If you can afford it, and can get them in, do try to book a couple of kids clubs over the break. They are great for learning new talents and social skills, meeting new friends and hopefully build confidence too.  Kids clubs don’t always have to cost the earth, often the local council, arts, or sports centre, maybe even a local community hub will have something on. Check them out, they’re often subsidised.

Some kids maybe too young, or their personalities may not suit big kids summer clubs, but fear not we have some other ideas to share.

A great idea, especially for working parents, is to buddy up with friends and share the load of childcare. Often having friends over for a play date or simple days out like a park picnic’s are great and pretty cost friendly too.

Circling back to your local sports centre, check to see what special holiday sessions are scheduled, many offer extended fun sessions in the pool or soft play. With special holiday pricing offers or memberships available for local children which again make these a very cost-effective. A summer swim course could be a great way to fill a week and learn an essential skill for instance.

Another great resource could be your local library, often community events are posted at the library, but they also offer their own kid’s events during the school holidays including free story telling or music sessions to attend, a great rainy day time filler.  Eventbrite.co.uk is also a great resource for seeking out summer programs and events, many of which are free.

We have enjoyed cooking and baking kits Craft & Crumb are a great UK based independent company offering unique bakes which are great fun to create, if you don’t fancy investing in kits there are loads of options for children to engage in on line or check out some of the great cookery books, who knows you may have the next bake-off star in your midst? Cooking and baking is great to get kids reading, measuring, better understanding numbers, remember each baking session can be a lesson!

We have so many options for open ended play ideas, from creating a shop with the fabulous woodland stores and theatre, through to the brilliant P-L-U-G den making kit ideal for indoor or outdoor play – what better way to create their very own play space?

We have so many ideas and items to support your summer play, the best way to get the most use out of new toys, games and craft kits is to pre-plan a new experience to make the most of it. Carve out time to play with your children when introducing them to a new toy, such as a theatre set so they learn how to get the most from that toy.

For a day of crafting check out our ‘crafty corner’ collection afternoon we have kits suitable for all ages from 3 years up, for natural performers we have theatre sets and dolls houses of all shapes and sizes, and for our future rocket scientists we have fabulous kits and games to entice and enable scientific tinkering! Plus even more for our Wild Child & Non Stop kids to keep them busy all day! Try to create a dedicated space for play, this not only creates ownership and a sense of responsibility, but will also do wonders for your sanity.

One tip learned from experience and especially when you have a group of friends don’t gift in bulk, you will find everything is opened and pieces mixed up, or sets started then not finished in the excitement of so much to do!

Most importantly, down time is good and healthy for children, like adults they need both physical and mental rest and downtime. A child that is continually stimulated or fed constantly with activity after activity will not learn how to spend time alone or make their own entertainment. A very important skill to learn…

So, when the activity chips are down, remember this, boredom is the birthplace of genius.

Next instalment… the benefits of boredom!