With the summer holiday now in full swing perhaps you are stuck for ideas of things to keep your children busy whilst not breaking the bank?

It’s always tricky, thinking of ways to keep the kids happy and entertained for 6 whole weeks whilst they are enjoying their summer holiday without every day costing the absolute earth. Below we have come up with a few simple and cheap ideas which we hope will help you with the next few weeks ahead:

Put together a nature treasure hunt for your children to complete whilst out on a walk, at the park or even in the back garden. Make a list of items they need to find, such as particular leaves, daisies, a feather etc and get them to tick them off as they find them or even items they just need to spot such as a particular bird, squirrel or bug. Get them to collect their items in a box or bag, we have plenty of choice on our website which certainly won’t break the bank.

Children always enjoy painting, and with the ‘Secret Stones’ craze still in full swing, what better way to keep them occupied than pretty painting on pebbles and rocks, which they can then enjoy hiding to be found by others. You could even take a paint pallet and bottle of water to the beach and let them paint pebbles whilst you enjoy a spot of sunshine.

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Want to keep their spelling in check whilst they are having fun? Why not ask them to paint pebbles with separate letters and then challenge them to spell words using their painted pebbles. They can use one of our boxes to keep their lettered pebbles in for another day, and they can even paint the box as well.

What better way to get the children out and about than taking the little ones out on a picnic. Pack the food bits you would normally have at home into a cool bag or box, grab a blanket and head out, even if it’s just to the local park or playing field, to enjoy lunch alfresco. With any luck they can run around and burn off some of that extra energy whilst you are there too. Get the kids to bring their favourite teddy and make it a teddy bear’s picnic!

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If the weather isn’t looking great why not get the kids using their vivid imaginations to make their own board game. Ask them to write out the rules and instructions on how to play too, which is great for their literacy skills. They can then teach you how to play and they can pack it all up in a gift box to make it look really professional. And don’t forget, they can decorate the box like a proper board game too.

How about getting the children cooking or baking to make their own biscuits, cakes or even sweets? They can then decorate them and enjoy them – or even pack them up in one of our cello food bags and give them as a present to friends or relatives. This is a great activity for a rainy day when you are stuck indoors and can’t go out. There are plenty of easy recipes online to try online, including this one for iced biscuits from BBC Food: https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/icedbiscuits_3054

If you fancy getting your little one’s creative juices flowing how about doing some art and crafts and making some Streamer Sticks which they can run around and play with. Using an old kitchen roll tube (we do love a bit of recycling) they can paint this or cover this with pretty wrapping paper of their choice, then add streamers at the end using either lengths of ribbon or strips of tissue paper in lots of different colours. We stock a wide range of coloured ribbon and tissue which can be ordered online via our website, take a look here.

Want to encourage the kids to behave then try making a DIY money box to fill with pocket money earnt from good behaviour or helping out with chores around the house. Our flat packed boxes are great for this – just cut a slot into the top for the money and give the box to your little one to decorate and personalise to their hearts content. At the end of the summer holiday they can open and empty their money boxes and spend their hard-earned pennies on a new pencil case for school.

And don’t forget - enjoy your time with the children this summer holiday, they don’t stay little for long!