School Holidays with the Kids

With two weeks looming of no school ahead of you, a mixed bag when it comes to the weather, and a cost of living crisis – it’s easy to approach school holidays with less enthusiasm and optimism than you might like to. Of course it’s lush to have the extra time with the kids but if you’re trying to juggle work and hanging out with them, or just running out of ideas of how to occupy yourselves – then never fear, we’ve got you sorted!

Den Building

This one is free, easy, keeps kids entertained for hours and can be done inside or out! If you’ve got the time and can access them, head to your local woods (for our Devon friends Haldon Forest, Mamhead Woods, Ashclyst Forest, Stover, and Hembury Woods are all great spots for this) and do some proper Forest School den building. If you want to go a step further, you can take a picnic blanket and snacks and when the den is compete, can sit in for a bite to eat – the kids will be thrilled!

However, if the weather is bad or you’ve got to work, you can make this an indoor activity and the kids will still have a blast. Grab some blankets, chairs, tent poles, sheets…whatever you can find; then clear a space and let their imaginations go wild! The thing that we’ve observed about den building is that one the den is built, the fun isn’t over – they then tend to use that as a base for the rest of the day for their adventures and play.

Get Outside

You knew we were going to say this one right?! Heading outside for a walk or to play is free, it’s good for your mind and body, it’s easy to do, and it breaks up the monotony of being at home. You don’t have to drive hours to a beauty spot for this to be a good option, even if you head to the local play park or mooch in your local area, you’ll all feel better for having gotten outsides. You could even get involved with the ‘Don’t Lose Your Way’ campaign from The Ramblers Association – a project designed to save thousands of miles of accessible footpaths from being shut off to the public.

Local Events

Often in the school holidays, organisations such as your local library or museum, the local wildlife trust or even sometimes cafes and visitor attractions, have special events (often low cost or free) going on to help give parents something fun and different to do with the kids. Check out your local Facebook page for your area, have a look online at some of the organisations mentioned above, ask your friends – there’s bound to be some fun things going on around you that you can tap into!

Holiday Clubs

If however, you haven’t got any time off from work this Easter and need to find something for the kids to do whilst you’re at work – then why not consider (if you’re local to us) booking them in for one of our awesome Forest School Holiday Clubs? Running at Exmouth, Escot, Totnes and Okehampton Forest School, no two sessions look the same but we can guarantee that your wild things will have a fantastic time exploring our awesome woodland sites, making new friends, playing games and getting involved in all manner of Forest School activities from fire lighting to outdoor crafts to campfire cooking and so much more!

Duvet Day

Finally, on the other end of the spectrum…if it’s raining and blowing a gale outside, if you and the kids are tired, if you just want to get cosy – there’s nothing wrong with having a home day and really embracing that! Drag the duvets to the sofa, make some popcorn, watch some movies, play some board games. We live such busy over scheduled lives, sometimes allowing ourselves some time to rest and do nothing, is the best gift we could give to ourselves and our kids.

So happy holidays folks – we hope that you might have found this useful and that you and your families have a fantastic break from school, whatever you might get up to!

Author: Hannah Durdin, Content Officer & Forest School Leader

Date: Tuesday 2nd April 2024