School holiday ideas

[Tinkerbell]

We'll be looking after two grandchildren during part of the school holidays - they are 7 and 4 and they enjoy being out in the garden and further afield to parks etc.

Any ideas of games or other wildlife activities they might indulge in would be welcome. I'm hoping to do pond or stream dipping with a plastic box, for example, and wonder just what we might see. I did A - Z of what we could spot on a recent walk (had to cheat a bit with Dad's elbow, for E, and one or two other difficult letters were named similarly) and it was a popular game. But more suggestions would be helpful - particularly anything we might take home and use there.

Tinkerbell

[ron1863]

Hi Tinkerbel,
I found this site for activities for kids that might help you.
Personally I find hide and seek good, get them to hide and then you can get on with whatever you were doing.

http://www.creativekidsathome.com/games/outdoor_games/

[Princess Otter]

What about a day rock-pooling? We're planning to take a little tent to set up for the day on the beach and if it rains we can duck inside for a bit, then get back to it, it's not like being at the park, with all the mud.....!

Have you got binoculars, magnifying glass, ID book? If so, you've got pretty much everything kids of that age enjoy!!!

Thinking on, last year, I downloaded two of the workbooks from the woodland trust website and it took us all year to complete them!!!

I'm sure you're going to have loads of fun!! Don't forget the picnic!

[wildmanofthewoods]

A bug hunt. Its easy, cheap and you never know what you'll find sweep a net through long grass or hold an umbrella under a branch and shake it (gently, don't want to upset anyone). You'll be surprised at the various mini beasts you'll see. Spiders will be numerous so enjoy them, try not to fear them. Just return everything you find were you found it.

Good luck

[mantajohn9]

How about making rockets from recycled rubbish? You will need an empty plastic 2l pop bottle, a car tyre valve, an old bic biro, a rubber bung with the hole through the middle (like is used when making home brew wine) and car tyre foot pump.

Super glue the valve onto the end of the biro tube and then glue the other end of the biro into the fat end of the bung. Get the kids to make the bottle rocket like nose cone etc. Adding a bit of plasticene weight to the front makes it fly straight.

About 1/3 fill the bottle with water (I always tell them it is dihydrogen oxide rocket fuel). You may want make a launch tube from a toilet roll and tape it to the side of the bottle which can then slide over a stick stuck in the ground. Push the bung into the bottle, attach the pump and start pumping. Eventually the pressure is too much and the bung pops out and the rocket is launched. Everyone gets wet. Loadsa fun.

[Tracey.A]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Hi Tinkerbel,
I found this site for activities for kids that might help you.
Personally I find hide and seek good, get them to hide and then you can get on with whatever you were doing.

Outdoor Games - games for children

Good website! I've just checked it out! Sardines is a good one. It's like hide and seek, but when the person hiding is found by one of the seekers, they hide with that person as well, untill eventually the entire group is hiding in one place and this makes it easy for the parents to find them, because a group of children are never quiet for long!

Tracey

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by mantajohn9

How about making rockets from recycled rubbish? You will need an empty plastic 2l pop bottle, a car tyre valve, an old bic biro, a rubber bung with the hole through the middle (like is used when making home brew wine) and car tyre foot pump.

Super glue the valve onto the end of the biro tube and then glue the other end of the biro into the fat end of the bung. Get the kids to make the bottle rocket like nose cone etc. Adding a bit of plasticene weight to the front makes it fly straight.

About 1/3 fill the bottle with water (I always tell them it is dihydrogen oxide rocket fuel). You may want make a launch tube from a toilet roll and tape it to the side of the bottle which can then slide over a stick stuck in the ground. Push the bung into the bottle, attach the pump and start pumping. Eventually the pressure is too much and the bung pops out and the rocket is launched. Everyone gets wet. Loadsa fun.

I love these, put the bung in firmly, but not too hard.We ran out of pop bottles and used a washing up bottle (newly empty) it burst and covered me in green washing up liquid/water mix Don't let this put you off the bang was worse than its bite

[nightshade]

I would go with the Rock Pooling

[Susie]

Pine cones are always good to collect when out and about and can be made into all sorts of things. Painted and with various bits stuck on (such as buttons for eyes) they can become Hedgehogs. Hung on string and filled with melted suet and birdseed they become bird feeders. Spray them gold, cover in glitter and hang up and they become christmas decorations - but you don't want to be thinking about Christmas yet!

[Tinkerbell]

Thanks everyone - your ideas should keep us busy and I will certainly check out the websites etc. you've mentioned.

Tinkerbell

[Kymba]

Another good game is go to a DIY store and get some of their colour chart cards then get the children to find things to match the colour of the card you give them... The children at school i teach (5 to 11 ) love this activity, and it is amazing how many things they find.

Bug Search for Toddlers. This is a great activity for preschool children. You will need a large container (plastic wading pool, sandbox, sand table, or similar enclosure), an assortment of rubber bugs, and a substrate (rice, oatmeal, or corncob pet litter). Mix the rubber bugs and substrate and place the mixture in the container. Using their hands, let each child search for bugs in the substrate for a minute or two. You can either let them keep any bugs they find, or offer them a prize if they find any bugs (which they almost certainly will). Return the rubber bugs to the substrate and let others take a turn.

Last Bug Standing. Pack a bowl full of flour and put a plate on top. Unmold the flour onto the plate by turning the bowl and plate right-side up. Gently place a small rubber spider on top of the flour mold in the center. Have each player take turns cutting the smallest slice possible until the flour collapses. The person who cut previous to the collapse is the winner!
( quite messy but lots of fun)

Pin the Fly on the Web. As you probably guessed, this activity is played just like that familiar party game, Pin the Tail on the Donkey. You will need to create a large web with spider, and a fly (to be pinned or velcroed on the web). Oh yes, you'll need a blindfold too. For variation you can modify the game to play "Pin the Stinger on the Bee" or any similar theme.

Hope this are of use

[shirl]

Don't forget to check out your local wildlife trust, Derbyshire WT during the last school hols gave a "family" talk about Water Voles followed by a trip to the canal. The children were asked to look for Water Vole signs and draw pics etc, they had a great time - and so did the parents!

Shirl