Recently I was lucky enough to receive a Sodastream Source drinksmaker to review. I did a diet coke taste test with Sodastream going head to head with the big name cola drinks. The results are here. Regardless of the conclusion of the taste test I enjoy the Sodastream cola, and like the old school taste.In fact it has become my daily caffeinated drink of choice.
I also use my machine for fizzy water and other soft drinks, it’s brilliant, especially during the recent heatwave. So I am thrilled to be giving away a Sodastream source drinksmaker to one of my lucky readers.
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– Leave a comment sharing an idea or tip for keeping the children entertained during the school summer holidays.
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I have teens so a good trick to keep them occupied is to have LOTS of their friends around- that way they will sometimes even play together!!! LOL I make sure I have a constant stash of bacon sandwiches flowing 🙂
We go to the woods for walks, nature trails, geocaching, picnics, collecting stuff for crafts and the play area.
arrange lots of playdays with friends
Camping out in the back garden when the weather is nice!
Create a child care circle with friends to take turns to have the kids for a few hours, each mum gets a child free break and the kids get to spend time with their friends in different places
luckily this week i have quite a few blog events lined up for them so that will keep them busy! lol. but other than that will do day trips, garden, play games at home, see friends
We’ve been taping empty toilet roll tubes together to make tunnels for cars today. Cheap and fun!
I saw a great idea recently – a weekly plan of goals to achieve. You could of course do it via a boredom jar – lots of activities that when they say ‘I’m bored’ they pull one out of the jar.
get them outside as much as possible
My tip would be to always have a craft activity stashed away for a rainy day
we live in the countryside so there is lots of walks and pits to go fishing in
We like to pack a picnic and go on a pretend bear hunt.
Baking cakes!! It’s what we’re doing tomorrow 🙂
We bake. Constantly. I am going to be so fat by September.
We try to squeeze in lots of day trips and visits to family and friends.
Lots of water play, paint, sand and chalks and as much time outside as possible!
Pre plan activities make sure you have something to cover the nice days , like days on the beach. To rainy days doing arts and crafts, playing games etc
Crafts and also garden toys x
We’ve signed the odler kids up to a Summer Reading Challenge at our local library. They need to read 6 books over the holiday and they collect stickers along the way, they also run activities that the older ones can go and do while the littlest and I read some new books!
we love to do craft and get out on the bikes
Plan lots of things in small time blocks and keep and eye on what is free – two of mine are accessing extra swimming lessons this week for free
Get them to help pack for a picnic with all their favourite sandwiches, drinks and snacks. Then go out and enjoy the sun with your picnic out to where a park is or even in the back garden and play games together as a family.
I like to take my son bug hunting in the garden or at the park, you can buy little bug hunting kits with a magnifying glass so you can catch and examine little critters. It’s fun and educational.
Why not visit local museums they be great things for children to look at and do.
they be learning some history at same time.
We always keep lots of rainy day activities handy!
take them to the seaside
We spend as much time outside as possible, usually tending to our garden, growing veg and doing imagination play, as well as exploring all the country parks that we have been wanting to go to but have not had the weather to do it until now.
I love soda stream so fingers crossed x
Laura x
Make flower perfume
I like scavenger hunts and beach walks 🙂
Get stuff out from the back of the cupboard that hasn’t been played with for ages.
Lots of play dates with friends keeps us both sane and a bottle of wine in the fridge!
Write some activities down and put them all in a hat for the kids to pick one out each day. It adds a bit of excitement to stuff and you can control what the kids can pick from!
Have plenty of craft activities to do
Arts and crafts- mine love making a mess!
Let them help plan activities and adjust to suit according to weather etc. Have a mix of indoor (cinema and swim pool) and outdoors (simple picnics, treasure hunts in garden, making dens) Simple things will keep them occupied for ages if you make them exciting.
Bake some cakes
Strawberry picking!!
We had a rake about charity shops and found a great children’s cookbook.
We arm ourselves with a shopping list and aim to do 2-3 recipes a week.
If the weathers miserable like today we have a duvet day with lots of treats 🙂
Have a day in the woods – pack a picnic and go Gruffalo hunting (little ones) or do den building! Don’t forget to pack sun cream and drinks and a picnic blanket!
Fun days at the beach, picnics and spending time in the garden 🙂
I turn our garden into a little adventure playground, ball pool comes out, paddling pool gets filled up, sand pit ready to go, tunnel in place and then we just have fun together as a family. You can’t beat that can you? 🙂 xx
We spend as much time outdoors as possible, adventures in the woods, picnics at the park, walks along the canal… we plan on going camping soon too 🙂 xx
I have lots of days out planned whilst also moving house. Once we moved there will be lots of room decoration that my eldest will love being in control of!
Scavenger hunts 🙂
Get them aking for picnics out, cupcakes, cheesestraws and making their own sandwiches.
Research local places of interest – museums are normally free, picnics, walks along canals.
In bad weather, plenty of craft or board games.
My niece loves to use coloured chalk to draw pictures on the patio slabs – which soon wash off the next time it rains.
Angela
Have paper and colouring pencils to hand always, does matter where you are, kids love to draw
For little kids in the heat – fill up spray bottles with cool water & let them loose in the garden 🙂 great fun & cools them too
We used to take turns in coffee mornings that way the children had someone else to play with and us mum’s had a chance to catch up and chat
During the holidays I buy a lot of washable paints then let the kids go and paint our patio. They love it and its good for the older ones as well as the toddler. The best part is it washes away easily ready to paint again tomorrow. Xx
Send them to their grandmothers.
a set of jumbo chalks give my 3 year old and 7 year old sons hours of fun
Mine isn’t in school yet but summertime has been all about paint and water so far.
For young children I prefer playing with some water and water colours.
Find local places which have free activities for kids during the summer holidays
Have a box on the table and each day put some different activities in it – stickers, crafts, colouring pages, printed activities etc for them them to dip into
We spend alot of time inventing adventures in the garden …pirates and soldiers and tea parties …imagination at its best …
get the kids involved in everything, gardening, cooking, baking, cleaning, paddling, sand castle building, foraging. The list is endless.
I bust out the kid’s water table and let them soak each other, always buys me at least an hour of peace and quit 😉
I’m bored jar!
When we were bored last week we looked for a pick your own farm! Great fun with Lauren and it teaches them that fruit doesn’t just pop up in Tesco! X
Go for walks in the woods or create some time capsules and get them to find interesting things to fill them with.
we make a scrapbook of all the things we do and find.
keep busy – picnics, trips to the park and museums – look out for local events too!
We try to do something different each day – a trip to the park, local farm, paddling pool in the yard if the weather is nice. If we are indoors we play games or get the paints out.
go on a train trip. if you use your family and friends railcard its cheaper
pets are great for getting kids out, especially older kids – if you dont have a dog borrow one!
I take my son to the beach and the park alot during the holidays. We also go out for picnics and play games in the garden. He likes playing in his paddling pool with his little friends and playing on his trampoline. When the weather isn’t great for going outside, we stay in and play fun learning games inside, he finds them so fun he doesn’t realize he’s learning at the same time (he’s 4) I also do face painting with him and we make things out of old yogurt pots and cereal boxes etc… I also turn housework into a game so I end up getting a little help with that too LOL 😀
darleneovenstone@hotmail.co.uk
Crafts, crafts and more crafts!
i try to keep my little ones out as much as possible even if it just a long walk to tire them out but if not lots of activity’s like baking painting and bits and bobs x
Get them a big bucket of pavement chalk and let them go wild with it
In weather like this, frozen frubes and send them in garden with super soakers
I buy colouring books from the pound shop and the kids make me an art gallery x
Playdates, paddling pools and ice lollies.
With a teenager and a toddler we have to vary things to suit everybody. Lots of roleplay with the toddler like setting up a shop and setting up house in the playhouse, and the with teenager we seem to have a lot of sleepovers and an endless supply of food.
Take up geocaching. If you have a smartphone, you can download an app for free and start finding treasure boxes where you live. It’s very exciting and a fab free activity that gets you outdoors, using your thinking skills to work out where it could be hidden.
Lots of picnics and trips to the park.
Always a good idea to find out what free activities your local church or supermarket is doing.
Also going through old toys and games to put up on eBay to get them to help fund days out. Plus their rooms will be spotless.
We all work on a “timetable” together on a Sunday evening so everyone has an input and they know exactly what will be happening when. It seems to work well.
At the start of the holidays write a list of things you can do and include lots of free things, research with your kids places to go. Then plan the weeks off including some boring tasks in between trips out. Shouldnt get too bored then 🙂
take them crab fishing of the nearest pier, its cheap, fun and can last all day
On wet days teach your child to knit, sew or crochet. If you can’t knit there are plenty of videos on the internet to help you to.
Going down the beach is the best way to wear them out, unless its raining.. in which case you need a big supply of paper and craft stuff 🙂
keep cool in the hot weather. drink plenty of water.
Get the kids baking some treats for themselves
keep them busy
Im a child minder so my trick is to let my kids help me look after the little kids, they love to help out and look forward to the children coming.
I invite all of there friends over and ask them to bring a game each.
Keeps them busy for hours
friends and sleepovers always welcome
We do at least one fun activity daily, painting, a trip to the park , a dvd with popcorn, cooking. That way there is always something to look forward to
Mini Assault Course in the garden
An obstacle course in the garden x
skittles in the garden
hide lots of sweets/choc s in garden and have a treasure hunt
mine love treasure hunts on the beach no matter what the weather as long as its not tipping down.
ive joined the National Trust, so spending lots of time walking and picnics
I have a teen boys and i find out 12 ft pool filled with inflatables keeps them busy for hours on a hot sunny day 🙂
Simple things are good. Take paper, pencils and go out and try drawing what you see. Have a competition to see who is the best.
picnics along the river !!
We will go for walks and picnics! 🙂
I collect all the large boxes my goods come on and then the grand kids use them to make tunnels and houses.
A treasure hunt in the garden is always fun as is hide-and-seek in the garden too. Then you can get the children to help you with some gardening which they always love if you keep them involved and get them to help you pick the produce too.
Lots of outdoor play! stick wellies on and make mud pies if its wet!
Trawl some charity shops and car boots prior to holidays and get a stock of old family favourites – for both indoor and outdoor. You can always add your own twists to a game of Monopoly or Quoits for the garden. Run your own games olympics over the holidays. Something to look forward to on the rainy days, competing for gold medal status etc
Treasure hunts in the garden are always great fun.
I get the kids to make a scrapbook diary, they write, draw, make, create things to put in it everyday, keeps them busy and they have something to remember the holidays by.
Sports day type races in the garden or a treasure hunt
It;s got to be garden camping, we love that!
@bumpwearclaire
Create a treasure hunt either at home or in the woods, park or beach
Providing it’s not raining I think planting seeds and small plants is a good way to involve them.
ORGANISE ACTIVITY DAYS EG PIRATE DAY, MONSTER DAY ETC AND THEME FUN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THESE
CAN BE EDUCATIONAL ASWELL!
I give them paintbrushes and a bowl of water and ask them to paint the fence. It takes ages and they love it. They see the fence change colour with the water and think its fab.
Picnic s in the park, bike rides , BBQ ,swimming in the sea and making sandcastles. Every year we do the same things. But we always have lots of fun.
Getting them out and about is best! We go on lots of day trips, with a friend, grandparents or just me/my husband. Museums, picnics, soft play, walks in the countryside/woods, farm parks, cinema – or just the paddling pool in the garden is a favourite x
Get plenty of art supplies in glitter, glue, felt tips, paper etc and make your own play dough. Great for when theres bad weather and they are bored
Lots of baking with picnics to eat it all.
We have a veg/fruit patch, so they are left in charge of this over the summer. Picking fruit and veg daily and then they want to help with the cooking as well!
Try and get out of the house as much as possible even if it’s just in the garden or park.They can eat,play and paint outside 🙂
I Spy books are educational and occupy the children for hours, I bought my granddaughter the ISpy book for cars and shes loves watching for all the different makes and models
Take them on picnics, new places each time and take games and frisbees. Local campsites is somewhere different and usually quite cheap, when we went last time we took a paddling pool and everything. Take them to local places you don’t get time to go to any other time, and appreciate the town you live in and what it has to offer.
We go on treasure hunts to find nature’s list I have written or using Ispy books! Educational and when they have found all the items we go for ice cream!
Making good use of the area you live in. We are lucky enough to live near the coast and also some woodland areas. We have some great free days out there (well maybe the cost of a round of ice creams!) and the kids love it!
Going for walks along the river and going to the lock keepers cottage where there is a board that you write the names of the creatures you have seen along the way.
I look for free places to take Sophie on days out & make sure I have wet plans & dry plans just incase the British weather decides to be British! I recommend checking the internet, tourist information & generally asking round.
Messy play!! Which child doesn’t like that? 😀
As long as you’re using washable paints/colours and the children have got aprons or old clothes on, you’re good to go! 😀
Fill a paddling pool
A good way of keeping kids entertained either in the car or at home is to do a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt. During car journeys I give the kids a list of things to spot, i.e.: a white horse, green car, brown cow, blue door etc. When doing a scavenger Hunt, find a bottle top, black feather, round stone etc. Then a small prize for the winner.
Find local play or activity groups, this way your kids can be entertained and you can meet fellow parents too!
Nice weather – Playgrounds, parks and picnics. Raining – TV and DVDs. If all else fails, there’s always the Grandparents 😉
baking cakes and cookies if the weather is not good but if the sun is shining then we get outdoors and play games
Alternate “fun days” where you do something organised, with more chilled days so they don’t get too hyped up.
With the fantastic weather we’ve had this year, it has been all about the outdoors 🙂 Walks, beaches, paddling pools, picnics – divine!
We take a picnic to the local park with friends.
take them out. It can be just a walk but it keeps them entertained!
A Ball and a field keep mine entertained for hours
Play giant garden games like comnect four & jenga xxx 🙂
plan in advance what your going to do that way the kids will always be occuppied i buy loads of craft stuff keeps them happy for hours
A hosepipe in the garden – they play with it for hours. It keeps them cool, and even the dog joins in.
picnics with old fashioned games, rounders, cricket, badminton, tag etc… take drawing stuff to get kids to draw the suroundings the trees etc … nowt better than free fun
We try and have one day out a day to give the kids something to look forward to. Then its a mix of baking, playdoh, games in the garden, drawing, hide and seek, and making use of the free facilities we have near us including the park and duck pond
Lots of variation. Loads of cheap and free activities to keep them busy such as museums, parks on a good day, even simple things like washing doll clothes outside in a basin and hanging them out to dry or making a ‘tent’ out of an old sheet.
Lots of crayons, colouring books, playdoh etc and plenty of juice and treats
Every dry day is spent at the park – fresh air and exercise with our picnic lunch. Wet days are ‘cinema’ days – dvd’s with popcorn & lemonade and hot dog lunches! Can’t believe we are a third of the way through it – actually enjoying it this year 🙂
Anything creative- painting, glue pictures, sand, model making AS LONG AS it’s done in the garden!!
I use the local newspaper and library to find out about events, usually free. We also have a UCAN which organises fab events in the holidays. All children under 17 swim for free in our borough so we maximise that opportunity. We also get together as group of parents and organise days at each others houses.
Make a scrap book of your summer. Everyday get them to take photos or if too young take photos for them and stick them in. They can write about the day of what they have seen, played with or done. they can paint or draw pictures. if you’ve been somewhere they can stick in the tickets or something special like a booklet of the visited place. What they put in it is endless. At the end of the holidays they can look back and see what a fun time they really had
take them for walks to a park
On sunny days always let them be super creative with glue and paints outside,theres less mess
Recently we had a bif sort out of games we needed to get rid of. Bu thaving dug out the games the children then wanted to play them. So parents and children spent happy time after dinner playing board games pass the bomb was a favourite!
Take kids to cinema or go on a fun holiday!!
potato prints
Bubbles – my kids will spend hours in the garden blowing bubbles. I cut the bottoms off small pop bottles, tie an old piece of towel over the bottom, dip them in the bubble solution and blow through the top of bottle to make bubble snakes. kids compete to see who can make the longest.
We’ve already had 5 weeks of holidays, but we spent it on walks, picnics, stone skimming, bonfires on the beach toasting marshmallows…… Loads to do with kids and no need to spend a fortune keeping them amused.
Take as much advantage of cheap cinema kids club shows as you can
We go for a walk everyday, it really does keep them occupied and they never argue whilst walking about
Camping on sunny days or dvd from the library on rainy days
Go for nature walks and picnics fun and keeps them fit
I have a very full box of arts and crafts stuff, and a fully stocked printer – so far this holiday we have made a tank, a space ship and all kinds of other wonders!
make sure there are plenty of garden toys
Free swimming at local sports centres
We are going to paint a big cardboard rocket in the garden, it will keep them busy for days!
Walk to the park the long way round!
We’ve found Geocaching is a brilliant way to keep them active and occupied when we go out – plus it keeps us fit as well! Also we set them a puzzle to do for the week and if they finish it by the end of the week then they get to choose an activity of their choice to do on Friday/Saturday. That’s usually popular, and I get to see a lot of films at the cinema over the summer with them as they love going to the cinema too!
lots of outdoors activities… it works for us
Picnics are always fun – even if it rains and you have an indoors picnic
If your child has a camera, give them a theme for the week and then let them take lots of photo’s and make up a collage around that theme.
Back garden Olympics with the zaniest races you can think of: Who can win the race carrying a glass of water, who can stuff the most balloons down their shirt, and so on.
Get the involved with the cooking, make making dinner and tea something fun!..
Lots of colouring books and crafty items, always plan for wet weather when they are stuck in the house. x
Nature trails, even if only in the garden.
Mark out the garden edges into two foot square and ask the children to write down what they can see – plants, insects, animals, et.d
Plenty of Picnics in the park, also check local website for organised play sessions, here in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Wildlife organise Wildplay sessions where they go round local parks and the kids cando activities such as shelter building, nature trails, games, crafts and much more!
Plenty of fresh air, meeting up with friends to keep them active and having fun together 🙂
the best are wooden spoon, plastic bowls etc.
Get baking, things that don’t take too long like fairy cakes, and let them loose with icing, and decorations. also check out your local library, there is usually a reading challenge in the holidays, mine used to love this
Write a list of things to spot on a walk, then go out and try to find them. Makes a walk much more fun!
Love the soda streem
picnics in the park, are cheap and cheerful
Take them to the great free museums and art galleries in London & picnics in London Parks.
a Treasure Hunt – hiding little pressies/sweets around the house & garden 🙂
organise a treasure hunt in the garden, endless fun and games!!
We visit our Local Library a lot as they always have activities happening, last week they had a fun day with Owls and all sorts of activities. Plus they have the Summer Reading Challenge which my children are also participating in.
This is a great looking and functioning soda stream but we had to take it back initially because of marks on the front casing.so I would love this
Picnic in the park with lots of games and activities to keep them entertained
We love family cycle runs and choosing a regular route means we can aim to beat our times or go further each time. It’s great time spent together and we are all getting fitter.
plenty of arts and crafts yellow moon website are great also days out to the local park
Got the kids small metaldetectors
Join the local school play scheme
In July before they break up I go through all the local parenting magazines, leisure centres and councils on what activites/offers they are doing over the summer. I have a jam packed summer with my 3 with loads of free/cheap activities planned with a few specials ones here and there as not to break the bank lol Preparing what to do for either wet/dry weather
Oh and local deals websites are also great with half price entry to local attractions 🙂
I don’t think there is a single day we have without something on??!
Get an allotment and teach them about the growing cycle and food chain.
My tip is to do the really fun stuff at the end of the holidays so that they remember it! ;0)
Get kids to put on a performance, where they need to make props, rehearse, etc. This can keep them occupied for ages. One time my kids spent days making hand puppets out of old socks, buttons and pieces of felt using fabric glue, then rehearsed silly songs “sung” with different woofs & barks, which they performed at a family barbecue, using an old sheet strung across a washing line as a “stage”. Lots of fun for everyone and costs next to nothing.
lots of arts n crafts/baking n nature walks/picnics
Pinterest offers so may good and cheap ideas, I’ve found that going to the library with the kids means that they have lots of books for when they are bored on rainy days and I find that getting books such as baking books, encyclopedias etc keep them entertained when the fiction runs out of entertainment value. However whenever the weather is nice its outside and lets make the most of walks and most importantly the park 🙂
We collect pebbles from the beach, wash them and paint stripes, funny faces and pictures on them. Let them dry and paint clear nail varnish over the paint to seal it in. Also put the date on the back and add them to the rockery in the garden. In years to come, they can let their children see the rockery and I will always have a reminder of my children when they are adults too.
Have lots of crafts stocked up
Head to the nearest coast for an afternoon of Crabbing, then release them all and see who’s is first back to the water, (bacon is a great bait)!
We try to spend as much time outdoors as possible – going for walks, picnics etc.
Check the local paper for volunteer opportunities and workshops at charity projects. Not only does it keep the kids occupied but also gives them a rewarding experience and sense of achievement of giving something back to the local community