I always used to hate the summer holidays before DS2 reached 5 years of age. Having two boys constantly running off & a husband who works shifts meant I often ended up stuck at home, sleep deprived with two very energetic & bored children. So for the first time I intend to be super organised (those that know me will know this doesn't come easily). Over the next 6 weeks I'll be posting & sharing the activities and adventures that we've been getting up to and hopefully this will give you some inspiration of what to do with your little ones. My boys are 4 & 6 but most of our activities could be modified so they suit younger or older children - just use it as a starting point for your own ideas.
As mentioned before on my blog we now have a Black Labrador Puppy called "Beulah" who is absolutely gorgeous but also provides a bit of a challenge over the summer break. At the moment she chews everything in sight and when excited she jumps up (mostly strangers & already she has improved with my boys). I am in the process of training her but I'm not totally comfortable having other people's children round and I don't want to set her up to fail.
Day 1:
- Hide & Seek outside - My eldest & me took the puppy for a short walk to the village green (North Elmham, Norfolk). It's a great open space with a path running across it. I distracted Beulah whilst Bubba hid behind a tree & then with great enthusiasm she set off sniffing him out with a reward on finding him (if she didn't jump up!). We did this a few times & they both loved it.
- Planning - The after school club were selling off some of their items on the last day of term which is where I snapped up a whiteboard with the days of the week on & we started to plan the next week ahead. Bubba did the writing (handwriting practise) & we summarised what to write in the small spaces together. We've also got a list of activities that everyone would like to do in the holidays so we can keep track & tick them off.
Inside toys - Disney Fairies Playmat, Lego Duplo, Disney Characters & Moshi Monsters. A city built from bricks and the mat was the countryside.
Kitchen Table - we had a handwriting whiteboard out with some different coloured pens (Poundland). We also had colouring books.
Movie & Popcorn - I had puppy class in the evening so I got the boys ready for bed before the babysitter arrived and settled them down with a new (secondhand) DVD & some popcorn.
It's probably worth mentioning that the boys were reading & going in the garden intermittently allday aswell which is normal for us.
Day 1 survived!
