How about the price of petrol at the moment? If you’re like me you might have decided it’s better to postpone any road trips and stay at home these school holidays. But the age-old problem still remains: how to entertain the kids! In this blog I look at affordable school holiday activities for kids and how to get kids off screens and outside more.
While the price of petrol is stressful for many of us, why not use this time to readjust our lives to make them less dependent on fossil fuels. One way to do this is through affordable school holiday adventures that also reconnect us and our kids with nature and community.
Affordable school holiday activities in your neighbourhood
Instead of going on a road trip these holidays, have you thought about exploring your neighbourhood? When was the last time you really explored the parks, beaches and playgrounds? Have you been down all the streets? Are there paths by a river, or through a park that you haven’t followed?
You might find a pātaka kai/food pantry that you can contribute to, or receive food from, a mini library, a garage sale, or even meet some neighbours and start building community.
Sometimes it’s hard to get the kids outside for what they might think is just a boring walk. We’ve had that problem with our kids, which is why we created Nature in Surprising Places. Start off with one of the challenges, or pop it in your pocket if a boost of enthusiasm is needed midway through your neighbourhood adventure.
What to do with kids on a budget
Have you ever taken a bus adventure? Why not pack a picnic and jump on a bus route you never normally take? If you like complete spontaneity, just jump on a bus and see where you end up. Or, if you’re like me and enjoy a plan, get the map out, find a park, playground or library in a different suburb and take the bus there. Get the kids involved by letting them choose the destination, and learn how to use the public transport app to find the right bus. There are excellent skills to be learnt in how to navigate the public transport system and read a map.
What is the best outdoor activity for kids
The outdoors is a playground and the best outdoor activity is free unstructured play. As well as being fun, it burns off energy, helps kids learn problem solving and sparks imagination and creativity. And being in nature decreases stress and increases happiness - trees produce chemicals called phytoncides that calm and soothe our nervous system and make us more relaxed. I like to call them ‘happy tree sparkles’ and imagine them drifting down from the branches overhead.
So the more time kids spend outdoors the better. If you don’t have a garden, search out parks with big trees, wooded areas, wild areas, grass to lie on, sticks and leaves to play with. A lot of our parks are barren grass with a small playground, but hunt around and find one with more wilderness to maximise the experience of getting into nature.
Sparking imagination
Kids’ time is so much more structured than it used to be, and it can take a bit longer for them to really get into unstructured, outdoor, imaginative play. That’s why we created Nature Fun Card Games. Each pack has 20 cards with over 50 activities to get kids outside, active and sparking imaginations. They can be used as the jumping off point for free play.
Kiwi Garden is the best for days when you’re sticking around home and the kids are getting bored. Send them out into the garden with the pack, and let them explore and discover nature in the garden. Activities range from physical, to creative, to observing their environment and will connect them back to the nature that is all around them, but probably unappreciated!
At the Beach is perfect for beach days when it’s not warm enough for swimming (April school holidays I’m guessing!). The activities direct attention to exploring the beach, rock pools, dunes and wildlife to extend the fun of the beach and get the kids running around adventuring!
Nature in Surprising Places makes neighbourhood walks more fun. Nature is everywhere and we don’t need to go on road trips to national parks to see it. Once you start looking, you’ll see life everywhere!
How to keep kids entertained when it’s raining
The dreaded wet days of school holidays! Fingers crossed that the weather will be nice, but if not here are three Sustained Fun activities and games that will keep the kids entertained on wet days.
Whale Poo and CO2 jigsaw puzzle - We designed this jigsaw puzzle for families, there are sections that are perfect for kids (purple octopus and creepy deep sea creatures!) as well as story-telling prompts and over 120 creatures to search and find. Jigsaw puzzles are a really great way to connect with each other, and we’ve designed this one to create a safe space to talk about climate through the interaction between whales and plankton.
EcoSplat Reusable Water Balloons for indoor games - Did you know that EcoSplat Reusable Water Balloons can be used for indoor games? Check out this blog for rainy day games with EcoSplat.
What’s That Splat? activity book is full of art prompts to explore nature: drawing the weather, making blob monsters and creating crafts - perfect for a rainy day!
Affordable School holiday activities don’t need to be boring, or be far from home. Take this opportunity to save on petrol, have fun and explore your neighbourhood with help from Sustained Fun!
Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of these activities!