Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Most parents are dreading those long school holidays when the kids get bored and as a result start bickering or picking fights with their siblings.
But the school holidays don’t have to be a stressful time for both kids and parents. By getting the kids pro-active by doing kid’s activities that will boost their creativity and keeping their young minds occupied, you can provide them with hours of fun and keeping them entertained at the same time.
8 Fun kids holiday activities
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Cupcake decorating competition
Get the kids involved by making a batch of cookies or cupcakes and have them decorating them. Put out a few bowls with sprinkles, candies and a rainbow of icing colours.
How it works:
- Each kid gets an equal allocation of cupcakes to decorate to be judged by other family members. The winner can get a reward for example – no chores for that evening or choosing the movie for movie night.
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Movie marathon
A great idea is to choose a movie series such as Paw patrol or movies with a specific theme such as dinosaurs, comedies or movies with animals.
How it works:
- Get the whole family involved by making fun invitations for everyone that will be attending. Every family member gets a task. For example: the “projectionist” is in charge of the remote and can pick the first movie. Kids can sell handmade popcorn and tickets from their box office made from a box with a hole as the window. This is an activity that can be shared within the group of friends where turns can be made at different houses where the events will take place.
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Have a craft day
Everyone knows that there is a world of fun to be having contained in a craft box. There are so many craft project ideas available for kids of all ages. The great thing about craft projects are that you can do them with things that are find in and around the house. The possibilities are endless.
- Why don’t you try “nature painting”.
How it works:
- Mix some tempera paint with a small amount of glue and get the kids to use natural objects such as flowers, leaves, pinecones, cotton buds or feathers to brush the paint onto the paper. Some of the items can be left on the paper as well to create a 3D effect.
- Subscribe to activity boxes
- There are companies that offer a monthly activity box for children of different ages. These companies take special care to include all sorts of fun activities to keep those little people entertained. Everything that you need for these projects are included in the box.
- Make homemade presents
Help your kids to make homemade presents for family members.
How it works:
- Smooth rocks can be painted or decorated or made into cute little animals. They can be gifted as paper weights or sentimental ornaments for grandparents.
- Another idea is to decorate wooden picture-frames with pictures of themselves. Decorate the frame with shells, beads, paint, paper quilling or glitter.
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Theatre day
Help the kids to make a stage and finger puppets for a puppet show.
How it works:
- Make use of some leftover single socks (we all have some of those lying around) and add felt eyes and tongues or sew on a few buttons for the eyes.
- Make paper bag puppets and decorate them with coloured paper.
- For a small stage, you can make use of stick puppets. Simply draw figures on paper, cut them out and stick them onto sosatie sticks.
- The stage can be made from a box. Or simply drape a linen sheet over a broom stick between two couches.
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Camping in the living room / kid’s room
Go camping in the living room is a great activity that kids will love.
How it works:
- You can set up a small tent in the living room or even in one of the kids’ bedrooms if you have the space. Or if you don’t have a tent or the space is limited you can build a fort with spare blankets and linen. Child-safe LED candles or fairy lights for an amazing effect. Serve up some hotdogs or snacks and the kids can exchange stories until they fall asleep.
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Make salt dough ornaments
Kids can let their creative juices flow by making salt dough figurines, letters, animals or dough ornaments.
How it works:
- Making fun things from salt dough can help promote fine motor skills by sculpting, painting and threading.
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Organize a masquerade party
Organize a masquerade party at your house for the weekend. During the week you can get the kids involved with the planning side of things.
How it works:
- Let the kids make homemade invites to send out to a few friends they would like to invite.
- Have them make their own masks out of paper plates (or free printables), elastic bands and craft accessories such as paint, feathers, glitter etc.
- Make homemade jewellery
There are so many ideas for jewellery craft projects for kids. This can be a fun activity for everyone.
How it works:
- Use macaroni or plastic beads and some string to make homemade jewellery items. This activity is more fun for girls, but boys can enjoy it too by making items for family or their friends from the opposite sex.
Conclusion:
Kids holidays don’t have to be a dull and boring affair. By getting them involved in fun kid’s holiday activities you can make this a memorable time for the whole family. Not all projects have to be a costly affair. A lot of these projects can be done with supplies and items that you already have at your disposal.
Kids grow up way too fast and this is the time for making memories and making every minute count.
There are countless crafty and DIY projects available online that you can draw inspiration from for safe and fun holiday adventures that your kids will remember for the rest of their lives.
Beebee Box Giveaway
Finding fun activities and innovative toys that stimulate children’s interacting and learning through play is so important to us. beebeebox was born from our passion to share what we’ve learnt about development through play with other parents. We invite you to follow your child in play, engage your child in conversations about play, and learn from the play experts!
Stand a chance to win a Bertie Fun Box to the value of R600 from Beebeebox by entering your details into the form below.
DESCRIPTION: Crazy Adventuring, Pop + Catching, Racing, Sniffing, Bouncing + Snacking!!! Perfect for 6 to 9 year olds
Increase your chances of winning by gaining extra entries:
- Leave a comment below this blog post sharing your tips on how to keep your kids busy during the holidays
- Share this post on social networks, tag @Kaboutjie and include the hashtag #winwithkaboutjie
Please note that this competition is open to residents of South Africa only.
Please be sure to check our competition terms.
***COMPETITION CLOSED***
I keep my kids busy by going to parks and play centres. Theye love to paint and write so I have paint and things always on demand for them.
My kids love to make stuff to destroy lol.. They’re also interested in drawing.. So a page /colouring book.. With their crayons.. Usually keeps them occupied for an hour. Then it’s another hour of playing in their cars.. They help me to bake (usually eating all the chocolate)
LOL I know what you mean – you start off with a bag of chocolate chips and by the time you are ready to add those to the batter there are only crumbs left.
I take my kids to the park or we take walk,we also do fun activities like painting, drawing and colouring.
I take my 5 year old to the cinema go watched cartoons and just have quality time with each other and normally at home he helps me bake cake and yes I do let him help me in the kitchen
The kids love to play, go swimming, play board games. They enjoy Outdoor activities in the park. They also love watching movies, go to the animal farm, feed birds. The girls love baking cupcakes.