6 ways how to keep the kids busy during the school holiday
As the saying goes time flies when you are having fun, but the opposite also rings true, time can take on snail like pace when boredom pop’s out its ugly head.
POLOKWANE – So, with the April holidays almost at our doorstep what are parents to do when teachers are on their well-deserved break and entertaining the munchkins are all left up to mom and dad. With technology taking centre stage in the 21st century, throwing rocks, making mud cakes and playing hop-scotch is something not all children are familiar with anymore. However, in being creative and doing a little bit of planning and preparation such olden-day fun activities that might be long forgotten might end up being the exact thing that parent can tweak and turn into hours of fun this holiday.
Kids can even join in by helping with the preparation.
Homemade laser obstacle course
This can be loads of fun with minimal effort. All you need is a roll of red ribbon presstick and a little bit of patience. In the passage use strands of red ribbon and tick it to the sides of the wall. Kids can pretend they are spies and need to get from the one side of the hallway to the other side without touching the ribbon with any part of their body. The presstick also won’t hold much pressure and so the strand will come loose if touched. This is both a physical and mental activity seeing as kids need to plan their route ahead. As they get better more strands can be added and also paste them closer together.
Cup throwing
Something as simple as polystyrene cups and a box can be turned into an exciting game that stimulates kids hand-eye coordination as well as keeping them entertained and out of trouble. Use a large carboard box and cut one side open and make small holes in the middle. Take a couple of polystyrene cup and make a small hole at the bottom. Now attach the cups with strings to the top of the box where the holes are. Measure the string in order for the cups to hang in different heights as well as positions. Kids need to sit in front of the box and try to hit the cups. With each miss move one space backwards.
Tin drums
If music is what they love but noise is what you despise this is sure to help. Using empty tin cans and balloons you can make a drum set for your little musicians that does not come with a thumping headache. Cut the end of the balloon off and pull it over the opening of the tin. Use elastic bands to reinforce and keep the balloon in place. Give them chopsticks from last night’s Chinese take-out and let them drum away.
Giant word puzzle
Using old cardboard boxes and a marker make A4 alphabet letters for each child. Now go outside and on the grass let them make a big crossword puzzle using letters from each other’s words to create new words. This not only helps them with spelling but also inspires creative thought.
Good old mud.. No a chocolate factory
Ok so this might turn into a bit of a mess and parent might have to hose their kids off afterwards but it is such a good thing for children to get into contact with different textures and materials and also be creative about it in creating their own chocolate factory. Make a big pile of mud and let them design their own favourites using rocks as chocolate chips, leaves for peppermint and even sand as grated chocolate. After each masterpiece is created get them to put it in a spot in the sun and that can be the “oven”. This can turn into a whole factory as kid’s creative streak takes over and they expand their production line with new ideas.
The gingerbread house.
This is sure to be a hit since all children likes sweets and combining it with creativity can turn into hours of fun. Take a small cardboard box and cover it with tinfoil. Give each child a certain amount of money and take them to the grocery store to buy some of their favourite sweets reminding them that this will be used as material for their houses so colourful smaller sweets and cookies would probably be the best option. At home mix some icing sugar with water in a bowl for each child and explain to them that this will be used as the cement. Let them smear the icing sugar on the tinfoil covered box and allow them to stick their sweets on in whatever way they want making patterns or even randomly pasting it whatever they choose. This is such a great way to spot the difference in children’s creativity as each house would definitely be different.
