How do you keep your children busy? Share your stories of when it worked (...and when it didn’t!) with Boden - £200 voucher to be won

[BellaMumsnet]

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We all know that keeping our kids busy can get tricky, particularly during the school holidays when it seems like we're always looking for new ways to entertain them. That’s why Boden would love you to share your stories (successful or not!) of filling your children’s days.

Here’s what Boden has to say: “This summer, Mini Boden is continuing its popular Mini Missions series with exciting new challenges for sunny days. Mini Missions Summer Camp is packed full of easy activities to keep children entertained, with new ones to discover every few weeks. Missions include den building, picnic planning, foraging and stargazing – and Minis can collect badges for each mission they complete. Plus, place a Mini Boden order in July and get a free Summer Camp poster and stickers in your delivery (while stocks last). Get ready to get stuck in…Discover Boden Mini Missions here”

Perhaps you set them up with a box of crafts or enlisted the help of the older DC to play endless games of UNO while you finished that important Zoom call? Maybe you relented to an afternoon of TV or gaming in return for a chance to have a cup of tea in peace? Maybe your DC came up with their own entertainment...using your wardrobe as a dressing up box! Or perhaps you’ve encouraged them to try out some of Boden’s Mini Missions?

Whatever tactics you’ve employed, whether they’ve been rolled out every summer or swiftly abandoned, we want to know about them.

Post your stories in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Insight T&Cs apply

[starlight36]

My DC (10 and 8) like to put on shows. They write the script, rehearse, draw their own posters, programmes and tickets snd make their own costumes and props. Yes you have to spend some time watching the actual 'performance' but it occupies them for hours!

[Stargirl84]

Always love the summer reading challenge at the library!

[Chickoletta]

We sold our 4 bed modern house in a naive cul de sac and bought a ruined cottage with several acres for the same money. We are now in the process of waiting for planning etc and living in a static caravan but it was the best thing we ever did - the kids spend their days roaming around outside building treehouses etc and looking after the animals rather than sitting around indoors waiting for me to entertain them. Their childhood is similar to mine from the 80s when I grew up on our family farm.

We’re also lucky to live near the beach so as long as the weather is good we can have a whole day out for the price of a picnic and a few ice creams.

[Chocolatebuttercream]

Put my little boy in a bath filled with toys and let him play and sing along to music whilst i feed the baby (we live in Northern Scotland so it's too cold for paddling pools!)

[Signoramarella]

Chikoletta, sounds amazing. I like all of the above ideas and did them all when they were younger. Then I realised what a hard bloody slog it was. Single mum no help. So I give them unlimited screens . They mostly stay in their rooms. I go out alot and leave them to it. We garden together, that's about it. Can't wait til.they are 18 and they go away

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

Outdoor - rating play parks (we go to different parks and they have to rate them); finding local themed trails - there's always at least one every summer where you have to spot some kind of animal at various locations; walks with picnics.
Indoor: Lego, arts and crafts, baking, reading, movie afternoons.

[Gufo]

Freeze some toy dinosaurs overnight and then let them chip away at the ice the next day to free them. Takes ages!

I had a basket of rattles and mini instruments when they were small and would put on some music for them to bash along to every afternoon.

[angel0071987]

Outside (regardless of the weather). Set up obstacle courses in garden - upturned plant pots with canes on to jump over, chairs with canes in to crawl under, up the slide round the swing and several jumps on trampoline before scoring a goal etc timed to see improvements. Can also race siblings and try and do it following instructions when blindfolded or backward. Hours of fun

[CatRatSplat]

I make sure they're is always a box or two that can be used for anything! Crafting, forts, towers, boats. Kids now just get one to fit in with their play!

[LaundryForever]

My little ones love to help me around the house, when I'm cleaning they come with a little brush and cloth and help me clean.
They also love watering the flowers in the garden and they absolutely love 'painting' our fence with water. Would definitely recommend 'painting' with water to any parent 😊

[sharond101]

Water always works so we have a water table, slip and slide and a huge inflatable slide!Water balloons are fun too!

[PashleyB]

I've just recently bought Uno which seems to provide a good degree of entertainment. Also we go on long walks with a picnic and some outdoor toys which is always a winner in the summer

[NormanSicily]

Let them find their own entertainment and go with the flow, it teaches them to be less reliant on you as a source of ideas/activities. However, always keep an eye/ear out for what they are actually up to. As I learnt the day my 3 DSs asked me for some string, some carrier bags and some scissors. When questioned they admitted they were fashioning parachutes from these things and were going to test them by jumping from the first floor bedroom window, thank goodness I asked. We compromised by jumping from the sofa.

[buckley1983]

I try to get my son to do arts & crafts with me with varying results! One day I thought parper marbling would be a fine way to spend an afternoon.. simple right? Tray of water.. bit of paint.. bit of oil.. ta da!! Turns out no.. not that easy - 45 mins later, son has wandered off - I have littered the kitchen with various oils, food colourings & paints & there are soggy, oily bits of paper sticking to every surface. Funnily enough not tried that one again! :)
What went well.. we did dig a pond together which was hard work, but great fun! We've just put the lining in & the first frog has just moved in - woohoo!! Cue a summer of frog spotting! Happy days :)

[lovemyflipflops]

A roll of wallpaper is just brilliant for us - I will lay one down and draw round their silhouette, and they will fill the detail in - either for themselves, or if feeling silly each other - or we will make hand and footprint pictures on the paper also.

[YesIDoLoveCrisps]

At the beginning of the six weeks school holidays we write a list of what we would like to do. It can be things such as a bike ride, popcorn and a movie and we gradually do them all and cross them off the list.

[Olympicfan]

Our family loves treasure trails. They cost about £9.99, but when that is divided up, it works out at £2 a person for an afternoon of fun and learning. www.treasuretrails.co.uk/

We also like going on micro-adventures. Last year we circumnavigated our town/city. It was 18 miles, but with picnics along the way it took 6 hours to do.

[BrownEyedSquirrel]

My toddler loves to "paint" the fence with water. We did it for 30 minutes today; win!

[CrowdedMouse]

They don't need to be kept "busy"

[atracurious]

Some time outdoors everyday
In summer we find bits for the garden go a long way; paddling pool, water guns, a box of chalk for the patio and swingball are all used a lot

For rainier days a box of duplo still goes a long way, hama beads and nice colouring books for my DD are long term favourites

[ChoccyJules]

Mine like to create treasure hunts where they leave a clue somewhere and I have to read it and work out where the next clue is etc. If they do it together there’s a nice bit of interaction, other times the younger one will have a go on her own which is good for her writing practice.

[Obakarama]

They are never not busy in the age of the screen but we used to get them sorting out stamps for an album and sorting foreign coins into countries and send them into the garden to collect different kinds of nature.... Wish we still did all that!

[Tiramumsu]

Growing things that can be eaten is popular here. Mint is very easy to grow and can be added to water by children, and is very useful for an evening mojito for the grown ups! Edible flowers like camomile and nasturtium are lovely decorations for buns and biscuits.

[ILovesPeanuts]

Loom bands were a great one for my two. We had a huge box that was divided into multiple sections. Worked brilliantly and they got requests from friends and would make them in requested colours. Didn't work so well when the whole box got knocked on floor and we had to sort thousands of loom bands into their correct colour section!

[CatLadyInTraining]

Latest discovery here is papier mâché (ideally done outside!).