POLOKWANE – The winter school holiday is here and parents are once again tasked with keeping kids occupied during this time. While it’s a great time for mom and dad to spend time with the kids, it’s important to remember that parents also need enough down time to be able to relax and recharge after a long day at work.
There are tons of activities you can do to either get everyone involved and entertained or keeping the kids busy without spending a lot of money or travelling further than your backyard. You can make magical moments using everyday household items.
Here’s a list of fun things to try:
Indoor activities:
- Play dress up: raid mom and dad’s closet for clothes, shoes, and accessories so you can “get into character”.
- Play with dolls: dress up your dolls, make clothes for them, give them different careers etc.
- Play hide and seek: there are more sneaky hideaway spots indoors than outside.
- Make a cubby house (tent house) under the table with some sheets: It’s way too cold to camp out in in the yard. Building a cubby house inside means you get to have the camping experience without the cold.
- Make dinner: help prepare dinner. Pizza is a great option if you want to get everyone involved.
- Play Pictionary: make hot chocolate for the whole gang and spend the evening playing Pictionary.
- Slumber party: Invite some friends over so you can watch movies and have pillow fights.
- Dance-off: Put the music on loud and have a dance-off with the family.
Outdoor activities:
- Guess who: At night, hand a white sheet in front of a bare wall, stand behind the sheet and act something out. Everyone else then have to guess who or what you are.
- Tea party: Invite friends over and have a tea party or picnic. It’s a fun way to wind down and get some vitamin D.
- Green fingers: help mom and dad in the garden, or if you don’t have one already, ask them to start one with you.
- Build a bot: build a robot out of cardboard boxes.
- Puppet show: make your own puppets from socks and other material and put on a puppet show for the family.
When it comes to keeping kids engaged, you need to get creative and come up with out of the box ideas. If it’s fun and they get to learn something, it’s a good activity.
