Holiday Boredom Busters

With school holidays quickly approaching you might be beginning to reflect on how the last holidays went or what you might be able to do to keep your children occupied and engaged for the upcoming holidays. You would be hard-pressed to find a child who didn’t enjoy their time off school, but whilst the holidays for most is a time to slow right down to just ‘be’ and take some rest after a busy term re-settling into school again, for others– the novelty of being home and out of regular routine wears off fast and then the dreaded boredom kicks in. It can be difficult to find ideas to fill these days and we all understand the fall out of a bored child, so this is where we come in!

If you are having some time off together these holidays, to combat any looming boredom, we always recommend having a plan or schedule for each day – get your children to contribute their ideas. Children respond best to predictability and being prepared for what to expect for their day especially when they are out of their usual routine.  If it is a “nothing” day – let them know it! Otherwise see below some of the ideas we think children will love during school holidays.

Library trips are always a fantastic morning or afternoon out. If you have a child who enjoys cooking don’t forget to hire a new recipe or cookbook while you are there. The children’s library have a fantastic range of these books to hire. Not only this but they have a good range of toys to play with and events happening. Check out this link for the upcoming April school holiday events: http://www.nelsonpubliclibraries.co.nz/youth/april-school-holiday-programme

 For children with excess energy to burn, the mega slide at Tahunanui beach is a fun, affordable entertainment option that is bound to leave everybody feeling worn out in a good way! You can really make a morning or afternoon of this with a visit to the café then on to the new Te Pā Harakeke play area.

PICS peanut butter holds free tours of their factory every day during the week. The tour includes tastings and the lovely experience of making your own peanut butter. What is even better is these tours are totally free. You do need to book the tour in advance on their website. This activity is a popular one here in Nelson. Their café is also a must do.

For the very creative child, the Suter Art Gallery offer quality and fun day programs throughout the holidays for children aged 7-12. Check out this link for further information https://thesuter.org.nz/holiday

Sometimes fun at home as a family brings just as much joy as an outing into our wonderful community. You can build “home activity time” into your routine and get the children excited about some quality time together. Take a look at our previous article for some ideas for home based fun.

Teaching old school games like hopscotch, handball, 4 square and go  home stay home are memorable activities for children to do with their parents or caregivers.

There are plenty of recipes online for slime and playdough making and  lego construction, building a campsite in your living room, creating and putting on a talent quest is a super self-esteem builder and are all so much fun to take part in too! 

If you want your child to remain academic over the holidays there is reading eggs, maths buddy, maths playground, make a kahoot that are all online – or reading a good book together.

For parents/caregivers that may wish to have a bit of a break (and there is nothing wrong with this either) there are plenty of day programmes in our community facilities for children to get involved in.

Natureland offer a “Be a Keeper for the Day programme”  Gymnastics Nelson offer an active session each week day for children, Riding for the disabled offer pony keeping and riding, The Nelson yacht club offer courses over the holidays that include trips to Haulashore island.

There are other sporting school holiday programs from Suburbs Nelson and Netball Nelson too. These are bound to be experiences the children talk about for years to come.