like crazy golf, the beach and having a cinema day at home with lots of popcron and a couple of movies

Visit different play parks and rate them out of 10

I have two DSs, 16 and 10. It's hard to bridge the gap... but we do frisby and table tennis in the park; swimming and bike rides. We got a dart board at Christmas- it's so much fun, even though ( or maybe because) we are all pretty awful....There are lots of different darts games you can play, besides traditional 501. We have a very battered old table football at home. Me and Ds2 team up to take on DS1.
We also have a jogging circuit around the streets that requires no road crossings. They race - but elder DS does 3 laps whilst younger does 2. That's my favourite activity because all I do is sit at the front of the house and time them!

Try to plan for days out. to parks, attractions, museums and cinemas.

Get them outside, down to the park to see other children/parents . look out for local events and clubs

I'm lucky living in Anglesey we spend days on one of the lovely beaches.

Sports centres are good - the older ones want to teach the younger ones

A trip to the beach

Beach days, cricket and tennis at the park and movies and snacks on miserable days

My eldest is 8 and my youngest is 2. We mostly choose activities that are outdoors, like going to the park or the beach.

We're very lucky to live near some wonderful museums, so that's a good activity too. There's a play area for our 2 year old, so he can run around and let off some steam while our 8 year old gets more involved in the exhibits.

The key for us really is to go somewhere with a space that our 2 year old can't do too much damage in, with something more engaging for our eldest. That can be as simple as letting the 2 year old run around in a field while the rest of us play football!

He spends a few nights of every school holiday at my mum's and he loves it - visiting farms, my mum's friends' grandchildren and going to parks.

They like similar things eg. beach, farms, cinemas, park

Creating assault courses around the garden or park. Older ones can come up with the ideas and the rules and games can be different for different ages. At home there are all sorts of props that can be used and the assault course doesn't all have to be physical challenges either...it is good for the imagination to come up with weird stuff like run down the path, touch the shed door, put a cardi on barbie, turn the bucket over and tap it 3 times, run back to the patio, put 3 rings on the stick, touch the door. It can be endlessly fun!

Crafts and outdoor games!

I’ve got a 3.5 year old and a nearly 6 year old. We’re a bit stuck in the house as o have a bad tummy!! So we’re playing in the garden, building a puppet theatre, they’ve made a chicken coop and may get out the paints later!!

Take them to the and the local park keeps them busy .