Category: Activities

Throw a festival party

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If your child loves the idea of a festival but without the mud, why not recreate a festival party?

So, why should the kids miss out, on festival like glastonbury when it can be done at home? Throwing a music festival themed children’s party at any season is sure to make you a hit with your child and their friends. Here are some great ideas.

Invitations

You can have lots of fun making your festival themed invitations.

Tickets

A great invitation idea is to base the design on festival tickets. How about drawing some welly boots and colouring them in and writing the invite on the back, or even a tent themed invite?

Fancy Dress

Obviously at a festival anything goes, neon skirts and headbands, leggings and don’t forget the welly boots. If you wanted to have a bit of a theme then why not get the children to dress up as their favourite rock star?

Decorations

Creating a music festival in your garden isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Divide the space into signed areas such as ‘campsite’, ‘main stage’, ‘dance tent’, and ‘refreshments’. Borrow some friend’s tents to create the camping area and set up a barbecue in the refreshments area.

String flags and bunting around the garden and hang national flags from a number of countries in front of the ‘main stage’.

Activities

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to festival themed activities.

Making Flower Crowns.  Make sure you supervise this activity – ensuring each child works one-on-one with an adult is a good idea.

Making classic festival flower crowns is a lovely activity for older children’s and teens parties, and will provide girls with a memento to take home with them. They are surprisingly easy to make – all you’ll need is floral wire, floral tape, fabric flowers and glue.

Helping your children with social skills

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Strong friendships are also important for their self-esteem and sense of belonging. Here are some ways you can support them in this area.

Help your child to discover his strengths and interests to help him choose the right place for him to learn social skills. Whatever your child enjoys, it is likely there are opportunities to teach social skills in your community and for him to join with others. For social skills teaching ideas, contact community resources such as the local library, church youth group, or other clubs or community parks.

Your child will benefit from social skills teaching inherent in social interaction outside the school setting. With your encouragement, even reluctant and shy children can be taught social skills through interaction with others through activities. Many relationships he builds will flow naturally back into the school environment.

Teach social skills by rehearsing social situations ahead of time. Role play meeting a new person with each other. Take turns being the greeter and “greetee.” Teach your child the art of getting others to talk about themselves. Help him see that by doing this, he can learn about his peers and find common interests. Kids can use friendly and polite questions to encourage kids to talk and break the ice. Focusing on others will also help your child feel less self-conscious. Help your child learn how to choose good friends to develop healthy relationships.

Teach your child social skills needed to make friends by helping him learn and practice children’s games and activities at home that are popular at school. Aside from being a good way to practice skills such as reading, counting, and fitness, learning these games will help your child participate in them with other children

Create a circle of friends by encouraging playtime with a few neighborhood children. Invest in some quality time and snacks, and you’ll grow friendships that may stay with your child throughout high school, maybe even for life. Friends from the same class at school can provide important social and emotional support.

How to shop with your kiddies

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Walking to the shop, take a deep breath.  This shopping trip can go well!! 

As we’re shopping let your children help you pick out fruit and veggies in the produce department, enjoying counting the number of apples they add to the bag, the different colours of peppers to choose from, and the funny names of the melons.

Set Expectations

Before going into the store tell your children exactly what you expect from them. 

Expect that they:

  • will stay nearby and not run through the store
  • will try to be aware of other people and not get in their way
  • will not throw a fit if they don’t get something
  • will be helpful and participate in the process.
  • Before we step foot in the store, remind them of my expectations.

Make A List

Go armed in the supermarket with clipboards, paper, and pencils, ready to check off each and everything on your lists.

  • Giving them a helpful children friendly activity or task keeps them engaged in the shopping experience.
  • Make Kids Your Helper
  • continually engaging the children in the shopping process.

Not only does this keep them from getting bored and restless, it also teaches them how to shop.

If you use these new tools, most of the time you will actually enjoy your shopping trips together.  It’s not always perfect and there will be times when you have a rough day, but that’s life?

Why children get grumpy after school

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When things get hard, we fall apart on the people we feel safest with. Think about it.  After a hearing terrible news or during a hard day at work you’re able to keep it all together and not cry. But as soon as you see your safe person (husband, Mum, best friend) you end up a blubbering mess.

Kids do the same thing.

It takes a great deal of emotional and mental work to follow the rules throughout the day, especially for little kids.

Each time your child refrains from hitting that boy who took his toy, holds up her hand and covers her mouth so she doesn’t speak out of turn, or stops himself from running down the hall to break time, they have to restrain themselves.  This restraint builds and builds, almost like a bubble.

Then they walk into their safe place, and POP!  They can finally let loose and stop having to restrain themselves. They get to let it all go.

Honestly, it’s a good thing that your child feels safe enough to fall apart at home.

But, as a parent, that’s hard to deal with.  It’s frustrating when you have a child who hasn’t had a tantrum in months come home from school and cry and whine about every single thing.

How can you help your child with the transition from home to school so they don’t have to struggle, and you don’t get so frustrated?

Greet Without the Questions

When you see your child after a long day of school, you want to know about their day.  So you ask questions like “How was your day?”, “Do you have homework?”, “Did you get into trouble?”, “What did you do?”, “Did you make friends?”

No one likes to be bombarded with questions or grilled about their day as soon as they walk in the door.

By asking lots of questions, you could stress out your child, especially if they had a hard day.

Instead of asking them a million and a half questions as soon as you see them, greet them with statements like: “It’s good to see you again.” and “Welcome home”.  Then ask, “Do you want to tell me about your day now or at dinner?”  This gives him the power to decide when to talk.

When you ask about their day, keep the questions open-ended:

  • “What was your favourite part of the day?”
  • “What kinds of things did you do at school today?”
  • “Who did you play with today?”
  • “What new thing did you learn today?”

Ask questions that can’t be answered with yes or no.

These prevent one worded answers like “fine” and open up a conversation about school.

Please connect and ask, but do it at a time when your child is ready to talk.

Feed Them. When our blood sugar gets low and our tummies grumble it’s understandable that we get snippy and short tempered.

  • When your child’s stomach is full, they are less likely to be frustrated and angry.
  • Allow for Downtime
  • Give kids time to be kids.  Allow them to have time to play and let loose.

Children need to play, it’s how they process their world and handle their stress.  So, on particularly stressful days, it’s important that they get time for kids entertainment and play.

How to spend quality time with your children

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The ten o’clock news hasn’t even started, but you’re too exhausted to watch — who can stay awake that late? Car pools, lunch bags, after-school activities, dinner, homework, bath time, bedtime. All on top of your own job (or jobs) and the other realities of adulthood. You have just enough energy left to drag yourself to bed so you can wake early and start the routine all over again. Each day with young kids feels like a week, each week like a month.

Yet as every birthday party passes, the years seem to be streaking by at warp speed. Five-month-olds become 5-year-olds in the blink of an eye, and then 15-year-olds. This inexorable march of time that turns babies into big kids is the “other” biological clock facing young couples. Every day brings new growth, new milestones, and new wonderment, but the challenges of juggling our adult lives often prevent us from fully appreciating the delicate nuances of childhood.

Your children need to spend meaningful time with you. They need to see who you are and how you live your life. And in return, they will help you to better see who you are.

However, instead of worrying about how many minutes you can spend with your children each day, focus on turning those minutes into memorable moments. Parents often compensate for having such a small quantity of time by scheduling “quality time.” Two hours at the nature preserve. An afternoon at the movies. Dinner at a restaurant. But the truth is that quality time may occur when you least expect it — yes, at the nature preserve, but also in the car on the way to ballet practice.

Not every day with your kids will be perfect, but hopefully one day you will greet their departure with a profound sense of satisfaction because you’ve given them what they need to succeed and also given yourself what you need to feel like a successful parent. Although I don’t know how to slow down time, I do have some ideas on how to optimize the time you spend with your kids — while they are still tucked into their beds, where you can peek at them before you go to sleep.

DIY It Together

Home improvements are a great way to spend time with them while teaching them about tools and life at the same time. Give them a torch, and talk them through the job you’re doing. As they get older, hold the torch for them. Instead of dreading things that break, you’ll see new tiles, built-in shelves, and paint jobs as bonus chances for time with your kids.

Don’t Drive Everywhere

The minutes that we “save” by driving our children a short distance to the park or a friend’s house are actually priceless moments that we lose in the name of convenience. The next time you need to take your children somewhere nearby, try to get there on foot. Walking with your kids is a great way to slow down the pace of your lives and to have more unscripted moments with them. Talk about where you’re going, what you’re thinking, what they’re thinking, what you see on the way, and who said what to whom in school today. Hold hands if your kids haven’t got too old for that yet. If you’re dropping them off somewhere (a playdate, a piano lesson, football) and would normally drive away and return again later, take along a backpack with work or reading and find a quiet place to wait until they’re finished. The hour or two that you have alone in a coffee shop or under a shade tree will help you slow down and stay sane. Then pick up your child and walk back home together.

Play Their Games

If you decide to bring video games into your home, do your best to screen them and even learn how to play them so you can experience this part of your kids’ world. It’s a good thing for children to occasionally see their parents as human. Second, there will be guaranteed laughing at your lack of winning. Finally, some games have somewhat redeeming virtual reality, because they mimic real-world activities such as table tennis, bowling, baseball, skiing, and dancing (which are certainly much better than games where you blow each other up). But set time limits, lest their virtual realities take over their reality.

All in all, have fun with your kids as they won’t be a kid forever!!

Clamping with the kids

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So what is glamping?  It is a term that means glamorous camping and has become synonymous with luxury camping – no more leaky tents or sites where you wake up with no tent because the wind is so high!  Glamping is all about having a unique experience that allows people to see things they would otherwise miss but no sacrificing comfort and amenities to do this. 

Glamping is also an eco-friendly option because many of the venues offering this type of break are made with environmentally friendly concerns foremost to the mind.  It takes a lot of resources to build and run even a small hotel but nowhere near as much to build a luxury treehouse or to convert and upgrade a caravan.

Glamping is a worldwide trend that allows people to stay somewhere unique.  Here in the UK we already have a wide range of exciting glamping spots.  One such example is the yurt at Springhill Farm campsite in East Sussex.  Complete with a double bed and inflatable furniture, the yurt is built in the style once used by Genghis Khan with a few modern touches and cooking is done in a fire pit outside.  The site is near Ashdown Forest, so perfect for a walk the next morning.

If you loved treehouses as a kid, then staying in one will be a perfect escape as an adult.  There are a number of treehouse glamping providers spread around the country and these are treehouses in the lap of luxury.  Enjoy a session in the hot tub before turning in for the night or take the whole family along in a treehouse that can house up to eight people.

Champing

Champing is perhaps the newest addition to the camping idea and involved staying in a historic church and using it as a base for a range of activities for children and sightseeing in the area.  The Churches Conservation Trust say there are currently 347 churches spread around the UK that are no longer places of worship and so are being made available for people to spend the night. 

Why is it good?

Camping, glamping and champing all offer different facilities and styles for holidaymakers but there is a hidden benefit to it all.  In a study conducted by the Institute of Education at Plymouth University, in collaboration with the Camping and Caravanning Club, it was shown that kids who spend at least one holiday each year camping outdoors do better in school than those that don’t.

The study involved asking parents across the country a series of question studying the educational, social and psychological benefits of camping to children of all ages.  The study discovered that four out of five parents thought that camping had a positive effect on school education of their children.

It also showed that 98% of parents believed their kids were more connected with nature due to their camping experience and appreciated the outdoors more while 95% thought the kids were happier.  93% thought that children learned skills that would be beneficial later in life because of their camping holidays.

Conclusion

So the evidence is clear from the study – camping is good for you and your children.  But with the range of options such as glamping in a treehouse or champing in a historic church, camping no longer needs to be something only done in the very best weather.  For people who aren’t so keen on putting up the tent in the middle of a field, there are now plenty of other options that allow all the benefits of camping with a little luxury included as well.  And after the holiday is over, the children will go back to school invigorated and filled with exciting stories to tell their teachers and friends that will continue to benefit them for some time afterwards.

October half term

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The school summer holidays have nearly come to an and end and the October half term is nearly upon us.

The October half term is often the last chance that the family get to take a break together in the year before the preparations for Christmas begin and the weather takes a serious decline.  Autumn can be a beautiful time to have a short holiday in the UK and there are plenty of places offering deals for the October half term break as well as special events taking place.

Visiting the countryside

One of the best places to head in autumn is to the forest – with the wealth of colours on show, the forest is a spectacular scene.  Add to that the wildlife can be a little easier to spot after their breeding season is finished while seasonal plants such as mushrooms and berries appear, there is plenty to see.

One of the top places to get close to wildlife is to stay at one of the Centre Parcs resorts around the country.  There are five notable forest locations on offer from the chain – Whinfell Forest, Sherwood Forest, Elvenden Forest, Woburn Forest and Longleat Forest.

Whinfell Forest is within the Lake District area and sits on the side of the lake so can offer a range of water sports as well as wildlife spotting opportunities.  The centre is at the heart of a 400-acre woodland site while indoor features include a subtropical swimming pool with a daredevil ride called the Canyon Ride for the bravest.

Sherwood Forest is one of the most well-known forests in the country with its connections to the story of Robin Hood.  The Centre Parcs venue in the forest offers the chance to explore the famous woodland as well as enjoy a number of activities that are best in the woods such as quad biking or owl encounters.

Elvenden Forest is a 400-acre site in Suffolk, offering a great range of outdoor activities as well as the calming effect of the forest itself for walks.  There is even a unique experience called cable water skiing to try as well as kayaking, canoeing and even raft building.

Woburn Forest is just over an hour from London and is one of the newest sites, covering some 365 acres of woodland as well as lakes and beautiful views across the countryside.  There are aerial trekking routes, abseiling and climbing opportunities as well as the indoor facilities such as the subtropical swimming pool.

Longleat Forest is close to the famous Longleat Estate and its Safari Park so is a great place to use as a base to visit both.  The Wiltshire park allows the chance to see the century old Giant Redwoods as well as tour the forest with the land train or join in water activities on the lake.

Haven are another big name in the holiday business that offer a range of special deals for the October half term.  These include special deals for the whole family as well as touring and camping offers that are ideal for those who prefer something a little less formal for their breaks.

Bluestone are also offering a range of competitive deals for the October break that combine the chance to get up close to nature with the indoor facilities of the centre such as the climbing wall and the swimming pool.  Close by is an impressive outdoor activity centre with a challenging zip wire course some 60 feet in the air as well as tree top walks and the chance to watch the sun go down from a campfire among the trees.

Get creative this Halloween

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Lots of kids either have a craft side or simply enjoy making something, regardless of the end result and Halloween is a perfect time to go this.  There are hundreds of different craft ideas for kids around the theme ranging from simple pot decoration to more complex activities.

For the little ones, painting a pot is a good idea.  Cover a pot in some white paper the day before, stick it down and leave it to set for a blank canvas.  Then the kids can paint it orange, cut out some black eyes, nose and mouth and add a stalk and leaf in glittery paper to make a cup pumpkin lantern.  Or paint it luminous green, draw on some face features as well as a big black gash with stitches then paint the rim black.  Add a couple of metallic T-shapes on either side and you have a Frankenstein pot!  Once decorated, they can fill them with sweet to give out on the night to trick or treaters or for a party.

If you’re having a party, a Halloween decoration or ten are compulsory.  For the younger kids, you can start simple.  Buy some wooden blocks, one for each letter of Happy Halloween.  Let them paint them orange or whatever colour they want then write a letter on each in a black marker.  Either glue them together to form the word or if you are handy with a drill, drill holes through them and string them onto some thick cord.

Another decoration is a nice witches broom to hang above the fireplace but using the real broom can be a bit heavy.  Instead, take the inside of a roll of wrapping paper and get the kids to paint it black.  Wrap a few sections of yellow around it and you have the stick.  For the broom, take a piece of cloth and either stick or stick a load of threads on it then wrap it around the stick and glue it.

Costume Ideas

Going out trick or treating means that a costume is compulsory.  Some kids choose to just go with a favourite character without regard for the time of year but others want something special to Halloween.  You can buy lots of them in the shops but if you want to make something unique and spend time with the kids making it, you can create your own.

The scary spider is a simple option and all that is needed are some plain black clothes to start with.  A hoodie, trousers and black shoes are the basis for the outfit.  Take two pairs of black tights and stuff them with the content of an old pillow or some bubble wrapping.  Stitch them onto the top and tie loops at the end so that kids can move their spider legs with their arms.

Perhaps one of the easiest costume options is the Grim Reaper.  A black hooded cloak that goes all the way to the ground is all that is needed along with a white swimming cap to hide their hair.  Face paints to make their faces white and add big black eyes and a cardboard scythe finish the outfit.

For the girls, a witch is a good choice.  Pick up a witches hat from the shop and decorate as you like.  A feathered scarf is a good addition to the outfit and a coordinating top and skirt to match the hat colour is needed.  You can cut out paper or cardboard stars and other shapes to stitch onto the clothes for that witch chic.  Then some makeup or face paints will finish the look.

Children’s Party Food

With all the elements of Halloween it is easy to find food that can be transformed into something spooky or gory.  For instance, Dracula cookies are an easy quick option.  Take some chocolate chip cookies and cut them in half.  Put some red jam on one side of each then stick some white marshmallow pieces in to resemble teeth.  For the fangs, slide some slivers of almond between the marshmallows – instant vampire cookies.

For cupcake fans, the ideas are endless.  Green icing and some witches’ legs sticking out is one design while spider’s webs iced into a flat cake is another great look.  Using biscuits to make grave stones and have them sticking out of crumbly chocolate icing works well for spooky cemetery cakes while a simple iced face on a white cake makes for a ghoulishly tasty snack.

If carving a pumpkin is a bit too much for you, why not make oranges into carved lanterns instead?  Cut the top off the orange and scoop out the middle then cut out eyes, a nose and a funny mouth.  You can even add jelly inside them and leave to set before carving the face.

Campervan holidays with the Kids

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At one time, the campervan was seen as a hippie thing, an old VW campervan travelling around the outdoor concerts and the occupants sleeping in fields.  But today, the campervan comes in a range of different styles and features, though the VW campervan is still a good starting point!

Other big name manufacturers are now producing their own versions, with both the Sharan and the Harry being Peugeot’s offerings.  Recently, a New Zealand company has begun to convert Toyota people carriers into campervans and these are now available in the UK.  There are also specific motorhome companies that make spacious and luxurious mobile homes that you won’t want to leave behind at the end of the holiday.

Routes

The variation and type of route you can plan is only limited by how long you have.  You can cover all the main sites within a single county over a few days or take a week or longer to cover a larger area and see the most important sites.

One example is the 7-day English Heritage route from Spaceship Rentals.  Their route starts in London then heads south to Hastings to see the abbey and the battlefield then along to Dover Castle.  On the 2nd day, travel to Portsmouth and hop on the ferry to the Isle of Wight or enjoy the sites around the city.  The third day recommends visiting Osbourne House and Carisbrooke Castle while on the 4th, take in Salisbury and Stonehenge, adding in Woodhenge if you have the time.  On day five, visit Oxford and the sights of the city then do the same the next day in the other big university city, Cambridge.  Finally, on the 7th day, head back to London and visit sites such as Kenwood House and Parliament Hill.  All of these come under a special pass from English Heritage.

Places to stay

There are plenty of caravan and camping sites around the country that will happily accommodate campervans.  Some can be closed at certain times of the year so if you are planning to travel in autumn and winter, this may limit your options a little more.  Sites can range in price from £15-20 a night for those with an electricity connection and organised sites will often offer features such as coin operated laundry and free showers as well.  

In theory, you aren’t allowed to simply park in a layby or on public land to camp but many people do this and it is known as wild camping.  Make sure if you consider this that you aren’t trespassing on anyone’s land, you aren’t disturbing anyone and there are no signs specifically prohibiting camping overnight on the spot.  

Equipment needed

When going on holiday in a campervan, remember that you only have a limited space so prioritising what you need for the break is important.  Take essentials in the way of food and drink with you but remember most of it can be bought while on the road, as there will only be a limited space to store stuff.  If you are using a gas burner, don’t forget to have space fuel for it and the same if you are taking a barbeque.  Dishes can be cleaned as used but don’t forget to take items such as cloths.

Tips

Most campervan holiday fans will advise you to plan ahead for your trip – being spontaneous can be fun but can also be disappointing if things don’t pan out as expected.  Include things in your planning such as toll roads and ferries so you have change for them and watch out for closures on roads and in venues.

If you are travelling with young kids, don’t forget to take along the car seats they will need and plenty of children’s entertainment for the travelling part of the holiday – avoiding bored kids is every parent’s ultimate aim in life!

Making memories

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There are some amazing attractions around the country ranging from historic buildings to zoo and gardens.  So if you are planning to visit somewhere this summer with your family and want something that’s sure to leave a lasting impression, then why not check out some of our top ideas for children’s entertainment and family friendly fun… 

1. Old Trafford
No footie fan — Man U supporter or not — could fail to be excited by a visit to Old Trafford, the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. The official stadium tour takes in the players’ changing room, the lounge, dugout and press briefing room, but for most children the highlight is the chance to have their own Wayne Rooney moment, and emerge from the tunnel to the roar of the crowd (even if it is made up of just Mum and Dad). 

Tickets: adults £18, children £12. 
2. Belfast Zoological Gardens
Set on a hillside overlooking Belfast Lough, Belfast Zoo has to be the most picturesque animal park in the UK. It’s big (55 acres), and with over 1,200 animals to see — from giraffes and spider monkeys to Asian elephants and Malayan sun bears — you’ll need to set aside almost a full day to do it justice. Some of the slopes are pretty steep, but there are picnic tables en route, and plenty of those all-important loos. 

Adults £12, children (age 4–16) £6, under-4s free. Open 10am–7pm daily April–Sept; 10am–4pm daily October–March. 

 



3. Roman Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum
Four miles apart on Hadrian’s Wall, the garrison fort of Vindolanda and its associated museum bring our Roman conquerors back to life. The kids can rampage around ruins and replica fortifications, compete with the best Syrian archers, learn some Latin, watch 3D films – and even scrutinise the ongoing excavations at what is one of Britain’s most significant archaeological sites. 

adults £10.50, children (age 5–18) £6, under-5s free. Open daily 10am–6pm until September 2016. 




4. King Arthur’s Labyrinth
Stories of dragons, ancient kings and epic battles come alive at King Arthur’s Labyrinth, as you sail through a spectacular underground cavern in the company of a mysterious hooded guide. Younger children spooked by the dramatic sound and lighting effects might want to visit the playground, maze and café above ground instead, but older children, especially budding creative writers, will be entranced. 

Adults £9.95, children (age 4–15) £6.65. Open daily from 10am–5pm until 31 October 2016.

5. Watergate Bay
A two-mile stretch of glorious golden sand on Cornwall’s north coast, Watergate Bay has it all: a friendly beach café, plenty of parking, Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall restaurant, and the Watergate Bay Hotel & Extreme Academy, which offers surfing lessons for children of eight and up. If your kids would rather watch than get wet, check the website for regular events held on the beach throughout the summer, from polo matches to surfing competitions.