This is a lovely guest post from Maggy Woodley the most wonderful 'crafty' lady !
Holiday Ideas
Well.. the Easter Holidays are upon us – personally, I am
looking forward to NO SCHOOL runs, leisurely mornings and general level of
relaxedness. But with that, comes the price of “child boredom ness” and a child
that is bored, can clearly drive you up the wall. Before, I delve into some
crafty distraction, I just wanted to say, that a little boredom is GOOD.
Boredom allows your child to get creative and have their own ideas. A box is
far more likely to be turned into a boat or a den, pretend picnics invented for
cuddly toys.
But needless to say you need a balance – some down time for
the kids to do nothing, let their minds relax and after all that is why
holidays were invented (I think).
So. My approach to the day is – half a day’s activities,
half a day’s “free play” (i.e. the kids need to work out for themselves what to
do and it does not involve TV or technical gadgets). Our activities tend to
comprise visiting friends, going to the park of going into to town to a museum
or gallery (no time for those during term time). But of course, we also love to
get CRAFTY!! YAY.
Here are some of our favourite ideas:
Grass Heads
– we LOVE LOV LOVE making grass heads – you pretty much only need a handful of
grass seeds (we scrounged some off our neighbours) and bits and pieces from
around the home. Then watch the hair grow, trim, style and keep “alive”. A
great learning about basic plants and caring for them.
Handprint
Alphabet – though the holidays is for down time, reminding them of
their Alphabet does no harm. Why not write the kids names in Animal Alphabet
handprints. Makes for a great keepsake too.
The ABC of Bakingwith Kids – we put together a list of 26 Baking Ideas for you to
check out and be inspired by. I am sure you are bound to find something you all
fancy making. My kids could bake every day! But don’t stop at baking.. get them
in the kitchen do a little Cooking with Kids
too.
Stick & Stones
Crafts – why not go to the park – have a good day out in the fresh air.
Then find some sticks and stones.. and come back and be inspired by these Stick Crafts
or Stone Crafts.
Hope that these are enough and varied to keep you going
through the holidays – remember a balance of downtime and activity is key to
getting the most out of your break. And it is reasonable to say to your kids
they should entertain themselves for a bit if you have had a “quality activity”
session with them already!
Maggy Woodley is a mum
of two – Red Ted aged 5yrs and Pip Squeak aged 3yrs and blogs over at Red Ted Art where they regularly get
crafty! She also writes at Life at The Zoo
and about Theatre,Books and Movies for those interested! You can find her on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
