Holiday Ideas to Stimulate Children & Reduce Screen Time

In Australia our schools have just closed for the Summer holidays. After over two years of Covid isolation, lock downs and disrupted lives, life is just starting to return to normal. As we enter holiday periods with our children and grandchildren it's helpful to plan a little. While some children might go to summer camps, or holidays with families, there will be plenty of time either at home or away for children to become bored. Hopefully, the solution is NOT just to simply increase their screen time.

Today I'm making the traditional family Christmas pudding with one of my granddaughters. Always a special treat which I once did with one of my daughters. I hope that my readers all have their own traditions that you look forward to each year. If not start some with your children or grandchildren.

But the holidays in summer are usually long, so it's good to think ahead about things you might do with your children and perhaps grandchildren. If Christmas falls in winter as it does in the US and other northern hemisphere nations, then outdoor activities will be hard. But there are plenty of things to be done inside that are stimulating and fun.

I've also written a number of posts in the past about things to do in the holidays with kids (here), as well as simple travel games to fill the time on trips with your children (here). There is also a post on Planning With Kids that offers '20 Great Holiday or Travel Activities for Kids (5-15)'. To maintain some balance you might also find my post on 'Boredom is still good for children!' to be helpful.

In this post I thought I'd revisit some of the ideas and add a few more. There is no better way to stimulate your children's minds and prepare them for another year of school in 2023.

My criteria for choosing these holiday activities are that they:

• Stimulate creativity
• Encourage exploration and discovery
• Involve using their hands as well as their minds
• Encourage interaction between you and your children
• Foster literacy development 
• Increase their knowledge
• Keep them interested

Encourage your children to make a film 

1. Use a simple animation app to get them started - This sounds a big deal but it's not with the right app. I wrote a post about some wonderful apps for digital story telling a few years ago (HERE). One of my favourites is 'Puppet Pals. For one thing, it's VERY easy to use. Your children will work it out in minutes. Puppet Pals is available as a free app for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Most apps are available for other devices as well. It's essentially a simple way to create an animated movie using 'cut-out' themed characters and a variety of backdrops and scenes to create an animated 'puppet' play.

There is a free version that comes with Wild West backgrounds and actors.  However, you can also purchase different themes for as little as $US0.99 or the 'Director's Cut' in which you can access all the themes for $US2.99. These allow you to obtain a range of additional scenarios and characters based on themes such as monsters, space, pirates, arthropod armada, Christmas and so on. You can even make your backdrops and characters.

It's a very simple app to use that provides very easy storyboarding. You can record dialogue, move characters around, create some simple effects, change backdrops and settings and characters. While ideally, before creating the animation, the writer/producer prepares plot summaries and story ideas, but I've seen my grandchildren make excellent animations on their first take. One I've used used is the 'Arthropod Armada' theme from 'Director's Cut'. 

Puppet Pals is a wonderful resource for supporting story telling, writing, language development, creativity, and problem solving, while at the same time introducing them to film making and animation. I could see myself using a smartboard to collaboratively develop a story with my class before introducing individuals and groups to this smart little app.

Books with a difference

2. Pick some special books they haven't seen - try to borrow or buy at least 2 books for each child. Based on their interests try to choose books they'll enjoy, not simply books you'd like them to read. Opportunity shops, book exchanges and libraries are also a great place to start looking for some cheap second hand books. I have another post on book exchanges, op shops and web exchange sites here. Alternatively, take them to your local library to choose some.

3. Use Books as a creative stimulus - While the sheer joy of the book is usually enough, sometimes books can stimulate many wonderful creative activities. For example:

After reading Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things are" go outside and dramatise it. Let one child be Max and let others take turns at being the wild things. Make a boat out of bits of wood, or even have a go at making one out of a large cardboard box (or several).

After reading Jeannie Baker's book "Where the Forest Meets the Sea" (a book about the Daintree Rainforest in which all the pictures are collage), encourage them to make a collage out of natural materials (and maybe some wool, straws etc to supplement) in response to Baker's pictures. Or read a second book and have them use collage in response.

After reading Graeme Base's "The Waterhole" get them to paint the waterhole (they can draw the animals, cut them out and paste them around the waterhole).

4. Dramatisation - Dramatisation is an excellent way to respond to a book. If you have a dress-up box all the better. Let your children either re-tell the story through dramatisation or improvise. Get involved to help set the pattern for turn taking etc. I play a mean wolf, and an even better Grandma!

Writing

5. Diaries and journals - Introduce older children to diaries or holiday journals. Make this fun, not a school activity. Some might prefer to just make it a scrapbook by pasting in tickets, leaves they collect, food wrappers etc. But you can also show them how to create a travel diary.

6. A holiday blog - Tech savvy mums and dads might encourage their children to write online. Why not set up a family blog that can be read by friends and relatives (even if only for two weeks). You could use this as part of a trip away, or just use it at home. Older children could set up the blog themselves and all family members could contribute. Let them have access to a digital camera and a scanner and the sky is the limit. See my post on 'Children as bloggers' (here).

7. Start a family joke or riddle book - Maybe offer them some jokes as models ("Knock, knock", "Why did the centipede cross the road"....) etc.

Craft

8. Structured Craft ideas - simple beadwork, noodle craft, mask making, making plaster moulds (and painting them), anything for young children that requires paper tearing, gluing, glitter, stickers, works well.

9. Unstructured creative craft - Stock up when you go to the supermarket with simple materials like paper plates (good for masks), brown paper bags, sticky tape, glue, cotton balls, tooth picks, paper cupcake holders, straws (cutting up and threading), noodles (for threading).

Creative Play

I've written a number of previous posts on play (here) but planning for play is important. While you can say to your children go outside and 'play', doing some simple planning at times will lead to more stimulating play times.

10. Dress-up box - If you don't have one take the kids to an Op shop to start one. You might even pick up some gems like old helmets, hats, belts (you can cut them down), handbags etc.

11. Water play - This is hard in cold weather, but maybe you could make bath-time special for young children with extra bubbles, different stuff to take into it. In warmer weather give them a bucket of water and some things to scoop, sieve etc - obviously only UNDER SUPERVISION. Above, it's pick on Grandad day!

12. Play dough - You can buy cheap coloured modelling clay but home-made playdough works well. My wife 'Carmen's can't fail' recipe is 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 cup of plain flour, 0.5 cup of cooking salt, 2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar, 1 cup of water, colouring. Mix together and put in a saucepan on medium heat until it binds together, stirring all the time. Fold together by hand. If you keep it in a sealed plastic bag it will last for ages in or  outside the fridge.

There are endless things to do with play dough. Try to move beyond just cutting out shapes (which kids still love). Encourage them to make a house, a farmyard, a bed, and an aquarium. Use some plastic animals with the play dough or small plastic people. If you don't mind tossing the play dough out you can let them use sticks, plants etc to make simple dioramas. Kids will create complex stories as they manipulate the play dough.

The blanket cubby!

13. Build a cubby house - No not with wood, just use a table, some chairs, wardrobes (hitch the blankets into the top of the doors, some pegs and sheets and blankets. By draping them over other objects you should be able to create a special space (about 2x2 metres is enough for three small kids). Try to get at least 1.5 metres of height. Have the kids 'help' and then get them to collect some special things to have in the cubby. Use a toy box for a table, some cushions to sit on. I used to let my grandchildren have my cheap transistor radio from my shed (lots of fun). Some will enjoy a tea set; others will collect animals and toys. If you're up to it, climb in as well and read some stories. They'll like the edges tucked in to cut out light so you might need a torch. I've seen a cubby of this kind amuse kids for half a day. Then of course for the adventurous you can share some snack food as well. You can even build a cubby inside! See my post on cubbies (here).

Above: A 'house' one of my grandchildren made (with help) from a box I saved

Indoor and back yard fun

14. Treasure hunts - Write the clues on paper using words and pictures depending on ages and make the treasure worthwhile (chocolate, a coupon for an ice cream in the kitchen etc). For something a little more challenging why not try a map with grid references (see picture opposite).

15. Cooking - Kids love cooking with their mothers or fathers. Do simple stuff. Nicole (Planning With Kids) has lots of great ideas for cooking with kids on her site. Don't forget to make it a language activity as well by getting them to follow the recipes.

16. Insect scavenger hunt - Try an insect scavenger hunt (one of my grandchildren's favourite activities). You'll be surprised just how many you can find. You'll need to be careful turning rocks over and digging around, but even in Australia it's low risk if you supervise. Place a pile of bricks in a damp place and then let the kids help you to uncover them a few days later - watch the critters scurry. We always enjoy a good snail race afterwards!

A few basics hints

• Have a strategy for the holidays - map out a timetable (post it on the wall) and try to plan a few significant events and think through the general structure of each day.
• If you have younger children still at home, being joined by school kids on holidays, try to think about how you will cope with all their interests and think about varying daily routines a little.
• Pace yourself - don't use all your best ideas in the first few days (you'll wear them and yourself out and you'll struggle to keep up the variation later).
• Expect bad weather - think about some ideas that will work in rainy weather as well. It's called the "Law of Holidays" - expect lots of wet weather and a day or two of sick kids.