Courtesy of Dave Woolbank of www.dadsclub.com.au

You’ll be king of the kids this summer school holidays when you stick to these creative, inspiring, low cost and often FREE activities that all add up to hassle free and BIG FUN.

Use any of these and Dad will again be seen as the expert their kids expect them to be.

1. Liven up your local park with mini-games / triathlons / kids Olympics

This is perfect with a group of kids and other parents. You can allocate teams or go solo; often it is good to mix this up.

Remember this is about having a go, introduce PBs (personal best / timed results) in favour of out right winners. Choose any of these and add some more: run, bike, swim, jump (long and high), throw a ball and / or climb a tree.

Create obstacle courses that include some of the above. Add in swings, slippery dips, chairs and some good distances.

Take some drinks and a bag of fruit.

Introduce a trophy - this is something you can make with the kids before or after and can be as simple as a cup, ornament etc..glued to a piece of wood.

A good follow-up is to take some photos and send them to the team afterwards.

Get the kids input on what they reckon they can do to make it more challenging and interesting.

Throw in a rope and finish it off with a tug-of-war. Perfect when it’s adults versus kids. Hopefully we’ll get some rain this summer and you’ll have a puddle or two to compete over!

2. Treasure Hunt

This will take at least 15 minutes to plan and will require you visiting the local park before hand.

You’ll need pen and paper to make a list of questions that the kids will need to scout around for to find the answers.  Find unusual, interesting and even educational hiding spots.

Remember your aim is to keep them busy (not you), so have them cover large distances and keep it challenging.

By adding in more diverse questions you can make this activity as long as you want. You could punctuate it with them finding their lunch.

Divide the kids into teams and handout a questionnaire to each team (you could do this individually). Your small questionnaire could look something like this:

How many rungs are on the ladder to the slippery dip?
How long is the monkey bar?
How many chain links are in the southern most swing?
What type of oval is the one near…?
Bring back a leaf. What is the name of the tree it came from?
Climb the tree nearest the _______ what did you find in it (have a small bucket of lollies as a mid-way treat)?
Find a sign and get the kids to write down names, phone nembers etc.. signs can be on posts, bridges seats, trucks, equipment etc…
When you look due north (south, east, west) what can you see?
What’s the full name of this park, oval?
Who opened this park?
Name three native flora within the park?
Name the species of birds…?
What local Aboriginal land are we now on?
Be resourceful and creative. Make a raft / house / aeroplane out of natural objects (twigs, leaves etc..) you could add cans, paper etc..?
Draw an aerial map of this oval and name a,b,c and d?

3. In the kitchen

Find a recipe and treat Mum and the family to a three course meal.

Go for an international cuisine e.g. Chinese, Thai, Italian etc..and theme it with fortune cookies and lantern; tropical looking flowers; red and white table cloth etc…

Stimulate this activity further by adding trivia questions during the meal.

For example:

The local currency in ___________ is _________?
Their national cuisine is?
The President / PM is?
The population is?
Who founded this country?
Any historical facts: e.g. the Chinese invented paper?
Major tourist destinations?
Name the national airline carrier?
Essential ingredients in this national dish are…?

4. Head to the markets

Turn a weekly shopping chore into an adventure and take the kids to the food markets instead of the supermarkets. Spice it up with some haggling, be adventurous and buy something completely different.

5. Paper Plane competition

Visit our animated paper plane guide and choose from ten different paper planes to make.  Then put your skills to the test and have a fly -off.  Whose plane goes the highest, whose gets the most distance?

6. Round up the local Canines and have a derby

Organise a local dog derby in the park.  Map out a dog track and have a race.  Check out your local dog track, you may be surprised what they’ll let you do.  Failing any successes here, take your pooch for a walk.

7. Start a holiday sports competition

Round up your mates and their parents, pad up and start a local test match in your ‘hood (see rules)

8. Plan a project and build it

Research a DIY project and plan, build and celebrate it these holidays.

Build a billy cart, fish pond, tree house, raft, herb garden, shed, doll house, worm farm or swing set. For more DIY ideas and tips.

9. Discover a new suburb

Take advantage of our multi-cultural communities, jump on some public transport and discover new food and cultures.

10. Get back to basics with board games

Lets face it we’re going to get a few scorchers and hopefully some rain these holidays, so keep these handy.
Play a favourite or learn a new game. These are bound to take you back and are another great way of teaching your kids new things.  Try Chess, Backgammon, Cards, Chinese Checkers, Monopoly, Twister, Kludo, or Mouse Trap.

11. Digital Photography

Grab a camera and explore your neighbourhood. Get creative with close up shots and props. Let the kids’ imagination go wild, pick out the best shots and blow them up. Then you can frame or mount on a canvas. Makes a great gift!

12. Discover a new bike ride

Explore your community by bike. Saddle up straight from home or drive / commute to a new destination and discover.

13. Paint a masterpiece

Buy some low cost canvases from Go-Lo and let the kids be creative. All going well you’ll have a masterpiece to hang. Makes a great gift.

14. Try a new sport

Watch or try out something new.  Find a kids sports club or sport stores here.

15. Plant a herb garden

We’re all going green and summer is a great time to get creative in the garden. You can use pots or dig up your garden. Potted herbs make a great gift.

16. Dinner in the park

Get the kids to design a menu and treat Mum to a picnic dinner in the park.  You may be inspired by what you’ve learn from some of the other activities in this list

Discover a new suburb.
Discover a new bike ride.
Head to the markets.

17. Camp in the backyard

Turn a sleep over into something more fun. Set up tent, blow up the mattress (or drag your kids’ mattress outside) and spoil the kids with marshmallows (toasted if you can).  Tips on camping

18. Home made lemonade

Make an easy cooling, refreshing drink with lemon or limes. Home made lemonade is perfect for those long hot summer days and evenings.  Once you’ve mastered the flavour, set up a stall.

Ingredients

Juice of 4 lemons
1Litre (4 cups) water
125g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

In a 2 litre jug, combine the lemon juice, water and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Chill in fridge.

19. Go bowling

Bare foot bowls is great for those warm evenings. Contact your local bowling club.  Air conditioned ten pin bowling makes a great escape on those hot days.

20. Find a destination and get out

Many of these can be free, or certainly low cost. So what are you waiting for, pack a picnic and go visit:

Some friends or family
School holiday activities: search by event type and state
Cultural event
Museum / Art Gallery / Photographic Exhibition
Free city events
Building sites make great viewing entertainment for infants
Factory or organisational tours are often FREE e.g. Parliament House, Stock Exchange & National Parks
Display gardens

Enjoy!

Courtesy of Dave Woolbank of www.dadsclub.com.au