School holidays are here again and with winter well and truly upon us, I thought I would come up with some activities you can do indoors to keep your children entertained, without breaking the bank.
- Visit the library - pop down to your local library… not only can you check out books to take home with you, but each library also runs special events during the school holidays, most of these are free, unless otherwise stated… check out this link for details of what's on at a library near you.
- Homemade Playdough - it is easy to make and is fun for kids of all ages. Here's a recipe to make your own non-toxic playdough… make sure you store it in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge and it should last for up to 6 months.
- Build a Blanket Fort - this provides hours of entertainment… first there is the building part (which will probably require some help from you) but then there are the hours that they will spend hidden away entertaining themselves. To build a fort you will need blankets or sheets, chairs or the back of a couch, pillows and cushions to lie on… here is a step by step guide of how to make a simple fort… or if you are feeling inspired, you could try one of these ideas.
- Movie Day - pop down to your local video store and hire some movies… they usually run deals, especially during the week, or if you subscribe to SKY Movies they run a special kids movie channel during the school holidays… get some popcorn and blankets and you are good to go.
- Create - cover your table (a plastic table cloth from the $2 shop works wonders) and set up glues, paints, pens, glitter, scissors, paper, felt tips, feathers, empty toilet rolls, coloured paper or card, whatever you have lying around or whatever you can pick up cheaply from your local $2 shop and let them go wild. They can make anything from cards, bookmarks, pictures, fairy wands, mobiles… they are only limited by their imagination.
- Finger Painting - again this recipe is easy to make and non-toxic. If finger painting is not your thing, just pop brushes in the jars and you can paint away… or you could make potato stamps for something a little bit different.
- Colouring In - is always fun and can keep the kids entertained for an hour or two… why not enter our colouring competition and be in to win?
Let us know if you have any other activities that your kids love to do…