Summer holidays, ‘What do we do?’ Part 2

If you are lucky enough to be by a beach or out in the countryside take some time each day to take the kids out. Kids will get board quickly when stuck inside the house for long periods. Try to spilt the day up; in the morning spend an hour at the beach, park or in the countryside, come home and get the kids involved with making lunch. This can be great fun, let them make their own sandwiches of various concoctions. Always make sure you are present when kids are in the kitchen, don’t be tempted to leave them unsupervised.
After lunch have some fun in the garden. If you have a hose pipe get the kids to run around the garden trying to avoid getting squirted by the hose. A paddling pool is a great investment for the summer holidays as it brings hours of fun for the kids. You can benefit too on those hot summer days by getting your feet wet whist playing with the kids.
As we all know the summer can bring rain too so here are a few tips for keeping the kids busy inside too.
Get some fun videos for the kids to watch, try to make them educational. There are some really good DVDs teaching your kids about animals and geography.
Have lots and lots of paper and pencils so your kids can draw wonderful pictures. Keep resources like egg boxes and cereal boxes, all children love to cut and glue to make artistic creations from all sorts of rubbish.
Younger children enjoy repetition so have some songs and games that will keep them happy day in, day out if the wet weather sets in this summer.
Here are some cheap ideas to keep kids busy in the summer hols for under £3

Summer holidays, ‘What do we do?’ Part 1

The summer holidays can be a nightmare particularly for those who can’t afford to take the family away for this reason we at the Smart Start blog have come up with inexpensive ways to keep the kids entertained over the summer.
For those of you who are far from the beach but still have a garden why not get the kids building dirt sand castles? All you need are some old margarine and yogurt pots to create whole heap of fun for the little ones. Sounds disgusting I know but imagine the fun your kids will have with a bit of dirt and water, it will keep them happy for hours.
Here is a great link http://newsletters.kaboose.com/featured/kaboose_crafts?keyword=CraftSubLN&source=mktg for free art and craft ideas. Get free emails with suggestions on how to keep the kids busy throughout the summer hols.
Why not spend an hour a day playing games to help your child’s development. Fun games like ‘I spy’ can help with your child’s spelling or simply sit in the garden and get your children to count how many birds they can see. Spend time in the garden talking about the different things you can see. Get the kids to draw pictures of all the different things they see.
With all the good weather we are getting at the moment, don’t waste it indoors get the kids out walking or take them to the park. Kids love to play with other kids and what better way for them to meet other kids than at the park.
For some great ideas on inexpensive toys for the summer check out www.smartstart-toys.co.uk