General Chat

Keeping the little ones occupied in the summer holidays requires stamina. I have a skipping rope (a long one for two) which we were teaching them to skip with the other (sunny) day. Even Granny had a go! Can't remember many rhymes though - can anyone supply? What time is it Mr Wolf? is another current favourite. We have a paddling pool nearby and the Agricultural shows are happening - small daughter had us mistaken for townies by telling the farmer that his calf said "Woof" - Minx! for indoors - horizontal rain and howling gale - we have those pads of paper with very complicated patterns to colour in. Has anyone any other ideas, techniques or rhymes they use or remember? Oh, and we did cooking - daughter wanted to help, son wanted to eat! Regards Abigail

Hi Abigail -I don't know how old your children are, but Google search for 'skipping rhymes' and 'playground games' has loads of results - you could try there. While you've got the paints out - try mixing washing up liquid with liquid paint and let them blow bubbles onto paper with a straw - wonderful patterns - but watch your net curtains mine were all colours after this lol Have fun! Magsx

The bubbles are a great idea, I might do it out on the lawn though! I will add the skipping rhyme to my little book - I won't remember it otherwise. We are keeping a diary of each day with our little boy too, it should be lovely for him to look back on later. He is drawing the pictures and sticking things on each day's page. I have started getting them to help with the chores too. Now that I have given up work I have more time to spend doing things slowly and inefficiently but in the long run they will be skilled sooner - won't they? My little girl loves putting the milk bottles out but can't carry the full ones in as they are too heavy for her yet so there is a tantrum every morning followed by beaming smiles when I empty the dishwasher and she is allowed to put the clean ones outside the front door! Thank you Abigail

I don't know how old the children are but if you don't mind a possible mess, blowing through a straw at various colour blobs of wet paint on a large sheet of paper amuses young ones. Wax resist pictures can be quite good too. Get them to draw on a piece of paper using an ordinary household candle. When a thin coat of paint is put over this the picture is revealed. Slightly older children would enjoy making a double picture, - useful for using up old wax crayons. Using a small piece of copying type of paper, perhaps A5 size, colour narrow bands of colour across the width of the sheet. Press fairly hard so that the colour is bold. Use any colour but not black. When the paper is coloured completely, colour black ontop of all the colours until only black shows. Place another sheet of A5 paper ontop and carefully draw a picture using a lead pencil. A picture will come out on the reverse of the top sheet and a banded colour one will be revealed on the lower one. .....If an adult can be present, secret messages can be written using lemon juice., - mine used to use a baby bud dipping into an egg cup. If the dried message is ironed, a seemingly blank paper will suddenly reveal the hidden message or picture.

You can use cheap thin paper and do rubbings with wax crayons - bricks, patio stones, windows with patterns, grates etc. When entertaining small(ish) children though, I don't think you can beat a cardboard box! My children had one they turned into a "bus" and I had to be a passenger and get told off because I didn't have the right change! Never did this with my boys as I don't have a button box, but I remember my mum had a button box - it had a picture of dancers on it. I think originally it had been a toffee tin. Anyway I had hours of fun sorting through the buttons. The only skipping I can remember is "salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar" which doesn't rhyme and mentions two food items I loathe!

Wasn't it "Salt Mustard Vinegar Pepper" (not that I skipped of course)? Can I smell alcohol?

Daphne - thanks I had forgotten the recipe! This dough can be coloured with food colourings too. Magsx

Wendy, What about five stones? Put five stones in the palm, throw up, (the stones I mean, not be sick) lightly turning hand and try to catch them, if for instance you catch 2 you put 1 to the side and throw the other up whilst trying to pick the dropped ones up. Hope I have explained this right. I am old now so long time since I played it. How about teaching your little girl how to knit and the little boy how to wash up, LOL Anyway it's nice to see you caring instead of leaving them to their own devises. Enjoy the Holiday's before you know it you will be entertaining your grandchildren.

Oh dear, I did the other day when a friend came round with her two, more or less the same ages. The two boys, aged 5, "made potions" out of various expensive bathroom products and the two girls, aged, 2, painted themselves and my son's bedroom carpet in lurid poster paint patterns! We only had half a coffee too! Thank you for the salt dough recipe, I had completely forgotten it. We played marbles today - what a reminder of how addictive it was! I have to supervise them constantly as they bicker and fight. Son has been bitten twice this evening for taking things he doesn't want from her. They sound horrid but if you capture their imaginations they are gorgeous and I really enjoy their company. Does anyone else tell their children stories such as the Sainsburys mice who have uniforms and pedal the conveyor belts round under the tills? Or the giant invisible plug hole in the paddling pool at the park which only appears at home time? Or the fairies which dust and polish the flowers before breakfast time, who disappear if you make any noise or movement? Time flies so fast, it is already the second week of the holidays! Regards Abigail

if your children are older, (my kids are 8,8 & 9 ) this is something that may keep them occupied for 1/2 an hour or more - give them 1 sheet of paper (a4) , 5 paperclips a pair of scissors, 2 books (quite thick) and 100 pennies - or similar weights the idea is to make a bridge spanning 20cm (approx) out of the paper, resting the edges of the paper on 2 books , you cannot attach the paper to the books in any way. the bridge has to be strong enough to hold all 100 pennies you may need to supply a few sheets of paper as once the bridge collapses you need to start with a fresh piece. my kids have great fun trying to do this im not gonna tell you the answer you will have to work it out!! if you get really stuck - e mail me & i will send you the answer have fun! sam