As the holidays rumble on and your pile of parental moolah dwindles, here are six things you can do for free to keep the kidlings entertained:
- Hunt the Gremlin
Take your children out to the woods and tell them to find the gremlin. The winner is the one to either (a) find the gremlin or (b) find the most interesting thing which the gremlin must have left behind. - Hunt the Pixie
See above, with pixies - Colouring in
The web is awash with free colouring in pages to fit every interest, though you will get more results if you search using the American spelling ‘coloring’. Son of Mine thought he would fox me with a request for a dancing banana, but he reckoned without my ninja googling skills. WARNING This activity can be surprisingly vindictive. Go Ron:
4. Monkey Grip
Get your child to grasp you round the neck with their hands and round the belly with their legs. Support them as they do this, then splay your arms wide in a ‘Ta Daaaa!’ motion. This game lasts as long as your back can take it.
5. Library reading challenge
This year the theme in the Summer Reading Challenge is circuses, with an underlying theme that you can get children to do anything for the promise of a sticker.
6. Become a blogger or journalist and get invited to stuff
If you’re well-connected enough you could be busy every week. Thank you Thorntons for the ice skating and humungous amounts of chocolate. Also Son of Mine is claiming that he has won Hunt the Pixie: