Holiday Activities From Around The Home

Friday, December 16, 2011 1:03 PM

I love school holidays but one thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can spend a lot of unnecessary time and money rushing around from one activity to the next.  Before you know it, everyone’s overtired, overstretched and overspent!  Sounds familiar?  Check out these ideas from www.simplesavings.co.nz for terrific no-travel, no-cost ways to have fun at home!

At-home cooking class.Teaching kids to cook is a great way to have hands-on fun while learning a valuable skill.  Invite their friends too for an afternoon of chatter and laughter.  Pick a simple recipe they can bake together and take home. The kids love it!

Backyard gymnastics.Keep budding young gymnasts happy and active in their own back yard!  Foam mattresses make a great ‘landing pad’, along with pillows and bean bags.  Pieces of wood laid out on the ground or garden edges are good for practicing balance walking.  Hang a climbing rope to a sturdy tree – you get the idea.  The only limit is your imagination!

Shopkeeper for a day.Kids love doing ‘grown-up’ jobs and this is a great way to have fun while recycling. Save empty cartons, plastic bottles, tins (opened from the bottom so they look ‘new’), along with any containers from special items, such as cameras, perfume, telephones and CD players. When you have sufficient, stack several cardboard boxes the same size to make ‘shelves’ and secure them to keep upright.  Add home made paper money and coins for change and your little shopkeeper will have a wonderful time!

'Building blocks' from around the home.Great fun for littlies!  Look around the home for aerosol cans and wash and dry the lids.  They come in all colours and sizes and make terrific building blocks!  They also make great bath toys to as each lid has a tiny hole in! 

Antarctica for under $5.I love this idea for a hot day!  Hire or borrow ‘March of the Penguins’ and set up the DVD player in the bedroom.  Cover the windows, cupboards, whatever you can with white sheets and cloths. Add a few large penguin pictures printed off the computer and turn on the air conditioning as cold as it will go, or open the windows.  If it gets chilly, no problem.  Take off the duvet cover and snuggle up together under the white ‘snowy’ doona!  Never before has Antarctica been so close, or cheap!