Everyone is feeling the pinch this Christmas and I have had parents ask me what they should do with their children when money is so tight.
Well what cant you do?
What ever you do plan it out, sit down and think of the options and put money aside for each activity.
We have six weeks and for parents who are home can do just about anything.
I always put the easy things first
Baking
I bake at least once a week, some days the children beg to bake more, if they want to do it, and then do it! Let them each choose a recipe each. Baking is so cost effective, try new recipes. We pretend we are famous cooks and we make chefs hats and when talking to anyone in the kitchen it is “yes Chef”
Local Adventures
If you can’t get on holiday this summer why not explore your area. It amazes me how many people haven’t explored their region. I love checking out all the different parks and you can get that feeling that you’re on holiday.
Be courageous and give your children the map to direct you. Some days we would get lost but we discovered beautiful buildings, parks and beaches we would never have found. Your children will love it. It helps if you have a GPS so you can get home.
Adventures at home
Building huts, children under 11 never get tired of this. You have to be committed to making a mess, sheets blankets and lots of pegs. We love making huts. We would make different rooms and spend the whole day playing families. Most times the children would want to sleep in the huts overnight.
I love children’s imagination. They come up with the most amazing stories, from our hut we have been on such adventures, the Sahara to find gold with Indians chasing us to canoeing down a Canadian river with cowboys chasing us. We have laughed.
My daughter recently told me they were the best experiences and she remembers the ones we did when she was 4 years.
Camping
We couldn’t afford to go camping as a single mother so I would put our 4 man dome tent up in our lounge. Now this wasn’t easy as we lived in a 2 bedroom small house and the tent went wall to wall. We had the door open to the tv so at night we could watch tv in bed. We would play in the tent using our torches to make shapes and tell stories.
I loved the game where you make up a story, one person starts a sentence and the second ends with a sentence, our stories would have us laughing for ages.
Storytelling is a great way for children to use their imaginations, I cant emphasis it enough to parents to encourage their children’s imaginations. Get involved.
The beaches
In Auckland we have so many beaches. I am constantly amazed at how many people travel to the Coromandel when on their back door step is hundred of beaches. The Hibiscus Coast is full of safe beaches for the children and the best thing about the coast is you can go to more than one. They have amazing parks as well; I’m surprises at people who don’t know about the Regional parks like Wenderholm or Mahurangi. How about taking your children up to Goat Island where all you need is a snorkel and you can see the most amazing wildlife, if you don’t like swimming you can see fish swimming near the rocks. Huge snapper, I was blown away.
Well what cant you do?
What ever you do plan it out, sit down and think of the options and put money aside for each activity.
We have six weeks and for parents who are home can do just about anything.
I always put the easy things first
Baking
I bake at least once a week, some days the children beg to bake more, if they want to do it, and then do it! Let them each choose a recipe each. Baking is so cost effective, try new recipes. We pretend we are famous cooks and we make chefs hats and when talking to anyone in the kitchen it is “yes Chef”
Local Adventures
If you can’t get on holiday this summer why not explore your area. It amazes me how many people haven’t explored their region. I love checking out all the different parks and you can get that feeling that you’re on holiday.
Be courageous and give your children the map to direct you. Some days we would get lost but we discovered beautiful buildings, parks and beaches we would never have found. Your children will love it. It helps if you have a GPS so you can get home.
Adventures at home
Building huts, children under 11 never get tired of this. You have to be committed to making a mess, sheets blankets and lots of pegs. We love making huts. We would make different rooms and spend the whole day playing families. Most times the children would want to sleep in the huts overnight.
I love children’s imagination. They come up with the most amazing stories, from our hut we have been on such adventures, the Sahara to find gold with Indians chasing us to canoeing down a Canadian river with cowboys chasing us. We have laughed.
My daughter recently told me they were the best experiences and she remembers the ones we did when she was 4 years.
Camping
We couldn’t afford to go camping as a single mother so I would put our 4 man dome tent up in our lounge. Now this wasn’t easy as we lived in a 2 bedroom small house and the tent went wall to wall. We had the door open to the tv so at night we could watch tv in bed. We would play in the tent using our torches to make shapes and tell stories.
I loved the game where you make up a story, one person starts a sentence and the second ends with a sentence, our stories would have us laughing for ages.
Storytelling is a great way for children to use their imaginations, I cant emphasis it enough to parents to encourage their children’s imaginations. Get involved.
The beaches
In Auckland we have so many beaches. I am constantly amazed at how many people travel to the Coromandel when on their back door step is hundred of beaches. The Hibiscus Coast is full of safe beaches for the children and the best thing about the coast is you can go to more than one. They have amazing parks as well; I’m surprises at people who don’t know about the Regional parks like Wenderholm or Mahurangi. How about taking your children up to Goat Island where all you need is a snorkel and you can see the most amazing wildlife, if you don’t like swimming you can see fish swimming near the rocks. Huge snapper, I was blown away.
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