7 Easy Ways to Keep Kids Entertained This Summer

27th July 2016

My daughter finished nursery last week for the summer, and quite frankly I’m terrified. She will have six whole weeks off until she starts school in September – during that time, not only do I need to keep her entertained, but I also need to keep working. I’m very busy at the moment, but obviously as her mother I need to look after her properly and try my best to keep her entertained!

My Sunday Photo

Of course, we will go out some days and we will make the most of the weekends, but some days I will just have to work unfortunately. A does love imaginative play and has really got back into it recently, which is great, but she won’t do it for ages and ages at a time. So I need to have a few different, quick and easy options to get her set up with for short periods whilst I get some work done.

Here are 5 simple and quick ideas to keep kids entertained over the summer holidays:

1. Get the paddling pool out! Kids of all ages love splashing about in the water, especially when it’s burning hot. Stick a paddling pool in the shade and let them mess about for a couple of hours – they’ll keep cool and have loads of fun. If you don’t already have a paddling pool, you can get a little blow up one really cheaply and just throw in a few plastic buckets and jugs. Older kids might prefer to have a water fight, but either way at least they’ll keep cool!

Even without a paddling pool kids can have loads of fun with water play. At A’s new school they have a stand with a big, deep tray filled with water and things like jugs, cups, water pourers and even an old doll and sponges so they could wash her. At one of her settling in sessions Ava played in it for absolutely ages and didn’t stop talking about it afterwards. Fill a plastic tub with some water and plastic toys and they could be entertained for ages.

2. Load up your devices with a few suitable kids films so they can relax and get out of the heat for a bit. Warner Bros have five great titles available now to keep your little ones entertained – The Lego Movie, The Nutjob, Scooby Doo, Dolphin 2 and Max are all available on itunes now for your kids to chill out with and enjoy.

keep kids entertained this summer

children and technology

3. Jigsaws! Kids love spending time with a jigsaw and are so proud if they manage to do it all themselves. Depending on what age they are, they may need a little bit of help, but hopefully you can still manage to reply to a few emails whilst they do it!

4. Set up them up on a big plastic sheet with some playdough, either inside or out, depending on the weather. That way you don’t have to worry tooo much about them getting it everywhere, and they will hopefully have fun with it for a while.

5. Get them to help you make lunch or dinner – you need to do it anyway, so they will be entertained for a little while, and enjoy helping you. Then hopefully they will be happy to play on their own for a little bit!

6. Build a den with them to play in – they’ll probably be happier playing on their own for a while in this exciting new place, and if the weather is ok, you could build one outside whilst you do some work on a garden table near them!

7. If all else fails – see if their grandparents or aunties and uncles can have them for a few hours or even just take them to the park for an hour so that you can get something done. I’m going to try and arrange in advance for Ava to be at her Grandma’s house for the odd day over the six weeks (hiii Grandma :), so I know in advance that I have those days to catch up with work.

Hopefully these will give you some ideas to help keep your kids happy during the summer holidays whilst you need to work. If you have any more easy ideas, please let me know in the comments!

 

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