I was having a cuppa with a friend this morning and we were talking about what to do in the summer holidays and we realised that I know LOADS of things, so thought I would share ;-).
Each week of the holidays I also put together a printed schedule for each week and pin it to a wall, so Miss NHM can see what’s happening for the rest of the week. It shows what we are doing each morning, lunchtime, afternoon and evening. I find that it stops the “what are we doing today” questions that I used to get all through the summer holidays!! :-D.
- Book at least one pyjama day during the summer holidays! If only to “celebrate” not having to do the school run!!!
2. Our local Hobbycraft have FREE craft sessions on a Saturday for an hour in the morning.
3. Go paddling in a local stream
4. Take a picnic and explore near to where you live. There is something awesome about eating outside. We are huge fans of breakfast picnics for something a little bit different!
5. If the weather is good, go to a local splash park like Eastrop Park or Chineham Splash Park
6. Find out all of your local parks and go for a skate or bike ride to each one. This post is really good for finding good play parks and parks local to you: Local Parks and open spaces
7. Go Geo-cashing in your local woods. It’s really easy to do. Just download the app to your phone and off you go. It’s a great way to get children outside. Or Pokemon or Harry Potter hunting if that’s your thing ;-).
8. Book up a FREE session at our local Apple store in Festival Place. There at least two sessions every day and more in the summer holidays and they are a great way to occupy your child/children for an hour or two. You need to book in advance though and you have to stay with your child.
9. Boring as it is, school shoes are a necessity if you’re child is in school. I highly recommend Diane at Shoes2Adore on the way to Tadley. But book soon because she gets VERY booked up in the summer holidays.
10. If you’re child can’t ride their bike yet, make a plan to teacher them over the summer.
11. Go swimming at once of our local swimming pools. Lots of them do special deals and/or events over the summer holidays so check out their websites for more information. QMC Swimming pool does really reasonably priced swimming sessions during the summer holidays.
12. Sign up to the Reading Challenge that our local Libraries run every summer. You can sign children up from ages 4+ I think and they only need to read 6 books over the 6 weeks. If they complete the challenge and are at school they get a medal and a certificate that’s presented to them in school. Miss NHM is very proud of her previous reading challenge certificates and medals and it’s been a great way to get her to read more. Popping into the library for an hour a week during the school holidays is also a great time killer!!
13. Take the children to a local museum, especially the Willis Museum as it’s FREE!!
14. Kids cinema in the mornings during the summer holidays at around 10am. Both Vue and Odeon do reduce tickets for “kids Club” and I think it’s less than £2 per ticket.
15. Cash in your Tesco’s clubcard points or your nectar points to do something fun with your children.
16. Find somewhere to visit where the entrance ticket becomes an annual pass. If you buy a ticket to Milestones Museum, The Living Rainforest or the Army Flying Museum the ticket lasts for a year so you can re-use during other holiday times or after school.
17. Check out the “NHM Reviews” page for ideas of where to go and where to visit. Lots of places reviewed on NHM are FREE, although you may have to pay for parking.
18. Check out the Season Tickets to local attractions in North Hampshire – updated 2017 post which lists out local season tickets.
19. Miss NHM loves listening to audio books, so I splash out for the summer holidays and treat her to a new audio book. I buy mine from “The Book People” as they are very reasonably priced and Miss NHM has easy control over which cd’s she listens too.
20. Try “Bored Jar’s” when you are at your wits end!! These posts are tailored to toddlers but you can easily update them for older children.
21. Visit Hampshire Farmers Market. The nearest one to Basingstoke is in Winchester on a Sunday morning.
22. Check out the Nature Detectives website for some ideas of activities you can do outside.
23. Take a walk to Odiham Castle, along the Basingstoke Canal.
24. If it’s windy, fly a kite at Crabtree.
25. Visit a Pick Your Own farm.
26. Go for a day trip to the beach. There is also a great post by NHM Readers of their Favourite local beaches.
At Home
27. Blackberries are now ready in August so make sure you go blackberry picking at some point.
28. I’m planning on trying to drop some food off at our local food bank with Miss NHM.
29. Play boardgames together or try to create your own boardgame.
30. Put the tent up in the garden and sleep in it over night. If you don’t have a tent see if you can borrow a small one from friends and family.
31. This year I’m going to create a “Summer Holiday box” which will be very similar to the “Christmas Eve Box” that I put together every Christmas. Each Monday I plan to fill it with different things, like an audiobook that Miss NHM hasn’t listened too in a while, some party bag fillers that I’ve kept back, sticker books that Miss NHM hasn’t got round to using, some books she hasn’t read yet that have been in her bookcase for AGES, and little things like that which can keep her occupied for a while.
32. Clean a neighbours car in exchange for some money that will go towards charity.
33. Ask your child if there is anything in their bedroom that they no longer need or want as the summer holidays is a great chance to declutter.
34. Something we are going to do this summer is clean out the kitchen cupboards together!!
35. Have a look at Baker Ross for some cheap craft activities you can do together or use something from the recyling bin as a craft project.
36. Create a summer scrapbook where your child or children can write in what they have done over the summer holidays. It will be a great memory for when they are older.
37. Bake some fairy cakes or buy a baking kit such as the ones you can get from local company BakedIn.
38. Ensure you schedule in some “boring” days where you have nothing planned, so your children can occupy themselves for a while. It’s supposed to help with their resilience, although it may drive you batty listening to the “I’m bored” whining <facepalm>!
