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Games to play on journeys

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It’s summer holiday season when lots of us are travelling with kids so this week’s Twitter Tips* are all about keeping children entertained on a car journey.

Twitter Tip #1 The key to traveling happily with kids is a little planning: make a box of goodies for snacks, treats and activities

Twitter Tip #2 Make a bingo game to take along with pictures of roadsigns, vehicles, people and landmarks you can spot along the way

Twitter Tip #3 Play 20 questions. With younger children give clues to about someone in the family, let older ones ask questions

Twitter Tip #4 Stock a busy bag with pens, paper, stickers, doll, magazine, books, sweets, a magnetic scribble pad, magic colour pens

Twitter Tip #5Every 20 mins or so give the kids something new from the busy bag – keeps them busy & helps measure out the journey

Twitter Tip #6 Take along some audio books (borrow some from the library ) -better for carsickness than watching a film on a screen

Twitter Tip #7 Locate the playgrounds along your route. Stop regularly and get out of the car to let the children run around.

Twitter Tip #8 Put together a compilation of the family’s favourite music: can’t beat a singalong to lift everyone’s mood!

Twitter Tip #9 Make story magnets & play with them on a baking sheet -they won’t get lost down the car seats

Twitter Tip #10 How about some washable car window crayons to let the kids get creative while they ride?

*These #goplayTwitter Tips are tweeted each Friday at 8.30pm – follow @nurturestore or the #goplay hashtag to share

View the Twitter Tips on playdough, water play and encouraging reading and writing

Happily shared with Top Ten Tuesday and We Are That Family’s Works for me Wednesday

Summer holiday planner

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For the last few weeks we have been collecting ideas for things we’d like to do over the summer holiday and starting to think about all the plans we have. Then yesterday Deb from Carrots and Kids shared an idea for a Summer Holiday Planner she’d seen over at the Future Craft Collective. It’s such a great way to give some shape to the holiday but still keep things flexible. It includes a calendar for any days  out or events that are scheduled  and pockets to fill with ideas of things to do, people to see, chores that need completing. You can pop over to the Future Craft Collective to find a complete tutorial on how to sew the planner and ideas on what to include. We went for quick and instant with our version and used envelopes stuck on with sticky tape for our pockets. We’ve included some blank cards so we can add ideas as we go along (and encourage B do keep up with her writing over the holiday too). It will also be great to have a store of ideas in the ‘things to do’ envelope, ready for the first cry of ‘I’m bored’!

Are you a holiday planner kind of family – or do you take each day as it comes?

Summer holiday activities

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There are 23 days until the school holidays begin.

Believe me those 23 days are going to whizz by in a blur of summer fetes, sports days and school concerts and before you know it you’ll have 7 long weeks of holidays stretching out before you, with children to keep entertained.  Are you ready?

How are you going to keep your kids entertained for 7 whole weeks? We have a plan! Grab yourself a big sheet of paper, stick it to the door of your fridge and start brainstorming. Every time one of the children say ‘Can we make some ice cream?’ or ‘I want to go fossil hunting’ scribble it down on your wish list. You can include:

– places you want to go

– films you want to watch

– books you want to read

– crafts you want to make

– meals you want to cook

– toys you want to play with

By the time the holidays roll around you should have a list of ideas long enough to last you through, bringing lots of fun to your summer.

Got ideas already? Please leave a comment to share your ideas – so we can get some inspiration from you! And don’t forget to keep popping back to NurtureStore as we will be bringing you play ideas right through the summer.  Why not subscribe to our feed or join our Facebook page so you don’t miss any of the ideas.

One potato, two potato

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One potato, two potato, three potato, four

Five potato, six potato, seven potato more

It’s easy to include some maths in your garden if you’ve been growing your own fruit and vegetables.

You could…

Count how many potatoes you have. Draw up a chart to record the harvest from your garden and add up the grand total of what you’ve grown.

Rank your produce by size from biggest to smallest.

Measure your spuds – ours went from 1cm up to 10cm.

Happily shared with…

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Barbeque bananas

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A delicious and easy receipe when you’re barbequeing, and just right for children, is:

Barbeque Bananas

Take one banana per person and slice down the centre. Fill the slit with chocolate chips.

Wrap each banana in a tinfoil parcel and place on the barbeque after the main courses has been cooked. The remaining heat from the coals will bake the bananas and melt the chocolate.

Unwrap* your banana parcels, add a scoop of icecream and enjoy.

*This is going to be hot of course, so leave it to a grownup who’s wearing oven gloves.

Why not use a disposable barbeque and head off for a picnic in the great outdoors?

works for me wednesday at we are that family

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