Raising Kids

Holiday time calls for parents to be creative to keep kids entertained

Amanda Maliba 26 March 2024

The holidays are here, that time of the quarter when parents either feel the pressure of spending 24/7 a day with their children or are in desperate need of ideas to entertain them.

And while time off school is an opportunity to rest, making the most of the hours in between in South Africa’s economy is a tricky business.

Social media has, unfortunately, added more pressure for parents to always raise the bar on entertainment with either taking children out or doing the extraordinary to make it onto the imaginary “parent-of-the-year” list. The pressure is ridiculous, according to LEGO’s Country Manager Miroslav Říha.

“Social media can set unrealistic expectations for what holidays ‘should’ be, filled with constant entertainment and non-stop activity. This can lead to feelings of guilt or disappointment among parents and children when reality doesn’t match the online portrayal.

“Parents should not take what they see on social media to heart, but rather keep in mind that holidays can also be a time for relaxation and unstructured play. Boredom can be the best way to unleash a child’s creativity and help them develop important skills, such as problem-solving and adaptability,”.

Říha believes that magical memories can be built right at home, free from the stress of travel and hefty expenses.

“In fact, some of the most cherished moments are created with your loved ones, right under your own roof, like transforming one’s living room into an obstacle course or creating a great LEGO Bricks building challenge. The possibilities of what kids (and big kids) can do are endless.”

And while being creative with your activities is the goal, every parent who has experienced school holidays with energetic toddlers and young children knows how difficult it can be to keep them entertained throughout the day (short of parking them in front of a screen for hours on end just to get a break).

With a little thought and planning, you can make the holidays a fun and even relaxing time for the whole family without compromising your sanity or your home in the process.

Create a schedule

Plot out each day of the holidays in rows in a spreadsheet, along with columns that detail activities, meals, and snacks for the day. Have a look at activity ideas further down in the article for inspiration.

This may sound like quite a chore, but planning out each day this way, or at least having a general idea of what each day will look like, removes a great deal of stress for parents and even helps with grocery shopping ahead of the holidays.

Activity ideas

Messy play is often considered a parent’s worst nightmare at clean-up time. Messy play activities allow kids to explore their creativity and imaginations, learn new textures, and engage their senses through open-ended play with various materials.

Create a few sensory bins that are bound to keep the kids busy for a little while (use taste-safe and edible items for babies and toddlers, and be sure to supervise):

● Add food coloring to a plastic basin of water and throw in a few slices of lemon, which the kids can pick up with spoons, ladles, or spades.

● Make jelly in different colors; you can use gelatine or agar-agar with a few drops of food coloring to avoid the sugar-filled jelly available at stores. Slice them into squares and dump them in a large container for the little ones.

● Grab a few cheap plastic animal figurines (or use whatever mini toys the kids have lying around to save money), throw them in a silicone cupcake tray mold with water, and freeze. Let the kids play “animal rescue” with plastic disposable syringes (remove the needles) that they can fill with warm water and drop over the ice molds.

For parents who love the fun but hate the mess, set up a dedicated messy play area in the garden where cleaning up (including cleaning the kids) will be much easier. If that’s not an option, consider laying down sheets of newspaper and a large tarp of even black plastic bags with the edges slit open and taped down to protect your floors and furniture. Once the fun is done, simply fold it all up and dump it directly in the trash.

Build LEGO® bricks– If there’s any activity that has proven just as fun for kids as it is for adults, building with LEGO bricks is the one. For children, it’s an opportunity to unleash their creativity and bring the wacky and wonderful ideas that live in their heads to life. For parents, it’s a trip down memory lane or just an equally fun time having the chance to build and break apart like a kid again.

Other great ideas to include in activity calendars are:

● Holiday-themed scavenger hunts: create clue cards. kids can find a range of Easter items, like Easter eggs, bunny ears, and other Easter items around the garden or the house.

● Create a cinema experience—grab all the pillows in the house, let kids choose a movie and snacks, and get cozy in front of the TV for a movie marathon.

● Create a special holiday reading nook—have a dedicated area with books for the whole family and comfy seating where everyone can spend some quiet time.

● Get some exercise, find a fun family workout video to follow online, get dressed up in the wackiest workout gear you can find, and get sweating. Don’t forget to take pictures for memories later on!

Surviving school holidays isn’t all that difficult or nearly as impossible as you thought, right? With a little planning and organising ahead, you can save your sanity and even enjoy a well-deserved break as a family this holiday season.