101 School holiday Ideas

The School Holidays have started for us at the Kidz B Kool household- today’s blog post is a massive list of activities and ideas you can do these school holiday- I’ve Placed a PDF in our Free Printables section HERE so you can print this list

Next time the kids say they are bored pull out this list

Take the kids to the grandparents and run... JK But it is always nice to visit
Visit a friend’s home- can be one of yours or a child’s friends
Go camping- You don’t even need to travel and leave all the luxuries that you have at home because you can pitch the tent in the backyard. Those of you without a tent you can still set up a camp out in your lounge room
Moving on from the lounge room camp out, why not make it into a movie night- cook up some popcorn and play those family favourites or you can have a family movie day
Want to get out the house- go to the Cinemas to see the latest kids release
Visit the local library, borrow some books, DVDs, CDs and don’t forget the check to see what activities they have for the school holidays, many of these are free!
Start a veggie garden, this will keep the kids busy and it’s educational. My kids love watching their plants and veggies grow. You can get the kids to paint their own pots to add that personal touch and make the fun last longer
Our school holiday favourite activity is to visit the beach; it doesn’t need to be a day for swimming. The kids will enjoy collecting shells, rocks and other cool things. A bonus is that they can use their treasures to create great art projects
Visit a park that isn’t in your area that’s new and exciting for the kids, most council websites will have a list with facilities and pictures of parks
Go for a picnic- this also can be done at home, grab some teddies and set up a teddy bear picnic in your own backyard.
Visit the Museum- also call or check out their website to see if there is any School holiday activities for the kids, these normally cost but still worth a look in to
Visit the art gallery
Go swimming- the beach, the river, at home, the local aquatic centre and the bonus is the kids will go to sleep amazingly after a day of swimming
Have a baking day- not only will the kids have a blast but you will be making yummy, healthy snack for the school holidays
Pizza night- don’t order but make it yourselves! Yes that means the dough to, the kids will love rolling the dough, putting on the topping and most importantly the taste test!
The Sunday Markets- we love our local Sunday Farmers Market- an idea is to give each child their own shopping list to explore and find
Go for a train, bus, tram ride- doesn’t matter where, make it an adventure
Visit the airport- you don’t need to go to the airport just to catch a plane, my kids really enjoy watching the planes come and go.
IKEA- Drop the young ones off at the play area and pick up some much needed items or just go for a browse. Cheap lunch too
Its summer here in Australia so with the warm weather its perfect for the kids to get outside and play with water- water guns, kids pool, water balloons ect. But I like to get the girls doll clothes out and set up a washing area so they can wash their dolls clothes and hang them to dry
Ok I have to admit most of our board games are missing parts, but if you’re lucky you could have a family games night. Or do what we do and get out our iPads and play Minecraft PE all together
Crafty fun- Sock puppets are a easy fun thing to make, if you don’t have googly eyes you can use card and we all have socks
Make a fort- get out the blankets, pillows, sheets and create a huge cubby fort out of your dining table and chairs
Play dates- Invite your kids friends over or have them go to a friend’s- no planning needed since kids are great at making their own fun with friends
Turn up the Music and have a dance party- the kids can even get dressed up
Dress ups- yes I used this one from the last one but come on 101 here we come
One thing I really enjoyed as a kid was making my own obstacle course, not being able to touch the ground because it was lava or having to run around to certain points in the backyard- get creative by using pillows, cushions, hula hoops, the Playset
Yummy mess- buy some plain biscuits like arrowroot by Arnotts, use some of that already to go icing and let the kids decorate their own cookies with lollies and sprinkles
Do what all the cool kids are doing and make your own YouTube Channel and make fun videos to share with the world or just family and friends
Start your own family blog! It will be a great time capsule to look back over in years to come
Sensory boxes- have trays/ boxes filled with rice, lentils, sand ect and place things like mini toy dinosaurs, cars, odds and ends in them. This is a fun activity my children love. You can store the tubs away once they are finished to use for another day
Let the kids go crazy with the camera- it’s always great to see what pictures they take, you can also make a photo collage
Paint, draw pictures and start your own Kid art gallery
Head to Kmart and buy some items to revamp your child’s room- they will love helping and picking out items they want. Ok this purely is an excuse to go to Kmart
Fruit Salad yummy yummy- turn on the wiggles and get making fruit Kebabs! Well we call them fruit skewers here at the Monster House but they are always a great fun treat to eat and make.
Pen pals- Find a pen pal for your child, it can be a friend or family member
Have a game of outdoor cricket, losing team does the dishes
Go bowling- we do this every school holidays
Go outside and blow bubbles! You can even make your own bubble mixture
Easter we hide eggs and let the kids go on an egg hunt- why not make your own with items you already own, make a list and get the kids to find them- perfect if you have lost the remote
Go for a family walk around the neighbourhood, maybe collect flowers on the way that you can place inside of books to dry press
Superhero day, get the kids to dress up as their favourite superhero, make special snacks and play superhero movies
Side walk chalk drawings- best thing is it washes away
Colour-in books keeps the kids quiet and busy
Make-up- do you have some old make up the kids can play with? Let them do clown faces, these will make great photo opportunities or face paint could be used.
Paint the kids nails, I let them do mine once and I had pink toes not just pink nails, the kids had a great time and thankfully I had nail polish remover
Magazine collages- find some old magazines and let the kids cut out pictures to cut to paste to make their own pictures
Card board box fun- make a house, make robot costumes- the ideas are endless
Make homemade play dough
Crafty boats- Milk containers, straws and paper make great homemade boats
Cafe outing- bring colouring in books for the kids and enjoy a cuppa
Kite flying- doing this at the beach is the best
Go fruit picking- we have a place that you go and pick strawberries, check to see if you have something like that in your area
Visit the zoo or animal farm
Go for a bush walk at a national park
Visit a theme park- we have never done this so I need to add this to my must do list
Feed ducks- in the city there is a great park we go to feed ducks, the kids really enjoy doing this
Go fishing- this one for me is a dad day and mum stays home- I’m not a fan of fish
Do you live near where you grew up? My hometown is about an hour and a half away, this is something I’ve wanted to do for ages, show them my old house and all the fun things to do and see
Go for a family bike ride
Play hide and seek
Cloud watching- get the kids to see if they can find shapes, pictures in the clouds. You can also do star gazing at night
Let the kids wash the car or have them wash their bikes
Family soccer match
Make paper planes, get them to paint or draw on them
Create a marble race with toilet rolls and whatever else you wish to use
Have a tea party
Make a car track with masking tape around the house
Make a huge bubble bath for the kids
Make your own band- you can make shakers with rice in bottles, drums with pots and pans
Look at old photos together
Indoor bowling at home- use empty bottles and a ball down the hall
I like to avoid food shopping with the kids but I think it still should be added to this list or you could let the kids create their own supermarket at home
Make a pet rock- let the kids find a rock to paint and decorate
Play card games like snap, go fish and pairs
Visit Bunnings- our local has a great play area and cafe- they also hold activities for the kids during school holidays
I’m a huge Yoga fan and the kids love doing it with me
Try some Science Experiments for kids
Visit the botanical gardens
Pasta art- My girls enjoy pasting pasta on paper and making pictures or putting pasta on string to make necklaces
Do jigsaw puzzles
Go mini golfing or ice skating
Get the kids to help organise their toys and decide on what ones they want to donate to charity
Tour a country town or the big city- make a full day of it
Go watch a sporting event- this could be the local footy, cricket team
Plaster Fun House- I need to check we still have one of these down the road from us
Visit the Maritime Museum
Take the kids to time zone or laser tag
Visit a play cafe
Paper plate masks- cut out eyes and let the kids get crafty
Go to the pet store
Make LEGO creations
Go back to school shopping
If you own a sand pit- you could hide items in it for the kids to find
Flea market or op shops
Clean windows- yes us adults hate doing this chore but if you give a kid a bucket of soapy water or a spray bottle they will have a blast washing the windows
For the older kids- go Karting
Paper Mache a balloon
Get a pedicure with your little ones
Make letter boxes your kids can post pictures and letters to each other
Create a play kitchen area or a reading nook