This Friday sees the end of term three for those of us in Victoria. We have had more illness with the kids this term than we had all of last year. This school holidays we are not going away anywhere. We have a few activities lined up outside of the home, but intend on spending quite a bit of time at home, so the kids (and me) can rest, potter and take things at a more leisurely pace. In the northern hemisphere this is what they refer to as a staycation!
With this is in mind, I thought I would share some staycation ideas to do with the kids:
1. Slow Down
Although I am going to list 10 staycation ideas, we may actually only do a couple of them ourselves as I will want the kids to have time where there is nothing planned, nothing structured and no time lines. This will enable them to really slow down, perhaps even get a little bored and ignite creativity and getting the kids following their interests.
My friend Angela sent me this link to the Australian Conservation Foundation, where they list ideas for Slow Sundays which you can easily translate to any day of the week.
2. Book Based Activities
We read lots of books at our house and in school holidays with some more time, it will be the perfect opportunity to do some more reading and then explore what we have read through activities based on the book. Earthly Joyride is a very new blog and it is full of gorgeous ideas that you can create being inspired by books.
Jump over to Karen’s blog and find some inspiration yourself, but here are a couple of my favourites:
Spinning Wheels – inspired by the book Imagine
Making Books – inspired by The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard.
3. Construction
This is a more advanced version of the useful box concept. I bring together a collection of materials for the kids to create, construct and build with. As well as the raw materials we also use a glue gun, hammer and nails and loads and loads of masking tape!
4. Ribbon Sticks
I have to say that I actually love ribbon sticks myself, so this will be one that I would choose! This idea comes from Australian based blog irresistible ideas for play based learning. To make the sticks you only need dowel, ribbon and tape – super easy and super fun.
5. LEGO Capes
These really are so very cute. Jessica has such fantastic craft ideas for adults as well on her blog Zakka Life, so be sure to check those out as well when you head there to download the cape template and find the tutorial.
6. Make Your Own Comic Strip
These are really fun to make. You use a free website that allows you to make your own two, three or four panel comic strip. For more details check out my post on Make Your Own Comic Strip For Kids
7. Newspaper Pirate Swords
One of my favourite kids activities blogs is Filthy Wizardy by Lindsey Boardmen. The newspaper pirate swords are her brain child, but you will find the tutorial not on her blog but on another where she had a guest post for Talk Like A Pirate Day Crafts.
8. Juice Making
My kids love making their own juice and then also freezing it to make ice blocks. This is the perfect activity to take outside and let the kids have some fun. You could even get adventurous and mix up your own blends, using different fruits. You can see some previous juicing work from my kids here – fruit juice ice blocks.
9. Coloured Salt
This ideas comes from the brilliant blog No Time For Flashcards. A great activity that you could do inside or outside depending on the weather. The post has great step by step instructions to follow.
10. Collage
This simple but gorgeous idea comes from Kate at Picklebums. Kate has an amazing collection of creative ideas for young kids, most of which you can do with materials you have on hand at home. You can find more here in her activities for kids section.
Are you going away these holidays or is a staycation for you too?