Bored or Board?

Month 8 - Bite 11

Search out some free entertainment online that doesn't involve computer games!

There's always times during the school breaks (and at weekends come to that) when there's a need for sit down and do something calm! It's good to have a change from frenetic activity or to have something up your sleeve for days with poorer weather or when everyone fancies flopping about at home.

Have a session of surfing the web, not for cutesy videos of other people's pets or numberless gaming apps to use up your tablet's memory, but for downloadables. There's so much available whether that's quiz sheets, colouring pages, games to cut out and play..... Spend some time having a search and printing some examples off.

Be careful though... you won't want to wildly print off pages and pages of stuff which could a) waste paper and resources if it's not used or b) adds to piles of clutter about the place. Be selective about what you need right now and save other material in a folder for printing as needed at a later date.

With some of the materials you might find you only use one side of the paper, well, save it and print on the reverse next time.

With some of the downloads you could make it a paired or team activity and only print one copy.. just saying!

Month 8 - Bite 12

When I was little we always got a compedium of games either at Christmas or for birthdays. I well remember my mild dad becoming a ruthless hunter during ludo! My husband's family spent many hours playing Touring England - we now have our own game of it with a trophy to play for... There are the perennials too, of course, Scrabble, Mastermind and Monopoly (that often had to left out overnight as we never seemed to finish it.

What's in your cupboard? Have you any old favourites from your past that you haven't introduced your youngsters to? If you don't have any try a look around a charity shop or two to see what they have. 

It'll be interesting to see how individuals develop their own game playing characteristics once you get started.

Month 8 - Bite 13

After all that competition it's time for sharing an experience together. Try a film night, complete with popcorn and ice cream.

There will be plenty of films (or maybe some DVDs if you still have the machinery) to stream - even on free to view platforms. Or you could splash out on an old film you enjoyed in the past and see what the younger members of the family think about it.

Set the scene at home with low lighting and a quick 'speech' or 'trailer' about why the film is your choice. You might even make tickets to be exchanged for front row seating!!

Don't forget to ask your band of film reviewers/critics what they thought of the movie at the end....

 

Playing Outside

 Month 8 - Bite 8

Time to get outside - as long as the weather is on your side, although a little drizzle never hurt anyone... much.

Are there any local sports' facilities that are offering free taster sessions? Do a bit of research online to check it out. There will be some teams and organisations that are recruiting new members by throwing their doors open. See if there's anything your crew would like to try. Many of these will be advertised online or in the local press or down at the library so why not take a look?

Month 8 - Bite 9

When was the last time you visited your local park?

We're lucky round here. As well as the usual swings and grassy areas there are tennis courts, mini golf, a skateboard arena and an outdoor gym. Do you know what's on offer near you? Getting out in the fresh air is good for all of you, especially as (generally) whooping around and letting off steam is easier in open areas.

Phone round and see if one or two friends want to meet up and have a play together. Take some snacks and drinks with you and it shouldn't cost much at all.

Month 8 - Bite 10

In all that sorting out did you uncover a ball, racket, bat, or any such thing? You could all play a ball game together today. It could be a traditional game that you all know the rules for, or you could invent your own... With some improvised skittles (plastic milk cartons) or obstacles to go round or through (chair legs, rope laid on the ground) you can make up your own games and rules based on the number of players, time and space available and the skill set of those taking part!

Buying and Selling

 Month 8 - Bite 5

Right, now back to that pile of stuff from the bedroom tidy (and any other items you may have gathered up while the urge to declutter was upon the household.)

Are there any toys or clothes that would be good enough to sell?

Decide on how you're going to do it and involve those throwing the things away in the process. You might decide on an auction site or social media platform. Do it together and you could offer to pass any profits on to the person that donated them to the 'chuck' pile. Or you might all decide that the proceeds from any sales will fund a special day out at the end of the break.

It might be that there is so much that a table or boot sale is more suitable. Do some research together and plan it, sooner rather than later. Book it onto your calendar and start pricing and packing everything.

Month 8 - Bite 6

Of course you may have some friends and their offspring that have also had a tidy up. What about getting in touch and joining some other like minded souls for a giant clothes and toy swap? That way everyone could enjoy some time together (don't forget some cake), find some new possessions and have a play - and that's only the adults - only kidding!

If the weather's good put some sheets or blankets out in the garden and lay everything out for all to see. You might need some rules (no grabbing your old stuff back, only so many items per participant - you decide), but it's a good way of enjoying part of a day and getting some new stuff for nothing (well apart from the cake).

Month 8 - Bite 7

There will be some items that you would rather donate so ask those who've contributed their off casts where they would like their donations to go. Check that whichever charity or shop is open and receiving donated stock and when the best time is to deliver it. Now do it all together. There's nothing like your goods being warmly received to make children (and adults) want to help again. They might even want to find out a bit more about how their gifts will benefit others once you get home.

Booking it in....

 Month 8 - Bite 4

So the holidays are underway... It's easy to lose track of what's going on, satisfy all the things that need to be done and remember every suggestion that each member of the family has made. So today is about getting the ideas booked in.

First either download or draw up a giant calendar for the month.

Now in pen write in all the appointments and bookings that are already made - birthdays, dentist, trips away that have already been booked, prior arrangements to meet friends/visit granny - all of those sorts of things.

Now begin to fill in the rest with suggestions, ideas and desires! At this stage you might want to make the entries in pencil so that they can be changed. Alongside make a mark in a different colour for each member of the household that suggested or wanted the activity. That way you can be sure there's a fair spread of who wants what.

There may be definite tasks that need to go down - a regular clean up and sort the home day, or a regular trip to the library.

The next job is to make some more bookings. If you haven't got all those essential appointments made then now's the time to start ringing, emailing, online booking, whatever. Dentists, hairdressers, shopping for new school shoes, next term's clothing and so on. Some of these will need to go at the end of the holiday as sure as eggs are eggs someone will have a growth spurt!

So much for the essentials, now for the fun - do friends and family need contacting to arrange time to get together? Do it now and get the dates firmed up. 

Slowly some of those pencilled in days will need to be written in pen and you'll be able to see what's left.

Of course, any of the ideas could change depending on who's available, what the weather's like and any new opportunities that come along. And don't forget to save this calendar once the holiday is over so you can refer to it again next time!

One for the Kids

 Okay, so we're on to Month 8!

Another playful, cuddly elephant for this month. I know I have been trying to make most of these ideas non-particular-month-specific, but as I write schools' out and thoughts of entertaining our younger family are at the forefront of the mind. Especially now my younger niece and her crew are due to arrive from Italy to swell the throng.

I've tried for this month to mix a range of free/cheap activities that we have tried in the past and are planning for now. The age range of our lot is quite wide and not all the activities will appeal to all of them. That's life! Still let's get on with the first batch...

Month 8 - Bite 1

This opening activity will seem a bit odd as we're beginning by thinking of the end of the holiday. No, it's not like in the shops, where as soon as term breaks up the advertising for 'Back to School' starts appearing. While we're all keen and excited we like to start to build a stock for the end of the holidays. Today sees a concerted effort to gather together the first components of the 'end of the Holiday Box'.

There's lots of bits and pieces around - craft stuff, colouring sheets, templates, that between all the family we're putting together. Books that were on sale go into the mix as do any puzzles, games and so on that we pick up in the first few days. The web needs searching for downloadables (you won't believe how much is out there) which are printed off and saved.

As other ideas crop up (along with any special bits and pieces that might get acquired from gift shops or outings) they get squirrelled away too.

All of these get put away ready for the end of the holiday when inspiration begins to wane, other tasks need to be accomplished ready for school or even the weather refuses to co-operate.

You'll thank me for this one later I promise.

Month 8 - Bite 2

Time to get out of the house and go for a walk. It doesn't matter where or for how long. It's time for a stretch and an explore of what's around locally. With all the to-ing and fro-ing that accompanies the frenzy of the end of the school year a  nice walk and chat is welcome. It provides the chance to talk over what's happened in the past few months, what might lie ahead and what they'd like to do during the break (don't forget to make a note of the ideas - they might surprise you with how simple the things they come up with are). It also creates an opportunity to revisit and remember those facilities and amenities that might exist close by.

Month 8 - Bite 3

An at home day today. A sorting out day! Release them into the wild that is their bedroom(s). 

How about emptying all their cupboards, wardrobes, shelves, bookcases, everything? Now they get to look at all the stuff around. Will they discover toys and games that have been forgotten? Decide there are clothes that no longer fit? Laugh at the thought of ever playing with some things again? See something their sibling wants to throw away that they'd like?

At the end of the voyage of discovery all the items they want to keep can be carefully replaced and stored and it should leave a pile of discards (especially with some encouragement).

What will you do with them.. well we'll get to that later.....

Hang out the bunting!

 Extra Mouthful Number Four

I did mention some help with crafting inexpensive cards so here's one idea...

Bunting always seems to go alongside celebrations so I wanted to create some cards for birthdays, etc. using it as a feature.

Firstly I cut some decorating paper and plain card so that they fit onto a card blank...

                                                 

Next came a selection of tiny triangles from paper scraps - you could use magazines or old wrapping paper too...

                                                    

Finally I glued them onto the top piece of card, linked them with a drawn line and mounted it all onto a card blank.

You could add a greeting to the front of the card as well if you like.

Then I wanted to see how it would look repeated in fabric. This time I glued some fabric to the top card and cut the triangles out of leftover bits and pieces of fabric from other projects.

                                                      

I glued the top edge of the triangles to the fabric before stitching a line instead of drawing it. Then, again I mounted this all onto the card blank..

One or two more to make and then I can add them to the greetings card store ready for the next appropriate occasion.

In the Bag

 Onto the last (belated) leg of this month's offerings... a few bits and bobs about parties.

The first two bites here are about those infamous party bags that seem to have become a staple these days!

How do you create and fill them so that they don't cost the earth and yet are a nice reminder of a good time?

Month 7 - Bite 28

The first thing to do is to create the party bags themselves. There are plenty of templates available to print so why not try making your own rather than buying them. It's even better (cheaper and more environmentally friendly too) if you use paper left over from projects, spare wrapping paper, magazine pages or brown paper that wrapped something you had delivered! Of course you can also unfold a spare bag you have from a previous party to create a template.

                        

Some of these options seem to produce a rather dull bag, but wait... What if the first activity of the party was for each participant to decorate and label their own bag? As each person arrives provide them with the wherewithal - pens, stickers, sequins, glue - to make their own very individual bag. All of these can be put, empty on a surface awaiting their contents.

Month 7 - Bite 29

So on to those contents...

Not so long ago we went to a relative's 80th do. Her daughter and grandchildren had pulled out all the stops to make it an occasion to remember without spending huge amounts of money - although they did put lots of love and effort into it.

Guests there, old and young, each received home made party bags. Inside were one or two sweet items including this..

Forgive my photography - it's a phial for blowing bubbles! There was also a small pack of seeds gathered from their own garden to grow flowers with a note on the envelope to explain that as the flowers grew we could remember the special day. Among the other things was an individual cake box to choose a favourite cake (there were loads!!) to take home.

It's very easy to think the bags have to be loaded with plastic knick-knacks or sweets, but why not try something similar. 

We're always looking out for small gifts for Christmas, birthdays etc. so when any of us spot a bargain in the mini books/pencils/stickers/anything really line it gets snapped up and stored. These are particular favourites for prizes for pass the parcel, musical bumps, or any other game. Guess where these prizes go? Yep, that's it - those waiting party bags - it's easy to top up any non-winners' bags too while they are all eating.

Then there's those scrunchies I made a while back, some bookmarks, and... well, you get the picture.

The next bite might also give you some ideas for fillers too....

Month 7 - Bite 30

A make it yourself party..... Well, why stop with the party bags? You could try having a short game or two and then set out a table with plenty of craft materials for a grand making session. It could be a step-by-step process where all the guests make the same item following someone's lead - decorated hair grips, for example, or fabric brooches from scraps glued onto a backing piece (thank you internet for soooo many ideas!). You could give each guest a sock to decorate as a puppet or some felt, pom-poms, wiggly eyes and buttons to make finger puppets. Whatever you choose make sure there's time for the glue to dry while you eat whatever spread you've laid out and played another game before their masterpieces are added to the party bags.

Recently I found these initials on sale and gathered a number for decorating and adding to the take home stash - remember my comments about wrapping paper scraps and tissue paper? This is the sort of project they go too...

                                                 

You might decide the makes should be edible. Make some individual cakes and provide icing, colouring and toppings for them to decorate their own cakes which can be added to the bags. Or use plain biscuits (shop bought or home baked) for them to create faces using icing sugar glue, small sweets and sprinkles.

Phew - all partied out?

Wait till the excitement of children's holidays appears for next month!