Boy doesn’t time fly by.  I didn’t realise how long it had been since I had posted anything here.  Ah well.

February half term is fast approaching and the weather is not very predictable at the moment so I will have a look and see what I can find for indoor activities.  A couple that spring to mind is one of my earlier posts about having a theme day and also as it is still winter perhaps making some bird feeders.  Another thought is perhaps to start thinking about spring and planning what to do in the garden: tidying up and preparing to plant spring plants and veggies.  Gardening can be a great family activity.

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Well, almost the first week back to school over and as I look out of my window it’s all grey and wet!!  I have a feeling it’s going to be a long, damp end to the year.

But we mustn’t let that get us down – NO!  The worst thing about rainy days is that we are all stuck indoors and the day seems to be a constant grey colour – so let’s add some colour.

I meant to put this idea out during the summer holidays but kept forgetting so perhaps now is the best time – Theme Days.

Ever so simple – a theme day is simply a day dedicated to a particular theme such as pirates, princesses, cowboys, explorers etc etc.  Yes, just like you would organise for a party but without the tons of sandwiches, jelly, cake and presents.  There is absolutely no reason why these ideas should be confined to birthdays only.

Make it bright and colourful, let it take over one room (preferably the children’s) with tents, islands, palm trees, caves etc.  Everyone should dress up, including the adults – this can be a fun family day and not just for visiting friends.  Appropriate music playing in the background, themed food, games etc. You are only limited by your imagination.

As the days grow shorter and greyer make your house brighter and more colourful and on those rare dry days we may get, don’t forget to go outside or if you’re like me and have wet weather gear go out anyway.

Have fun and let me know about any theme days you hold.

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Wow they go fast don’t they!  Well according to your kids they do.  If like most parents, you have ran out of things to do with your kids by now you could try sending them across an assault course!

OK before you go and phone the army, I don’t mean that sort of assault course.  Well almost.  When I was younger I set up an assault course in my garden using anything and everything I could find, I had ladders to climb, ropes to swing across, blankets to crawl under, plant pots lined up to dribble a ball through, hoops to skip across and all this in a garden measuring 45ft x 30ft!

With a bit of imagination you could build a lot of fun for your kids and the neighbours kids too.  My assault course attracted a lot of attention, most of the neighbourhood kids used it and had a blast – not bad for a nine year old’s imagination!

If the weather is suitable, you could even include water into the course, such as a water pistol target range, a paddling pool with objects in the bottom to fetch using only mouths – you get the picture.  SAFETY NOTE – if you have a deep paddling pool don’t get your kids to retrieve things from the bottom!

If you are anything like my family, you used up all your great ideas at the begining of the holidays, now you are at the end you are struggling.  I like to try and treat the holidays like a good novel – a great begining, a great end and some compelling bits in the middle.  Lets give our kids an awesome last week, one they will remember!  Don’t forget, most teachers get our kids to write an essay about their summer holidays the first week back, lets give them lots of materials.

In our family, great fun doesn’t mean great expense.  Try doing some of the ideas found earlier in this blog and you will have some great memories.

Jon Roberts
Guest Writer
Websites for only £35.00

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The weather hasn’t been too good for the past couple of days, so we haven’t been anywhere.  We were going to attend the Medival Festival tomorrow but apart from the weather still predicting rain, our funds don’t really stretch to going this year.  (I think we should have an outings savings jar).

With our weather being so unpredictable it is a good idea to have some things handy to do when its raining or funds don’t stretch to going out.  We have a varied selection of board games and computer games and with the internet there is quite a range of things that can be done at home. 

Please post some of your indoor ideas.

Where possible indoor days should be planned in advance or at least pre-prepared and the activity kept somewhere handy, so that not too much of the day is spent trying to get organised.  I like making greetings cards and have quite a bit of stuff on hand to just be able to pick up the craft and get going.  Not everyone in my family is as enthusiastic about this as I am though. 

One of my favourite shops is Home Bargains as they have bits and pieces in there that aren’t too pricey and you could probably pick up an item or two each week.  A couple of months ago I was in there and spotted a home art box for £1.99, it contains four pre-printed canvases, brushes and paints so all we have to do is set it all out and paint.  As the canvases are already pre-printed there’s no need for “but I don’t know what to paint”.

I use quite a few different websites for printable pictures, crafts and games and I will get around to adding them to the appropriate heading on the About page.  Please make sure the website allows you to print off and use the stuff for at home etc.

With the olympics underway now I remember I came across a website, which suggested holding your own mini olympics.  This could be organised for either indoor or outdoor depending on the weather and it even made suggestions for making your own olympic torch, medals, and trophies.

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It doesn’t really matter what you do or where you go, the whole idea is about spending as little money as possible either and (more importantly) it’s more about being together as a family.  There are so many activities that go on in and around the home which can and are done as individuals i.e. watching TV, playing computer games, listening to music, outside playing, reading etc.  All too soon the children grow up and leave. 

For a couple of years now when the school summer holidays start we get the tent out in the back garden and sleep out there as many nights as we can (only got rained out one night last year at 3am!).  Recently a friend of mine came to visit and saw the tent and when I explained it to her she said “You’re making memories”.  That was a nice idea – making memories.  I’m sure we all have memories of our childhood and what we did during our summer holidays – I have many.  One of the best ones was my Dad announcing we were going on a mystery tour, which is always an exciting prospect.  We turned up at the local garden centre, which was holding a camping exhibition with 100’s of tents set up.  I remember feeling quite disappointed until we started looking around, my Dad made it fun and we were soon all having a great time running in and out of tents.  As a bonus to the day we took a drive to the nearby Priory, where by chance there was a Jamaican Steel Band playing.  This turned out to be one of the best days ever – not because it cost anything (it was all free) but because it was fun.  My parents made the day fun and I’ve never forgotten it.

I would like to point out now that if as parents we make it a fun day and look for all the positives the children will join in – go out with faces and attitudes that are miserable and you’ll bring everyone down.

We have taken our own children to camping exhibitions, which they have enjoyed because we made it fun.

A good place to visit is your local tourist information centre (TIC).  Ask if they have a list of upcoming events in your local area.  Even though you live there it doesn’t mean you know everything about your locality.  We are on our TIC mailing list and its surprising what you can miss.  I was very disappointed to note that we missed a Viking Experience last weekend just because we didn’t know about it.  We seem to miss a fair few events local to where we live!  I don’t know where they advertise but I ususally find out about it when its over. 

So please use this blog to let others know of different events.

One of the best ‘local’ events we attended was when we visited Maidstone, Kent.  We were driving along the Ashford Road when we spotted a small sign advertising a village event – can’t quite remember the title but it had to do with scarecrows – it was for a couple of days time, so we made a note and went along.  It was all set out in (I think) someone’s back garden, quite a large garden.  Scarecrows everywhere all dressed in as many different ways as possible.  There was a variety of simple games being held, such as ‘whack a rat’, mini golf and all for not much money.  At first we were a bit unsure but then entered into the spirit of it all and had a fantastic day.  There was tea and cakes, raffles and guess the weight of the cake, even an art display.  I won one of the raffles – yay.  Everyone at the scarecrow event was friendly – I hope it’s turned into an annual event.

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