Great ideas to keep the kids entertained during summer holidays
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Meet with friends at a park and play with the kids on the playground. Push them on the swings or catch them on the slides.
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Have a movie afternoon on a rainy day. Rent a couple of kiddie’s movies, make some popcorn and snuggle up with blankets together.
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Bake some special family treats like cookies or brownies. Check out our kid’s food recipe section.
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Go to an indoor play centre (if the weather's not great outside). Let the kids amuse themselves on the playground and you relax with a coffee.
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Try bowling and encourage them to invite a friend.
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Visit a wildlife park or the zoo to see all the animals, birds and reptiles.
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Pop on your bike helmets and go for a bike ride.
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Visit local museums and galleries
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Go for a horse-riding lesson or a pony trek, lots of riding centres provide lessons or short rides for younger children.
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Visit a farm and see all the farm animals.
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Take a day trips to a historic towns or a local attractions. Most of us take the attractions in our local area for granted.
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Spend the day at the beach go for a walk and play some games
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Camp out in your back garden, kids of all ages are guaranteed to love this!
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Have a picnic at the local park let the kids help pack their favourite lunch and snacks.
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Get the kids to help you do some gardening, make a herb garden pot or plant some flowers together.
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Get the camera out and let the kids take some photos of a day out, then download them on the computer and create a slide show.
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Buy some play dough or make some and watch the kids have hours of fun with it!
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Have a Story writing competitions or help younger children write and illustrate a story.
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Create a treasure hunt in the garden; make a list of things they must find and happy hunting!
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Blow bubbles, cheap but entertaining!
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Make masks from paper plates, with stick on ears and eyeholes.
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Teach the kids to sew or thread with lacing cards.
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Conduct some simple science experiments.
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Have a board game tournament, play monopoly, scrabble, hungry hippos, operation and lots more!
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Play card games together, try playing games like snap, go fish and 21.
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Do a jigsaw, set up a special area and get everyone involved.
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Fly a kite outside on a windy day!
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Visit the library. Lots of local libraries hold story-telling workshops during school holidays and the kids can borrow some new stories to read.
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Go swimming; head to the local pool or to the beach.
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See a movie at the cinema, early in the day is a good time to go as tickets are cheaper and the cinema is generally quieter.
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Visit the theatre or a live show.
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Feed the ducks at a local pond, get some stale bread and help feed those feathered friends.
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Make paper dolls - make a chain of paper dolls and colour them all in different colours.
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Have a skip-a-thon, get the skipping ropes out and practice your skipping, whoever can skip the longest is the winner!
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Do some leaf rubbings. Collect an assortment of leaves in the garden or park, place them under paper and use a crayon/pencil to rub over the top.
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Face painting is so much fun and it’s great to practice your skills on their little faces.
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Do some colouring - there are some great print outs in our colouring pages section
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Visit the children's grandparents or another special friend or relative.
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Play hide and seek which is always fun for little ones.
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Play football, set up some goals and try your luck.
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Jump in puddles, great wet weather fun, forget about getting wet and remember the fun of being a kid again.
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Play twister with the Kids - get the game out and start spinning.