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WITH just two weeks of the school summer holiday left, parental sanity is hanging by a thread, and funds have run dangerously low.
The dreaded cries of “I’m bored” are likely echoing in many homes, but parenting expert Liat Hughes Joshi is here to save the day.
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The author of How To Unplug Your Child has devised 20 free – or ultra purse-friendly – activities that will keep the moans and groans at bay.
Liat says: “I’ve devised a list of things to do that will keep kids – from five years old to high school age – busy, without resorting to screen time overload and with little or no input from parents.”
So put your feet up while the kids are entertained…
Energy burning
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY
ASK kids to think of five random, kind things to do in a day that create a feel-good factor for them and the recipients.
One idea could be making and delivering Rice Krispies cakes to an elderly neighbour.
Let your child lead the way.
WHAT’S IN THE BAG?
YOU can make this for kids before you go to bed for an easy morning game.
Grab a pillowcase and put random, safe items inside: a Lego person, small football or a cuddly toy.
Kids then need to reach in, with no peeking, and describe what they feel for the other person to guess.
SOUND SCAVENGER HUNT
GET a sibling or play date pal to blindfold your youngster and then make a sound somewhere in the house.
They could howl, shake a Tupperware filled with rice, or ring a bike bell.
Their mate then has to find their way to them using only the sound to discover where the noise is coming from.
Just make sure the path is clear and safe and keep your eye on them at all times.
SOCK MONSTER FASHION SHOW
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FIND all the odd socks in your house, give the kids some googly eyes (£1, The Works), or let them draw them on with a Sharpie.
Then, decorate the socks with random stuff you have at home – think glue, bits of wool or hair bands – for your children to create wonderful sock monsters.
Then it is time to have a fashion show wearing the creations, including silly walks and monster roars.
THE GREAT INDOOR EXPLORE
USE furniture as obstacles and turn your home into a ‘mountain range’ or ‘jungle’.
Kids can climb over settee cushion mountains or crawl under a coffee table in their armour, which can include a sieve helmet and cushion ‘body armour’ that you’ve Sellotaped on.
The goal is to reach the treasure, which could simply be their afternoon snack of a biccie at the other end.
INDOOR CLOUD GAZING
DRAPE white sheets over furniture to create a ‘sky’.
Lie on the floor beneath them with your kids and encourage them to find shapes, animals or characters in the wrinkles and folds of the sheets.
Bonus points if you add a fan for gentle ‘wind’.
OPPOSITES DAY
FOR a whole day, everything is ‘opposite’.
Walk backwards, say “good night” as kids wake up, give pudding before dinner and wear your clothes inside out and back to front.
Make it a rule that anyone who forgets the opposite rule has to do an age-appropriate forfeit, like making the household a cup of tea.
It’s even better if you start the day without warning the kids.
INDOOR BALLOON SPORTS
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PLAYING ball games in the house isn’t advisable, but what if it’s chucking it down outside? Grab some balloons instead.
They’re unlikely to smash ornaments or windows, but allow children to let off steam and use them to play sporty activities including volleyball and tennis.
A piece of string across your most spacious room will do as a net for either.
Work on achieving the longest rally.
Arts & crafts
DRAWING CLASSES
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THERE is a use for screens that is worthwhile for creatively filling time – and that is YouTube drawing lessons.
There are two standout draw-along video lesson series on YouTube: Draw With Rob, hosted by the best-selling children’s author and illustrator Rob Biddulph, and Art Hub.
All kids need is paper and pens.
SUPERSIZE ART
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STICK a massive sheet of wallpaper lining paper (£5, B&Q), or broken down Amazon boxes, to a wall and let kids get creative with washable paint.
If you have empty shampoo bottles, washing-up liquid vessels or spray bottles that are clean, fill them with water and add a tiny drop of food colouring.
Let kids go wild, burning up some of their energy while also unleashing their inner Picasso.
SUN CATCHERS
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SEND kids into the garden or balcony to find ‘natural treasures’ – thinly sliced leaves, petals and the like.
Then lay out strips of tape, or a sheet of self-adhesive book covering roll (Self-Adhesive Book Covering Film, 60p, Wilko.com) on a flat surface, sticky side up, and arrange the collected items on the adhesive surface.
Simply top the creation with another sheet, or lines of tape, to finish, and then hang them in the window.
FORTUNE TELLERS
ASK youngsters to think about what their own life, and the wider world, might be like in the future.
Ahead of asking them, create a written list of categories such as: where they’ll live and with whom, their holidays, hobbies, work, future inventions and more.
Photocopy this, add the date and keep their predictions somewhere safe until next summer when you do it all over again.
LIFE-SIZE PORTRAITS
A SIBLING or pal lies down on a large broken down box or wallpaper lining paper, while the other child draws their outline.
Once that’s done, they draw on details, portrait-style, before colouring in or painting.
Garden or balcony
LITTLE GARDENERS
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GIVE kids an area of garden, or a pot on a balcony, and let them know it is all theirs.
For younger kids, frame it as a patch of forgotten land and say they are the brave explorers who will bring it back to life.
Older children will relish the idea of responsibility, especially if you give them some seeds or mini plants to pop in.
NATURE’S ORCHESTRA
THIS is a classic ‘set the kids a task and sit back with a coffee’ trick.
Give each child 15 minutes to find as many different natural objects as they can that make differing sounds.
Think knocking stones together, rubbing leaves, shaking dried poppy heads or blowing across a hollow stem.
Then, conduct a concert where they play their ‘instruments’.
BUG HOTEL CONSTRUCTION
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TASK kids with making a resort for your garden or balcony’s bugs.
They simply need to search in the garden for short sticks, seed heads and pine cones.
You will then need to provide them with a cut up pop or milk bottle, which they can artfully arrange the materials inside – just make sure you keep hold of that recycling.
PLANTING POTION
THERE are seeds kids can grow in summer that are fast-growing and easy-to-handle.
Radish seeds (49p, therange.co.uk) are perfect, as some varieties can be ready to harvest in as little as three weeks.
Younger kids can also decorate the family watering can with ribbons, leaves or drawings. Tell them this isn’t just water, it’s “growth potion” that awakens the seeds’ powers.
MAKE A SPRING GARDEN
THE end of the school holidays, around September for many, is a great time for kids to start planting bulbs for those spring flowers.
They can create a ‘plant pot lasagne’, with bigger bulbs at the bottom and work up in layers to the top of the plant pot, where the smallest bulbs are planted. A perfect activity for little ones and appropriate right up to teens.
You will start to see early bloomers like snowdrops (snowdrop bulbs, £1.25, moleavon.co.uk) peeking through from Jan.
WATER PISTOL SHOOTING RANGE
IN the garden, stick a row of golf tees (Bamboo Golf tees, £1.99, decathlon.co.uk) firmly into the top of a cardboard box, vertically.
Balance ping-pong balls or tiny toys like Lego people upon each tee. Players need to knock the target off the tees with water squirted from a pistol to score points.
Great for dexterity and very refreshing on a hot day.
PAPER PLANE RACES
THERE are numerous paper aeroplane folding styles which you can print off from the internet, or follow a YouTube tutorial.
Get kids to make a few variations and then hold races between the same, or different designs. Hang a hula hoop or another target up and see if your child can get their plane through.
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