Childminding the Grandkids over the Summer Holidays
Afternoon everyone.
We have 5 grandchildren, 4 girls (sugar and spice and all things nice) and one boy (slugs and snails and puppy dogs tails).
We do try to see each of the grandkids every week. Sometimes we see more of one than the others if we are called upon to mind them, or if they're off school for any reason (I draw the line if its a tummy bug!) or if we are called upon to do the school run. When we retired, we told our children that we would be happy to help out if needed, from time to time, but would not commit to anything on a permanent basis as we had both retired early from education and wanted to spend the time doing things that we had always wanted to do. This may seem a bit mean (perhaps even a little selfish) but we retired early and gave up good salaries while we were still young enough to get out and enjoy life and, while we love our grandkids dearly, we didn't want to become the default option for childcare. When we do have them, we want to spend quality time doing things like going to the park, seaside, swimming, baking, playing football, arts and crafts, fruit picking etc. We don't want to ever become somewhere that the kids get dumped when mum or dad is busy - we are here to do fun things and are always happy to see them. This is our choice and others may do things differently. The only problem with this, in the 6 week holidays, is finding things to do that are relatively cheap or even better free.
We have picnics in the park, we visit the museum which is free to enter, we visit the wildlife park that is only small and run by volunteers who raise funds and is really cheap to enter, we bake cakes and make pretty boxes to put them in.
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| I get to do the weighing and whisking because I am 8 and sensible |
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| And I get to put in the cake cases because I am 4 and not! |
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| An empty cereal box transformed to put our cakes in. |
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| A few on the cake and a few in my mouth! |
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| A little bit of overkill on the sprinkles but not a bad effort :) |
We go fruit picking (strawberries when they're in season from our garden and blackberries later in the year from the fields opposite our house which are free), they do a free breakfast for kids and adults are £1 at our local Salvation Army followed by free arts and crafts every Thursday during the holidays which is a real bargain.
We go swimming and are lucky enough to get occasional free passes for a local hotel pool from a friend. We go to the theatre and again get either free or reduced price tickets via a friend and we also have a family caravan in Wales that we all contribute to that we can take them for a few days holiday at the seaside.
We do visit restaurants and indoor play facilities if the weather is poor or for a treat but try not to go too often as it can be costly.
What things do you do to entertain the kids/grandkids? What other idea's for cheap days out or in do you have? A fellow blogger Eileen suggested Treasure Trails to me the other day and I am going to look into this too, thanks Eileen.
Jules x
I will try to read all comments and reply. Please be polite and kind. Thanks :)
Hi again, at the moment we only have 2 granddaughters (our eldest son's daughters). Son and DIL both work full time and I occasionally have them in the school hols (they're 3 and nearly 5 so are at school 9-3 in term time). I use our National Trust card for outings with them but to be honest they're a pair of potterers - prob because theyre always off here,there & everywhere with their mum & dad so like to hang out and just play. The hosepipe & sprinkler is the thing of choice at present. I've got them next week - a 12hr day!! I shall be happy to wave them off!😂
ReplyDeleteHaha, i bet the hosepipe is great fun! It's lovely that they're potterers, I think sometimes we feel the need to entertain them and really sometimes they are quite happy to just chill. Have fun next week and fingers crossed the good weather will hold so you can get that hosepipe out! x
DeleteI was also going to say National Trust as they always have lots of summer activities for kids! Even though I don't have wee ones of my own any more I still have a family membership.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Pinterest? Just put free activities for kids in the search thingy for some ideas
I had never thought to look on pinterest Ali, thanks for that. We love the National Trust too. x
DeleteOur grandson is eleven going on six and our grand daughter is eight going on thirty. It's hard to find things that they both enjoy...but cooking is a big one and drawing is another. I have a big bag of crafty stuff on hand all the time.
ReplyDeleteI try to save various bits and bobs for arts and crafts too. We sometimes have the same age related problem with a 5 year old and 1 year old. It's hard work at times isn't it x
DeleteMy husband wants to retire within 2 years and until then I childmind 2 of our 3 grandsons for 2 days a week. Especially during school holidays it's a bit of a chore to keep them entertained for an entire day.
ReplyDeleteThey like baking, going to the zoo (they have a family card of a zoo in the vicinity) or play ground (also a family card), going for a picnic, playing games etc. I don't mind doing all these things, like them myself, but not when it's this hot!
Next week they are going to their other great parents, so I am having a week off.
Oh Ivy this heat is making it difficult isn't it.
DeleteOn Wednesday afternoon we ended up going to an indoor play facility as we only had them for 2 hours and it was just so hot that we didn't want to drive far ( eldest grandaughter suffers terribly from travel sickness) and it was too hot to go to the park as there is no shade. Enjoy your week off! x
We used to do treasure hunts for my boys when they were little , a bit of prep before they start is needed but not that taxing. The first clue is one they don't expect - a slip of paper under a plate or cup. This would give directions to the second clue, which when found would lead to the third.
ReplyDeleteThis could go all over the house and garden. I used to make the clues send the boys back and forth, utilising our garden and house.
Some were obvious clues like ... look in the cupboard in the bathroom for something blue, the next clue would then be stuck to or near a blue item
Other clues would just be a rudimentary map they would have to follow.
10 - 20 or so clues later and a substantial amount of small boy thought and investigation they would reach their treasure which usually be something edible. They loved arriving at their 'destination' and find a pile of cupcakes and their favourite 'tipple' either hot chocolate or orange juice.
They then started making their own maps and trails.
Another version, still with clues had them finding ingredients to make their lunch or for baking, which they then made and consumed with gusto. This version is good on a wet day.
Have fun x