Going on holiday with your family is always a great moment of happiness, even if getting away with very young children is not always easy. On the one hand, we are happy to share moments of complicity during country walks, visits to zoos, museums, strolls on the markets or moments at the beach punctuated by swimming. And then there are those moments spent in the holiday rental where children can tend to get bored when they are not in possession of their belongings left at home. But don't worry, there are plenty of activities that can be done on holiday that are very easy to set up, and The Little Witty has selected 10 of them to give you some ideas. Note that these activities can also take place when you stay at home!
1- Keep a vacation journal
Here's a tip that requires very little: a simple notebook, a pen and that's it! For children who know how to write, keeping a holiday journal or notebook is an excellent way to occupy the time spent in the holiday rental. In order not to make the child feel pressured, it may be a good idea to start by offering to personalize the notebook. Then, to make writing even more fun, the child can stick on the pages elements that he has collected during the day: a shell, the leaf of a tree, the ticket of a museum or an amusement park, etc. The advantage is that a holiday notebook can be kept, and we know that the child will enjoy reading it again and again, even many years later.
2- Involve them in the preparation of meals
If during school periods, many children tend to be served meals at home once homework and bath time are over, it should not be forgotten that family vacations are a time when the pace changes. Homework is put on hold, we eat and go to bed a little later. This is the ideal time to introduce children to the pleasures of cooking. To do this, you need to take the time to select the week's menus together, according to each person's tastes, and then involve the children in preparing the various dishes. Cutting vegetables, spreading toast, preparing the dough for a cake are actions that can be very fun for children, who are also delighted to help their parents.
3- Growing a vegetable garden indoors
Suggesting that children grow a vegetable garden indoors is a tip to consider when you go on holiday without a garden or a balcony. To do this, nothing could be simpler than to equip yourself with a few pots, soil, a small watering can, seeds or small plantations. Whether you choose to grow plants, flowers or vegetables, indoor gardening is an activity that can be shared with the family and through which children learn to observe and be patient. Every day, they contribute by weeding, watering or trimming leaves. They can also be encouraged to take pictures to follow the evolution day after day. Children will love it!
4- Build a garden shed
Everyone knows that children love cabins. And not just the ones made of wood and perched in trees. There are actually a thousand and one ways to build a tree house. Families staying in a holiday home with a garden can suggest that the children build a tree house by pinning fabric around a table or making a teepee. The children can then decorate it as they wish, with mattresses, toys or a dinette. Offering the garden shed during the holidays ensures that the children spend a maximum amount of time there and for parents, it is an opportunity to take time for themselves
5- Organize an outdoor show
A choreography on a background music or a theatrical play to end the holidays? This is a creative activity to keep the kids busy on holiday. Preparing a show and then presenting it to the family when it's ready is appreciated by many children, who have already had the opportunity to do it at school or at leisure camp. The main thing is to let them work on the show they want. Then, it is important to suggest them to "rehearse" daily, even a little, and at the end of the stay, you should not hesitate to create a set, to take out the speakers and even to invite the neighbours with whom you have made friends for the big performance!
6- Making giant soap bubbles
Making soap bubbles is a timeless activity! And it's even more enjoyable when the bubbles created are giant. The advantage here too is that the activity is very simple to set up and inexpensive. All you need is water, washing-up liquid, cornstarch, sugar, a plastic bottle and a small bowl. After pouring in 200 ml of water, 50 ml of washing-up liquid, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 spoonful of cornstarch, all you have to do is mix thoroughly. At the same time, cut a plastic bottle in half with the children and keep the part with the neck. What next? The part opposite the neck is dipped into the mixture, and then you blow gently and continuously into the neck. Then it's off to the contest for the biggest and most beautiful soap bubble.
7- Make a holiday fresco with paint
Painting is an activity that children always enjoy, and during the holidays, there are no rules, everyone can let their creativity flow. On the theme of holidays, we can invite the children to make a big fresco, to feed daily or when they want. With brushes, with hands, with feet, there are many ways to colour a large sheet of paper. If the holidays take place at the sea, it is possible to use this theme to create a large ocean in which the children can paint anything they wish, as well as gluing elements found in the landscapes encountered: tree leaves found on the ground to imitate corals, or thin and small branches to create the frame of a boat.
8- Guessing food from the refrigerator while blindfolded
Here is an activity that can be very, very funny. It's very simple to set it up, you just need to gather a certain number of foods from the fridge, but also from the cupboards: tomato sauce, cheese, mustard, salt, sugar, pickles, fruit, spread, lemon juice, etc. The game can be started by asking the child if he or she recognizes anything sweet, salty, sour or bitter. The children can also make their parents guess the foods and, for a good laugh, it is possible to create surprising combinations, to be used with older children.
9- Make a fishing line
We all have those happy memories of moments spent in a funfair around a good game of angling. It is quite possible to make one for the garden on holiday, it is even very simple. All you need is some old yoghurt pots, which you can customize with wire, paper clips, string, 50 cm long thin sticks and a nail. The nail is used to create two holes in the yoghurt pot to pass the wire that will be used to catch the pots. The string should be attached to the stick and the paper clip should be attached to the end of the string, unfolding it slightly, so that the hooks on the pots can be caught. You can create as many baths as you need. Then, to catch the pots, you can put them on the ground, or in a large plastic sandbox in which you put water. When angling with water, be careful to supervise small children.
10 - Organize sports workshops in the garden
It's a well-known fact that the more children play during the day, the better they sleep at night. On holiday, children are often ready to play in the morning, while parents want to take their time before going for a walk. A good way to keep them occupied is to offer them sports and play workshops. This can involve going from point A to point B with a spoon in the mouth carrying a small object that must not be dropped. But it is also possible to create obstacle courses, with elements of the house, and to time them to encourage them to surpass themselves. Running, jumping and somersaulting should keep the kids entertained and they're sure to come back for more
