Creative Summer Holiday Ideas

6 weeks holiday is a long time when you have active toddlers, even if they don't attend school most weekly activities, Toddler Groups, Tumble Tots....etc. tend to stop during the holidays so here are some creative ideas to keep your children happy and busy...they might learn some useful skills too!
But first a health warning!

Introduce a Colour Themed Day with the kids. Lets try GREEN. Tell the children when they get up that they are going to have a green day (or what ever colour you fancy) Use your creative skills to make the day as exciting as you can.

• Serve green milk with their cereal (add a little food colouring to normal milk)
• Give a selection of green foods for lunch, tea and snacks
• Choose green clothes for them to wear (don't forget you need to join in)
• Do some green cooking...green cakes with green icing, green jelly, apple pie, avocado dips
• Play with green play dough
• Go for a walk in the park and search for different shades of green (use paint sample charts from the local DIY store to match different greens in the park)
• Make a green collage using a variety of materials e.g. buttons, paper, card, tissue paper, magazine pictures.
• Play with green balloons
• Paint a green picture
• Photograph green things such as doors, curtains, toys.
• Read Green Eggs and Ham at bedtime

Next time let your children choose the colour and let them suggest activities.

Holiday Canvas Creation
This is an idea I have stolen from my daughter Sally who lives in Brisbane, Australia. She bought a cheap blank canvas from their version of Wilko's and together, her and Clara, who is 3 years old are creating a personalized collage of all things Clara loves. She has begun by Clara doing some very sparkly hand prints using glue and glitter, then she has added shells collected on their trips to the beach, some photos of Clara favourite places, pictures of her favourite animals...kangaroos and possums! Her favourite Disney characters are next to be included in the canvas...it is a work in progress and I'll let you see the finished masterpiece when it's ready. What a great idea....perhaps you and your children could create your own canvas of things you do during the summer or simply your favourite things.

Have you ever made a holiday scrapbook? When my girls were little we often made scrapbooks over the summer cutting and sticking memorabilia including leaflets, admission tickets, postcards...that shows my age! Photos, bits of nature like shells, leaves and flowers. We wrote captions...nothing too taxing as it was for fun and they were all stuck into a cheap scrapbook to remind us of our summer...it's great to look back and talk about those special times.

Summer Memories Box
This year I have decorated a memories box for my grand daughter so she can saw bits and bobs that will help her remember summer 2017. I have personalize it by decorated it using pictures, photos and embellishments. I have covered up the faces of her holiday friends because I have not sought permission to use their photos on a social media site.

Collections
Making a simple collection can be fun and it gives purpose to trips out. Look at the blog section on collections for some ideas.

Be prepared
Before the holidays begin start to collect ideas and resources to keep the children busy. Buy some cheap colouring books, scrap books and paper, some new crayons...always so much nicer than old ones! Go to the charity shop and stock up on some age appropriate games. Make sure you have scissors, glue and sticky tape. I spotted some coloured masking tape this week that will be great for big junk modelling...oh yes and collect empty cartons, plastic bottles, shiny paper etc. for creating masterpieces.
I store my creative resources in an IKEA trolley, it's handy...being on wheels and all the resources are on view so self selection is easy.

Tuff Spots
Have you come across builders trays from the local DIY shop...better known as Tuff Spots in Nursery/Infant classes.  They can be used as sand trays, messy trays, mud pie trays, builders yards, dinosaur lands...the list is endless when you need some way of keeping play contained. Look at my separate blog on Tuff Spots.

Tuff Spots are made of sturdy plastic...sit nicely on the floor and toddlers like to sit around it or in it to play...it really is one of the best things you could buy for the garden. The flat bottom and raised sides means children can play with dry or wet materials, and best of all they can create their own imaginary worlds in them. You can create a mini building site in your builders tray just by adding some sand, stones and toy building trucks.  

                                                                 

                                                                    Invitation to play

Something I have always done when my own children were little and now when I am expecting my 4 year old grand daughter for the day I set up simple play spaces with some interesting resources which I hope will capture her imagination. The resources should instantly capture the imagination, making sure the possibilities are open ended because you can be sure, if she doesn't have choice she will reject my ideas e.g. if I put play dough out with rolling pins and cutters she will walk in and decide she wants to bake instead! I have found it better to put out a basket of play things so she has choice and an opportunity to explore the options first.

You really want to intrigue your child, giving them room to be creative, think creatively and explore creatively. Have on hand the materials you need, it's worth stocking up before the holidays with safe scissors, glue sticks, stronger PVA glue, scraps for collage, different pens, pencils and crayons, washable felt tips.
IKEA do an amazing portable storage trolley that I use for all Honey's crafty things.

Back to the 'invitation to play' I often use baskets, pretty boxes or trays to display the resources and if the resources lend themselves to creating an imaginative play area for dolls etc. I include pieces of fabric to help create a landscape or backdrop for the stories she likes to create. Children love tactile fabrics that can be draped and shaped. I have been looking for an unbreakable mirror that I can use for a play surface...that would add another dimension to the play! If you spot one at a reasonable price please let me know.

                                 Here are some ideas for creative invitations to play.

• A basket of pebbles and seashells, a sand tray and some little figures (play people boats etc.)
• A selection of fabrics, some clothes pegs and a clothes air horse...couple with two dining chairs and you have the makings of an amazing den! But expect it to be filled with cushions, toys, snacks and books gradually throughout the day.
• Brown and green fabric, boxes to create a landscape and a box of dinosaurs. (small world play)
• Sparkly, shiny fabric (sequin fabric is wonderful) shiny stones, bits of wood and some little fairy dolls can begin a fairy tale grotto. I have acquired, from car boot sales, some wooden mushrooms which fits beautifully with the theme. A few big stones, some flowers from the garden and some wood for roofs and you have hours of fun ahead of you. (small world play)

Other ideas for small world play are: Troll Forest, Reptile World, Mini Beast World, Under The Sea, Down on the Farm, On the Moon, Outer Space, Our Town, The Building Site, Arctic World, The Rain Forest, Snowy Day, At the Beach, Growing, Spring, Autumn, Winter, Christmas, The Easter Story, Harry Potter, We're Going on a Bear Hunt....to name but a few!

If the activity is a success it's worth hanging on to the props so your child can re-visit the experience and build on it. Recently I purchased a Simplicity dress pattern book...one of the enormous ones for £2.00 and left it, strategically placed, along with some safe scissors, scrap paper and a glue stick and it soon became Honey's favourite activity...she has even had to take scissors on holiday with her because she just now loves cutting out! What's more she has become an expert with those little scissors!  

An invitation to play

Under the purple sequin fabric hides a basket with 3 soft toy fairies inside all ready for an adventure with the witch from Room on the Broom by Julia Dolnaldson.

See also More Summer Holiday ideas for 2019