How to entertain the kids during School Holidays!
Whether you’re looking for some inspiration over the Summer holiday to take advantage of six solid weeks of quality family time or simply looking to get as much done in a week during Half-Term, we’re sure you’ll find something you’ll enjoy!
While school holidays are an excellent opportunity to spend time with the kids doing something a bit different, it’s easy to feel pressured into making sure they are constantly entertained. And with entertainment, usually comes cost – which really adds up over six weeks. Not to mention thinking up an activity to do every day; you probably find you run out of ideas after the first week!
So to give you ideas but also help you save money, here’s our twist on LollyJane’s Summer Boredom Buster popsicle sticks:
Summer Activity Jar

Photo credit: LollyJane.com
You will need:
- 42 wooden lollypop sticks, one for every day of Summer
- Red, orange and green paint
- Black permanent marker
How to make it:
Start by cleaning out an old jar – you can let the kids decorate it if you like (one activity down!). Label it ‘Summer Activity Jar’.
Each lollypop stick represents an activity, and each activity will be colour coded based on how much it costs to do:
Red = Costs a lot
Orange = Costs a little
Green = Free!
Everyone’s budget will be different; so if you are happy to spend more, you can have more ‘red’ activities, if you want to spend less, have more ‘green’ activities.
Dip the ends of the lolly sticks in the paint so you have enough of each colour. Once they’ve dried, write the activity on the lolly stick. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Red (costs a lot)
- Visit the zoo
- Visit a farm
- Visit an aquarium
- Visit a soft play centre
- See a film at the cinema
- Go bowling
- Have a family meal out
- Go to a theme park
Orange (costs a little)
- Bake some delicious cakes
- Design your own T-Shirt
- Create your own home cinema set up
- Make a pizza
- Visit the swimming pool
- Create chalk art on the pavement
- Pick your own fruit
Green (FREE)
- Explore a free museum
- Visit your local park
- Go bug hunting
- Try bird watching
- Build a den outdoors
- Read a book
- Write a story
- Learn a dance routine
- Make a nature collage
- Have a scavenger hunt
- Have a recycled fashion show
- Do some yoga
- Visit an art gallery
- Visit family
- Have a playdate
- Paint with water
- Play a board or card game
- Do some gardening
- Create a play – and film it!
- Go to the library
- Have a picnic
- Have a family quiz
We hope this gives you all the inspiration you need to have a fantastic Summer holiday! Don’t forget to send us your activity ideas and photos for the Fun 4 All Summer challenge, for the chance to win a bundle of toys worth over £200.
The Summer Challenge Competition
Tags: family, holidays, summer, vacation
Categorised in: Latest News, parenting advice, play ideas
This post was written by Anna Taylor