School holiday boredom busters

Another academic year is almost over and the summer holidays have arrived. Whether you have primary school children or teenagers who’ve been doing exams, it can be hard to keep them occupied during school holidays, especially if you’re working full-time too.

Here are some fun ways to keep your kids busy during the holidays…

 

Activity clubs

If your children are part of a sports team, they might be invited to take part in special training camps over the summer holidays at a reasonable cost. Often, they’ll run for a week at a time, helping you to plan your own time off.

There are also other services to help you find activities for your kids to take part in. Websites such as Club Hub help to find children’s clubs, events and activities relevant to you. You just enter your location, child’s age and interests and it will show different activity clubs available near you. From sports to science to drama, there’s something for every child, no matter what their passions are.

 

Have a family day out

Whether it’s a trip to a theme park, a wildlife park or a city museum, your kids will love a day out. It can end up being expensive, but lots of museums and attractions will do deals for families. It might even be worth taking out a membership if it’s somewhere you like to go to regularly. Look out for coupons in newspapers too if you want to save some money on entry.

No matter where you live in the UK, it’s not too far to get into the countryside. There’s so much to do for free, fields to ramble through, rocks to clamber over and streams to paddle in – kids will really benefit from some fresh air and spotting what nature’s out there, like birds, insects and fish. It’ll also help burn off any excess energy if they’ve been stuck inside the house for too long.

 

Get together with friends

Invite your child’s friends round for a get together one day. Their age will depend on how much supervision they’ll need, but once children are with their friends, it’s amazing what they’ll think of to entertain themselves.

If it’s a sunny day encourage them to create some games to play in the garden. From corn hole to slip and slide and swing tennis – or even just playing with a ball or frisbee, there’s loads of activities they can take part in. You can help them to make a picnic to eat outside in the garden too for some extra fun.

If the weather’s not so good they could have a movie marathon with popcorn and pizzas at home. Or look out for special cinema showings of kids’ films during the school holidays.

 

Teenagers

If you have older teenagers and they’ve just finished their exams, encourage them to get a part-time job over the summer holidays. It will provide invaluable experience into the working world and improve socialising skills with other generations. Plus, they’ll get some spending money for any holidays you might go on over the summer.

If your teenage children aren’t quite old enough to work, you could pay them for doing odd jobs around the house, such as cleaning the car, ironing or cutting the grass. It’ll cut down on your chores and give them some pocket money.

Remember, if you’re struggling for time off and need help with childcare, there’s lots of options out there for help. If you want to find a holiday club in your area (England and Wales), visit https://www.gov.uk/after-school-holiday-club and just enter your postcode and then it will direct you to your local council’s website.

 

Don’t forget the uniform shop

 

With the cost-of-living crisis and summer holidays being a generally more expensive time for households, you may be tempted to put off shopping for uniform until closer to the start of the new school year.

At Trutex, we’ve partnered with Klarna so you can split the cost over three months, meaning there’s no need for a last-minute panic to find uniform that fits and is made to last.