Why does everyone laugh at me when I say I love school holidays? I seriously do. I have three kids and lots of nieces and nephews and the more of them I have at my house, the better. Even in the winter school holidays when it’s cold and you can’t just spend every day at the local park or at the beach.
During the school holidays, my sister and I split the week so we can both work, and we also look after some of our friend’s children so it’s not unusual for us to have six to nine children at our homes in one day.
Looking after a group of children aged four to 11 requires some planning but it can be done and it can be so much fun.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Telstra Thanks® Thursdays Free Movie Rentals. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
Here are six of my favourite things to do with the kids without leaving the house:
1. Cupcake station
I always bake something delicious for our afternoon treat and the kid’s favourite is always my cupcake station. I make lots of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and then set them all up on the dining table. Next to the plain cupcakes I set up four different colours of icing, sprinkles and lots of other things they can decorate with. For older kids, I make sure to include icing colours of their favourite sporting teams. All the children line up, youngest to oldest, and they get to decorate a maximum of two and sometimes they eat both but I normally find that they eat one and lick the icing off the other. Moderation is key!
2. Trampoline picnic
My sister and I both have giant trampolines that fit all our kids and sometimes they’ll spend all day on there. They’ll get their pillows and blankets, snacks and their iPods and stay on for hours. I just visit them every now and then and collect any rubbish they need. It’s the perfect place for children to have fun. If you don’t have a trampoline just kick them outside and help them set up anything they want. Just because it’s winter, doesn’t mean they don’t need fresh air. It’s like camping without a fire.
Top Comments
I like your articles Jo, you seem like a wonderful mother. This holidays I am planning on taking mine to the Australia Zoo (we have the annual passes), Southbank to see the snow, to the duckpond with some bread, the Skatepark for the first time with scooters, bikes etc, explore new bike trails, climb Mt Coolum, check out the new plaster fun house, have play dates, bake cupcakes and maybe hubby can take Miss4 to the Tinkerbell movie.
Our favourite holiday activity is cooking. Mainly my eldest daughter loves to invent a recipe (sprinkles, fruit, biscuits, honey, etc) and carry it out. It's alot of surprises!