Winter School Holiday Ideas

Winter school holiday weather can be unpredictable. Overlooking the glistening sea towards Waiheke Island – a change in workspace today as my computer is on the blink – today’s weather forecast could not have been more wrong.  Keeping the kids entertained and not breaking the bank is the real challenge so here are a few ideas.

Cooking

Kids love cooking, much more than the cleaning up. My 11 year old niece has been baking with me since she was two so I’ve gone from kitchen assistant to simply watching with coffee in hand. Pick recipes that the kids will enjoy eating, with many ingredients so lots of measuring, and a few different processes eg beating, cutting shapes, rolling balls etc. Be prepared for a mess, that’s all part of the fun.

Using an "old-fashioned" egg beater

Last Sunday my niece and her friend made their own dinner – spaghetti and meatballs, a dish they had learned to cook at school camp. Next time I might make them clean the stove top!

Girls looking pretty pleased with their dinner

Art and Craft

One of the best finds at the local $2 Shop was plain white masks, complete with mini pots of paint.  Grab some sparkly pipe-cleaners, glitter, stickers and you have a whole afternoon’s entertainment.  Don’t forget to cover the table, newspaper does the trick.

Lots of concentration for painting the mask

Fabulous painted masks

Another idea was to create crayon art on canvases – the kids found this on YouTube.

Lots of concentrating, melting the crayons with hairdryer

Get Outside – utilise the local park. Take the dog for a walk on the beach. Blow out the cobwebs on scooters and bikes.

Movies Marathon – rent six movies for $10 and you get them for the entire week. Make your own popcorn. Grab your sleeping bags and squash up together on the couch.

Check out your local museum, art gallery or community centre – there are often school holiday activity programmes.

Now to decide what to do with the kids next Monday – thankfully I only need to come up with an idea for one day each week!

Happy Holidays

Michelle