5 Ways to get your Little Ones Active over the Summer Holidays
As the long-awaited summer holidays begin, young children are a bundle of joy and excitement. For parents, on the other hand, the prospect of entertaining busy young minds for a six-week period can be a daunting prospect.
Keeping your little ones entertained throughout the summer holidays might feel like a mammoth task, but with a bit of pre-planning, you can help to create summer memories that will last a lifetime.
We’ve come up with five simple ideas to help keep the boredom at bay, keep the family entertained and help create a great summer holiday for everyone.
Get Outdoors
Find places that you’ve never been before and go exploring. Kids love adventure, so walking or cycling through the woods helps feed their active imaginations. Keep them mentally and physically stimulated by planning a scavenger hunt. List a few items to search for; sticks, pebbles, stones, feathers, or a four-leaved clover are just a few of things you can include, depending on where you’re going. You can even go foraging for blackberries which make beautiful pies and jams (there’s an activity for another day!).
Additionally, The National Trust provides a wide range of low-cost days out, so it’s definitely worth seeing what’s local to you.
Make Plans with Friends
Kids are often attached at the hip with their school buddies during term-time, so meet-ups during the holidays can be the highlight of their week. Trips to the park, local farm or zoos are great places to visit with friends in tow. It’s also great if you can extend the invite to fellow parents for a bit of support and much-needed adult conversation.
Kids will happily occupy themselves in the back garden if they have their friend(s) to play with. A frisbee, badminton set, football, paddling pool or even a water pistol can keep them entertained until the sun goes down.
Whether you choose to spend a couple of hours in a local park, or simply let them play in the back garden, it’s definitely a case of ‘the more the merrier’.
Get Sporty with a New Hobby
Children begin to learn and develop skills at very young ages, so encouraging them to take up a new hobby is a wonderful for both personal interest and development. When kids choose hobbies, they throw themselves into it wholeheartedly which can have tremendous outcomes for later life.
Finding a new hobby can give newfound confidence and encourage new friendships. When they choose a sporting activity for example, they’re encouraged to socialise, practice teamwork, and reach goals, all excellent character-building skills.
Gymnastics is a great activity and becoming increasingly popular amongst both girls and boys of all ages. Not only is it a fun and challenging sport, but it also teaches endurance and resilience; a great life lesson in picking yourself up after a failure. It’s also an amazing way to meet new friends…and did we mention it’s great fun!
If your little one would love to give gymnastics a try, and you’re looking for somewhere they can try out some of the equipment in a safe, fun, and exciting environment, why not book onto one of our amazing Beth Tweddle Gymnastics Summer Camps.
Perfect entertainment for children aged 5 years upwards, each day is an action-packed extravaganza of activities where the children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of sports (including gymnastics, obviously), games and events alongside their new friends.
Camps can be booked for half days, single days and full weeks depending on your requirements.
Family Sports Day
They get to have one at school with their friends, now they can do it at home with the family! Choose a lovely open area such as a park or field, keep an eye on the weather forecast, then start making plans.
You might need to recruit a few friends to make the teams equal, but there’s nothing more exciting for a youngster than seeing their parents running around a field!
It’s entirely up to you how seriously you wish to take your sports day (you’d be amazed at how competitive Dads’ can get!). You’ll need a sack race, an egg and spoon race and a three-legged race (if you dare!).
If you want to make things really exciting, create a finishing line with ribbon; create home-made medals for the winners and runners-up. You can even have an opening and closing ceremony with podiums.
But maybe that’s taking things too far…
Garden camping
There’s little that can top stargazing for people of any age. Children, however, are in their element under a clear night sky. If you’re new to camping, you might not be ready to venture to a campsite just yet, so garden camping is a brilliant alternative, and it doesn’t need to cost much either.
Invest in a run-of-the-mill, pop-up tent (you don’t need anything luxurious!), a few sleeping bags and flashlights and you’re all set. You can always add some twinkly lights and soft cushions to make the area more homely.
Tell the kids to pack their pyjamas, a change of clothes and any other worldly items they can’t be without– they should treat it like they’re really going away on a trip! It’s even a great excuse to tear them away from their smart technology or gaming consoles for a night or two.
Have a few songs round the campfire and tell some exciting stories. If available, throw a few burgers on the BBQ and toast some marshmallows!
Don’t forget the midnight feast!
However you plan to enjoy your summer holidays, we hope that we have helped give you a little inspiration of the things you could try and you have a great 6 weeks making amazing summer memories before term time comes round again!
If you’re interested in finding out more about the joy of gymnastics, we offer free taster sessions at all our centres and academies. Check out your nearest centre here or click on the link below
