Childcare in Summer Hols

Pray for sun. A tent in the garden, paddling pool etc. My GDs loved playing gymkhanas. They were the horses and we constructed, jumps and ways around. Went on for hours.

are you close to a park or beach, these are always good for picnics and shell collecting on the beach. If you have a bus pass, and have a good bus service, a ride out is good as many children now a days are only used to travelling by car, and travel for under 5's is free. Many libraries hold summer activities as do many garden centres. whatever you do with them , enjoy and be prepared to be shattered but happy

Small washing up bowl in the garden with water in and the plastic tea set to pour with the tea pot. Plant watering with tea pot. Bathing dollies and anything else cars etc in the water.

Clothes horse in the garden with a sheet over to make a den.

Obstacle course to go round the garden : under chairs over chairs, hopping from A to B. Using balled socks like a bean bag to throw into a bucket.

Old clean paint brushes (not art ones) and buckets of water to paint the house walls or paving stones.

Good luck.

I presume other councils are similar but ours puts on lots of activities in the holidays often for free. Same for museums, art galleries, parks etc
I’m sure there are lots of ideas online for craft ideas (hopefully not too messy) also baking, making or decorating a pizza for lunchtime.
Have fun.

Our local little library has something happening every day of the holidays for children. Most of it is crafting but there are some visits by animals and anothrr by a marvellous man who brings history to life. They are all free.

I agree with splashing around in the garden on hot days.
On not so fine days then yes, there should be free activities at local libraries and parks as well.

Why not take them visiting other friends and relatives too- just for an hour or so- my GD loves going to other people's homes and exploring their gardens! It is also more stimulating for the kids and the adults to have visitors.

My son looked amazed when I said DGD (aged 2) had gone out all afternoon on a bus trip. "But your car is outside!"
She'd sit on my lap and we'd talk about the trees and the buildings and the colours of the cars... Sometimes I'd intended going somewhere, but we were having such a nice time, we'd take our journey a bit further. Ice cream or milk shake at McD's, then home.
And thanks to my bus pass, it cost nothing, and it was stress-free. Happy memories.

What a lovely welcome to the forum, thank you everyone some good ideas, some are reminders to me of things that can work well in the garden and some brilliant new ones too. And a sense of really enjoying time with GChildren and making lovely memories, that’s important to focus on in the rush and hurry of life. 🩷

Just to chip in here - I organised it with my DD so that I cared for my GC one at a time. I was clear that 2 was too much and my DD fully understood and arranged her other child care options around that.

Just remembered….my GDs loved a big bucket of water and a big paintbrush brush…. They would ‘paint’ the walls, the fence and the terrace. They also loved to decorate the bird bath with flowers, floating in the water

Mine played hunt the peg. I clipped pegs all over the garden in the bushes on the walls etc and the children had to find them all and had great fun.
Another garden game was planting tomato plants, potatoes or beans, or flower seeds which they harvested later in the year, they especially loved the potatoes.

You could buy or make a selection of "musical" instruments, tambourine, rattle, triangle, maracas etc. You could sing some children's songs with them and do some silly dancing. This could be something for a rainy day.

I love all these ideas !

I am with Lucky girl ! One at a time. Having two at the same time is not twice
the work it feels more like 10 times !!!!
There are some lovely ideas on here , good luck!

I have a list of play parks that we take turns to visit, I’m finding it harder as my GGC are 6, 9, 12 and 14, the 14 year old can stay on her on but the 12 year old can only stay on his own for a couple of hours then he starts getting bored. We go to skate parks, splash parks, museums, cinema. I also take them geocaching. But they have to help me in the mornings to water and weed at my allotment. We have games afternoons, the small ones are pretty good at kids trivial pursuit, card games, any board games.
They all like going on bus rides as well.

Paddling pools are too much of a worry but a bowl or tray of water is always a hit! Bubbles, but be aware that a lot of bubble mixtures leave permanent stains on clothing unless the marks are specifically treated BEFORE they go in the washing machine (vinegar then fairy liquid? or the other way round?).

My DGC are all boys who are blissfully easy to entertain - like puppies, all they need for pure joy is a ball, a stick and some water. My friend’s GC are girls and always want to do arts and crafts, or baking.

A ride on the top deck of the bus is terrific fun for mine, or a short train journey.

Buy the four year old a cheap magnifying glass, then head tothe nearest wood ! When my grand daughter was this age we spent hours looking for bugs on trees, flowers etc. If weather is wet head for an indoor shopping centre with a play area. The little one can run around happily in a traffic free environment

Mine aged 4 and nearly 3 love big cardboard boxes ( to play in, or collect things in), and I save Amazon paper packaging for them to draw on. They enjoy “egg and spoon” races (tennis balls and scoops), painting / washing the patio or shed with paintbrushes and a bucket of soapy water, treasure hunts in the house or garden, watering the garden (and each other)… they love jigsaws, matching games, my dance and exercise DVDs, sticker books, dot to dot… a bit young to cut paper patterns for doilies or dancing dollies… kites when it’s windy enough, inflatable toys, stomp rocket, throwing objects into a wheelbarrow or hula hoop… walking the dogs where we might see trains, or a stream, sheep or tractors.

Keep plenty of clothes can can get marks on without anyone fretting. Have wellies, lots of spare underwear, water bottles, and know which is the favourite fruit / veg this week even if it was something else last week. Agree screen time, if any, with parents, also administration of eg Calpol and plasters!

There are books like "250 activities".

I used to play Raffle with my grandson. Lay out 10 (or more if you like) raffle tickets in 2 lines on the floor. Put a little wrapped up treat (2 if you have two children) next to 2 of the tickets. Then the children pick 8 of their toys and place them next to the other numbers. Put the corresponding raffle ticket folded up into a dish and let them take turns picking one out and making a very neat pile of the toys won. Each time they play they win 2 treats each.

I used to buy those little multipack toys for party giveaways from Tesco - bouncy balls, little cars, party blowers, etc. Xmas crackers at Xmas time, and wrap them all up ready the previous evening.

He would keep playing game after game and I would have a few minutes rest with a cuppa. It didn't seem to matter that they were all his own toys. The thrill of the little surprise treat was enough to keep it going.

If you don't have raffle tickets just make your own.

Have fun.

If you have the garden space and don’t mind a mess, how about mud pies? I loved playing with mud as a child and we were given a cup of flour to look like icing. Our mother enjoyed bathing a really dirty child!

If you swim, find out if there are baby swimming classes locally.

All children ought to be taught to swim and the earlier the better.

A good activity when the weather is wet or cold, or you are too tired to go anywhere is to sit down with the children and tell them using everyday things like a milk carton or your smart phone how different things were when you were their ages.

I loved it, when my grandmothers told this kind of story, and my grandson loved my stories (told by my oldest Teddy) during lockdown when he was four and driving his mother distracted. I sent them in e-mail form with pictures to be read by his mum and we have only just discontinued these weekly stories now on his tenth birthday, when he finally admitted he feels to old for them. (I had expected that time to come at least three years ago!)

A pack of chalk to draw on the patio or path. You can draw roads, etc.,for toy vehicles, or just draw. My little DGS aged 2.5 lay down and told me to draw round him, apparently they’ve done something similar at nursery. We ended up with a few outlines of him in different positions, he loved it. He also loves you drawing around his hands of feet. For indoors, he has a whiteboard and pens which can be constantly erased and redrawn.

I take my GD, who is one, to the cafe at a local church, which has an enclosed play area. There’s a play kitchen, lots of ride on toys and others that she doesn’t have at home. She loves it, it’s not too busy, but there are other children there to play with, and I get to have a peaceful coffee at the same time. It’s worth exploring if your town has anything similar.