The school Easter holidays have officially begun. Personally I love it when the children are off school. No school runs or timetabled activities means we can slow down, enjoy each others company and a break from the norm. However school holidays can be stressful, sometimes the children get bored and irritable with each other or I start to find the constant demands for my attention wearing. So, as I’m sure regular readers won’t be surprised to hear, I like to plan our holidays in advance. I schedule day trips, lazy P.J days and smaller activities. Always trying to achieve the right balance of fun and rest. So these are my ideas for the Easter holidays. Hope you have fun, whatever you do.

Ideas for the Easter holidays

Get outside. Children and the outdoors are the perfect match. They can run, shout, roughhouse, and climb. Outside they are not constrained by all the indoor rules, which means you can relax and enjoy yourself too. We visit playgrounds, parks, National Trust sites, Forestry Commission forests, and local outdoor walking areas. Sometimes we take little bags, and collect outdoor treasures (stones, sticks, pinecones etc). Other times we take our scooters, or toys like a ball or a frisbee.  There is no bad mood that cannot be cured by a blast of fresh air and a run around.

Visit a local attraction. There’s no need to drive miles, find out what’s on offer in your local area, be it museums, art galleries, a wildlife park, and plan in a visit. In Bristol we are very lucky to have a science museum, zoo, multiple art galleries and a very child friendly museum on our doorstep.

Plan a bigger adventure together. Venture further afield. Have a family discussion, and if necessary a vote, about a bigger adventure. We’ve visited The Warner Bros Studio Tour,  Peppa Pig World, and Westonbirt Arboretum and the children still talk about our big adventures regularly. My top tip is to take snacks, drinks, and food with you, as it will save you money and the hassle of trying to find something suitable for the children when you get there.

Relax at home. One thing I’ve learned is to not over schedule our holidays. It can be tempting to pack something in every day but that leaves us all feeling a little burned out. Instead I try to balance our days out with lots of time at home. Often we even stay in our P.J’s. We play board games, do crafty things, bake, watch movies, play video games and generally do what we fancy. We all love relaxing at home days.