10 Best School Holiday Activities to Keep Your Kids Entertained at Home

Every school holiday,  parents are left scratching their heads, wondering how to keep kids occupied while they’re at home.

If you’re also one of them, good thing is I’ve decided to put together a list of activities that will not only keep your kids entertained, but also allow them to learn new skills as well.

Learn a new kid-friendly recipe 

Plenty of kids love helping out in the kitchen. It feeds their love for exploration and gives them a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they had a part to play in whipping up a delicious meal. Aside from being fun, this is a good life skill for them to develop. There are several easy recipes available online that won’t require them to handle anything too sharp or too hot. Who knows, you might have a future chef or baker in the making! 

Try to finish a new book every week

You’re a lucky parent if your child already loves to read. Several studies have shown the importance of reading to kids, even at a young age. Considering how much time you’ll likely spend at home on these days, it’s a great chance to encourage this habit. Set a goal for your child to finish at least one new book every week during the holidays. 

Play board games with the whole family

Board games are a great way to bond with the family, especially if you have older kids. It’s an excellent alternative to allowing your kids to lock themselves in their rooms with their gadgets. You’ll be surprised to know that several board games offer kids a number of benefits: 

• Opportunities for early learning 
• Stimulates the brain
• Teaches valuable lessons 
• Teaches children to focus 

Use recyclable materials for arts & crafts

Nurture your child’s creativity by introducing them to some arts and crafts activities during the school holidays. Aside from going out to buy materials, you can challenge your kids to use whatever is available at home. Empty water bottles, tissue boxes, paper plates, paper cups, and old crayons are some materials you can work with that can be put to good use and test your kid’s level of imagination. Work with your child to upcycle these and turn them into something fun! Furthermore, upcycling these materials is a good opportunity to teach your children about the three R’s for the environment: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Start a reward system for doing house chores. 

With the entire family home for the holidays, there’s twice as much to do around the house. One good way to keep the kids occupied during the school holidays is to have them help with household chores. Ease young kids into the habit of doing chores by setting up a reward system. This will get them to look forward to chipping in around the house. The rewards can be anything from getting to choose what to have for dinner, a movie to watch, or an extra helping of dessert after dinner! 

Scrapbooking

If your child has a love for arts and crafts, you can help to nurture their interest during the holidays by encouraging them to create a scrapbook of family photos! Scrapbooking is a great way to store memorable photos as opposed to just keeping them in a plain photo album. If you don’t already have a scrapbook at home, your child can make one from scratch using some brightly coloured construction paper! You can bind them together by punching a hole on one corner of the construction paper and then loop a loose-leaf ring through them. Scrapbooking will help you and your kids bond as you look back on all the memories you’ve made together! 

Try out some cool science experiments at home

If you want to do something fun and educational, then try doing a few science experiments with your kids at home. These experiments ensure that kids continue to learn something new and keep their minds active even while on holiday. Consider letting your child pick the science experiment or you can pick one together if you have a younger child. Try creating gooey slime, making your own lava lamp or creating a solar oven!

Shoot a short movie/role-playing

If it feels like you’ve watched every kids’ show that’s available on Netflix or DSTV, maybe it’s time to consider creating your family’s very own show with your kids! Shooting a short movie will definitely get your kids excited and unearth their creativity and imagination in no time. In fact, several studies reveal that role-playing can positively impact a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. One idea is to re-enact a scene from your kid’s favorite book! You can even help your kid make up the story and you can act it out together.

Set up an indoor scavenger hunt

Having a scavenger hunt at home is another great boredom buster for kids. What’s great about indoor scavenger hunts is that they’re inexpensive, easy, and can be done with things you already have at home. However, instead of just picking out random things at home, you can add an interesting twist to your scavenger hunt. 

Hope you find these activities helpful and that it will help with keeping busy during the school holidays 🙂 

Candice Strauss