Christmas time also means Summer school holidays, nearly 50 consecutive days with the kids at home.

Entertaining kids can be expensive. Take just going to the movies for example. Tickets alone can cost a family around $50, add popcorn and drinks, you’re looking at closer to $80 just for a couple of hours entertainment.

I don’t believe kids need to be entertained 24/7. In fact I think it’s better if they’re not, that they have down time to use their imaginations and take responsibility for their own entertainment.

For me, Summer holidays meant riding bikes and playing ‘make-believe’. The skipping rope became a makeshift petrol pump tied to the back porch, the cubby was the shop where we it had empty cans and boxes to buy and we made our own paper money. Someone was the robber, someone was the cop someone was the shop assistant, someone was the petrol attendant… We built a ramp over the sewer access to jump over.

Summer used to mean running around under the sprinkler, trying to avoid the bindies.

It meant backyard cricket. Dad actually mowed a pitch in the lawn and we used the upturned trampoline as a wicket keeper.

And after I turned 14, Summer meant extra shifts at my casual job, keeping me busy and giving me extra cash to go to the movies with friends.

With our first born on the way, I’m no expert on entertaining kids, but I’ve scoured the net and my own childhood for free or nearly free kids activities that don’t involve the XBox.

What kind of things do you do with your kids over summer holidays?

(more…)