32 Things to do with the Kids during the Holidays!
Holidays always seem to come around quickly!
With a little pre-planning school holidays do not need to be stressful. It is always a good idea to arrange different activities so your kids don’t go crazy and you don’t get too stressed out!
Updated July 2024
Technology is everywhere
And so readily available, but while there are some benefits it letting kids watch and play with their tablets, computers and Ipads it is a good idea that they use their little minds to do alternative activities.
So, don’t get stressed with Holidays – have fun with them
Let’s get you inspired – here is our list of things you can do during the holidays with your kids!
Inside Ideas
Drive-in movie
Get the kids to decorate boxes or the washing basket like a car and have a drive-in movie afternoon, pick a family-friendly movie and don’t forget to supply treats!
Scavenger hunts
Hide all different things like bugs, farm animals, Lego men or treats around your house and let the kids have a scavenger hunt.
Painters tape
You can do quite a few fun things with painters tape like make roads or a big city for cars, trucks, bikes and buses. If you have Lego or blocks, make buildings and tunnels for the city or use boxes, cardboard rolls, toilet rolls for tunnels and buildings.
Have a tea party in your living room
Get your kids to invite their favourite toys as guest of honour.
Baking
if your kids are old enough to help out in the kitchen, do some baking – make pikelets, muffins or cookies.
Get crafting
make things out of polystyrene balls, pipe cleaners, felt and jiggly eyes.
Salt dough fun
make things out of salt dough like hand and footprints. The recipe for salt dough is 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour and ½ cup of water – mix and knead it. Then roll it out and get the kids to press their hand or foot into it. Bake the salt dough on a low heat (100 degrees) in the oven for about 3 hours – once it’s cooled get the kids to paint them.
Lego
If you are like us and have a ton of Lego get the kids building! Make houses, cars, dinosaurs, animals, boats. If you have a box or some bookshelves they could treat it as a house and make Lego furniture.
Sensory tub
Use a container (the under bed storage ones a great for this) add rice, beans or oats and hide toys in it, or let the kids use it for their cars and trucks.
Cardboard box activity
If you have some old boxes lying around get the kids to decorate them with stickers, colour pencils, felts and paint – this can keep them busy for a while!
Playdough
If you don’t have play dough you can make some. A recipe we use is 1 cup of flour, ½ cup salt, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon oil, 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar and food colouring. Mix all together in a pot and cook slowly stirring, it will then go gluggy and thicken. Knead after cooking. Make shapes, faces, cars, bugs, animals and flowers out of it.
Bowling
have some empty bottles? Fill the bottom of them with either water or rice to act as a weight – get a ball and play bowling down the hallway.
Felt fun
You can get felt from places like Amazon, Spotlight, Kmart and most crafting shops – get the kids to make puppets and put on a show.
Storybook character dress up
Get the kids to dress up as their favourite storybook character and then have a picnic!
Outside ideas
Pavement chalk
Is a lot of fun. If you have space make roads that the kids can bike around. Draw things likes rainbows, bugs, trains, houses and shapes. Make an obstacle course using the chalk, draw a long line for the kids to walk on and then circles for them to jump too and then zigzags that they have to hop on, and a circle they have to spin in – add letters and numbers that the kids have to yell out when they land on them.
Go for a bike ride
Pop on your helmets and go for an adventure bike ride. If your little ones are not too keen around roads take them to an area that doesn’t have vehicles like a walkway by the river.
Go for a bushwalking adventure
Check out your local bushwalk locations, pack some lunch and plenty of fluids and go for a bushwalking adventure.
Treasure garden hunt
Hide cars, dolls, treats or soft toys amongst your garden and get the kids to find them. Have you heard of Geo Caching? Millions of geo caches are hidden all over the world. You can download the app and try to find them in your neighbourhood!
Bubbles
Are always fun to pop! Wear the kids out by making them run, jump and skip for them.
Water fun
Get a large container (like the under bed storage container mentioned above). Fill ¼ of it with water, add food colouring and a bunch of toys like dinosaurs, farm animals, little people figurines, cars, trucks, sponges, plastic spoons, bowls and sieves. This usually keeps my children busy for ages!
Sandpit fun
If you have a sandpit bury treasure in it for the kids to find.
Balloon play
Blow up balloons and let the kids play with them outside. If you have a trampoline the kids can bounce while they try and catch or hit their balloon.
Set up a tent
Have a picnic, pretend to camp or get the kids to chill out and read books in it.
Go for a picnic
Pack a picnic basket with everyone’s favourite treats and head on down to a park or river for a picnic. Make it more fun and get your kids to bring along their favourite stuff toy for a teddy bears picnic.
Visit a park
Collect things like leaves, flowers and sticks. Take them home and get the kids to make a picture out of what they have collected.
Close to a beach?
If the weather is on the cool side dress warm and head to the beach, take a picnic, shovel and spade and maybe some ball games. If the sun is shining don’t forget hats and sunscreen.
Visit local museums
Take a history tour of your local museum and find out some fun and interesting facts about your local area.
Visit play centers
Like lollipops, trampoline world or inflatable world if you are lucky enough to be close to these.
Close to a Zoo?
Take the children to the zoo for the day. Give them a camera and get them to take a bunch of photos. Then on another day get them to make up a storybook about all the animals and things they saw using the photos they took.
Park hunt
If the weather stays nice for the duration of the holidays, visit a new park in your town every day or every second day. Have a look at your local council website for a list or map of local parks.
Build a small herb or vegetable garden and get the children involved
Herb gardens are easy to create and usually pretty easy to maintain. Plant delicious herbs like basil, thyme, parsley, coriander and rosemary. Once they have grown look for a recipe to add them too or top your favourite pizza with your fresh herbs.
Make an activity jar
Place a bunch of ideas (like the ones listed in this post) on individual pieces of paper and get the kids to lucky dip pull one out each day.
I hope this has given you a few ideas to keep your children entertained over the holidays!
Need more ideas?
Don’t forget to save this post to your Kids board on Pinterest!
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