We are counting the days down to the Summer Holidays. Even I only have one child in school at the moment. I was inspired by Helen’s Post about Activities for Teens during the holidays to write my own post.
When my youngest were small the summer holidays were exciting times. Our list of activities included:
Pool Time: Usually it would be the youngest kids jumping in the pool with excitement, but as they got older it was harder to get the girls in the pool. But The Little Man and his older brother have spent many an hour cooling off. We have even had family afternoons where we have all spent sitting around the pool with our feet in cooling off and chatting. You can’t beat a paddling pool on a hot summer day!
A Walk in the Park: We still enjoy a walk in the park, although these days the teens usually go with their friends rather than their Mum and Dad. We’ve spent many a happy day walking through the park and playing in the playground, or just having a picnic and making daisy chains.
Birthday Parties: not everyone has summer birthdays but we have 4! We’ve had some fantastic parties over the years including Minecraft, Frozen, Pirates and Princesses, puzzle parties, craft parties and My Little Pony parties (to name a few!!) There is nothing better than being able to have an outdoor party, although we’ve had a few indoor ones too because we all know you can’t trust the British summer.
Holidays: We are lucky enough to have been able to holiday most summers although we tend to stay in the UK as travelling abroad is not really my thing. (And a couple of my children get very uncomfortable being far away from home.) We like caravan holidays and tend to go South, although we’ve also been to Blackpool and Wales. I have been to Norfolk with my older kids (before I met Graham) and we had a stay in newly converted barn which was very nice.
Animals: We are a family that loves animals and will seek them out wherever we go. We are lucky to live near a Wildlife Conservation Centre with lots of animals, but we also like visiting other animal places and have been to many farms and we love The World of Country Life in Devon, and Paradise Park in Cornwall.
Sealife Centre We never get bored of visiting the Sea Life Centre. We are lucky enough to have one in our own city but we also visit whenever we go on holiday if we see one. I especially love the ones with a tunnel so you can feel like you are under water.
Local Attractions: We are lucky to have many local attractions. We live near to Stratford-on-Avon the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and Stourport-on-Severn, another river location. Our City Centre is brimming with attractions and the canal area is particularly pretty. We have a fabulous Symphony Hall, many theatres, and a unique library. Our train station is even worth a visit you can even see Ozzy the Commonwealth Games Bull there. I haven’t been to the museum and art gallery for a while but it’s a lovely place to visit and we’ve seen some spectacular special events there. One the kids really enjoyed was the Julia Donaldson exhibition. It’s always worth looking to see what’s on locally.
Watching a Movie – If the weather is rubbish and the kids are bored then we will pick a movie to watch. This was much easier when the kids were younger, The girls loved the Barbie movies and High School Musical. We all still enjoy a good animation movie though like Moana. The Little Man is usually good for watching movies with, we both like superhero movies, his favourite is Spiderman but I prefer The Avengers. Here are some of my favourite Movies, although I could probably add some more now. With my eldest daughter I will watch zombie movies and with my eldest son it’s Star Wars or Sci Fi. Lately my husband and youngest discovered the Short Circuit Films and have re-watched them several times. I like the 80s vibe 🙂
Playing Board Games We often have family nights where we play board games with the whole family. Or just afternoons with one or two of us playing. some of our favourite games at the moment are, Cluedo, Scrabble, Monopoly, Chinese Checkers, Mancala, Jibbergiggle, Hedgeways, Mastermind, Battleships, Uno and playing cards. It’s a great way of having fun and connecting.
Playing Computer Games We have always played computer games and we sometimes get together to have a games night. These have to be multiple player games like Mario Kart, Mario Party or Super Smash Bros. Or we’ll get our phones and tablets out and play Jackbox.tv games.
Of course many of these can be done all year around, but this is generally how we fill the time during our Summer Holidays. We may even add in a BBQ or two 🙂
How do you spend your summer holidays?
I loved it when my girls were younger and they would spend hours in the paddling pool. We haven’t got one now although they have been talking about buying one themselves.
My families birthdays are all over the summer, we don’t have parties but do make sure to have a day out as long as my youngest’s doesn’t fall on the August bank holiday. x
Get a pool! Honestly, ours wasn’t that expensive from Argos, but we had to buy a pump for it too, and a new hosepipe. Once filled, us adults sit around it on chairs with our feet in the pool and a bottle of cider in our hands….lovely 🙂
All these are great activities for summer. I usually like park visits with family. It makes us relaxing. Pool time is wonderful too.
Thanks for sharing. #MMBC
I’m so glad the summer hols are here. I love getting the pool out too! We need to get another one for this summer as the old one is scrap.
I will be getting in ours with a cold beer when the kids have finished playing haha! xx
I love the idea of doing things in the summer holidays in Raisie Bay! There are so many things to do here, and it’s always so hot and sunny!