Creative Ways To Keep Your Kids Entertained At Home

Finding activities to keep your keys entertained during the holidays can be tricky, especially when you have to stay at home. Without the routine of school, kids can get bored really quickly and need some extra stimulation to keep them amused.

We’ve pulled together some creative yet affordable ways to keep your kids entertained at home these school holidays.

1. Get out in your own backyard

There are so many ways to can keep kids entertained without leaving your own backyard that is also really cost-effective.

A great idea is to practice for your next camping trip and have a holiday at home. Pull up your caravan, pitch your tents, roll out the swags, pack all your favourite camping treats and spend the night camping under the stars.

Another a fun way to keep the kids occupied outdoors is to get them gardening. Pick up some seeds, plants, and pots from your local garden store and dedicate a small space in your backyard just for them. There is something so beautiful about watching kids pick veggies, herbs of flowers that they have planted themselves.

Alexis Teasdale, who is the founder of The Festive Co. has some great free downloads and DIY activities to help your kids stay entertained outdoors these school holidays, including Backyard Bingo and an Outdoor Scavenger Hunt.

We also like the simple yet creative back to nature ideas from Natured Kids to keep your kids busy.

2. Get Crafty

School holidays are a great time for kids to get crafty and let their imagination go wild. Think outside the box and use things like empty toilet rolls, cereal boxes, egg cartons, empty sauce jars, ice cream sticks, leaves, sticks – the options are endless.

This is the time to create some fun DIY projects that can go in your caravan. Encourage your kids to make artwork that you can frame and hang in your van or create your own table clothes, pillows or macramé to decorate your caravan ahead of your next family holiday.

If you’re feeling uninspired, turn to the world wide web and see what online freebies other parents have created! Pinterest is a fantastic resource and contains thousands of easy activities to do with your kid these school holidays. Some of our favourite accounts are:

• The Organised Housewife
• ParentsFirst by Babyfirst
• Paper Heart Family
• Busy Toddler

3. Get your kids in the kitchen

This is the perfect time to get your kids in the kitchen and create something delicious. Involve your children from start to finish – spend some time going through cookbooks and selecting a few recipes you can make together. Then get the kids write (or draw) up a shopping list and shop from your pantry.

Try and experiment and have fun. Use food dye and make your muffins pink or take the time to perfect your damper recipe ahead of your next camping trip.

Some great recipes you can cook as a family are things like pancakes, cookies, bliss balls, quiches, muffins, French toast and homemade bread.

4. Get active

Encourage your children to get moving these school holidays with online physical education videos.

UK based fitness trainer Joe Wicks has just created a whole bunch of 30-minute exercise videos called ’PE with Joe’, which are perfect to get kids moving and easy for parents to get involved too.

Another fantastic way to get kids moving during the school holidays is by practising yoga and mindfulness. There are tonnes of free videos on YouTube but one of our favourites is Cosmic Kids Yoga. Based in the UK, founder and qualified yoga teacher Jaime creates a whole range of yoga, mindfulness, and relaxation videos aimed at kids over three. Think yoga under the sea, Sleepy Beauty yoga, and Frozen yoga.