Last week I shared with you the first ten of the Betta Living summer holiday activities from the Kids in the Kitchen guide - lots of different activities that can be done in your own kitchen for as little as 99p. This week features some of the activities that we have most enjoyed doing, and all for a matter of pounds (and no need to worry about the weather).
11. Set Up Shop And Become A Kitchen Retailer
My Girls LOVE to play with their toy food in their toy kitchen and they have a handy "market stall" / puppet theatre but I had never thought about letting the girls set up their own "shop" using the food from our cupboards. The role play and imagination was great to watch and Lara has started showing signs of understanding money; these days she is also able to read the labels of all of the things she sells in her shop. Great rainy day fun that could last for hours!
12. Make Some Papier Mache Mini-Beasts
All you need to make these is a balloon, some ripped up paper and some papier mache glue (that you can make from flour and water, or diluted PVA). Paste the ripped up paper onto the inflated balloon and leave to dry. A few days later, come back and paint and decorate your balloon as a bumble bee, ladybird or any other creature you can think of.
13. Play Some Outdoor Games Indoor
Our kitchen is a galley kitchen which makes it rather handy for playing skittles! Who knew?
14. Cool Down With Homemade Ice Lollies
Holly had SO MUCH FUN making homemade ice lollies. All you need is a flavoured juice or, in our case, Angel Delight and milk! Our ice lolly moulds (supplied by Betta Living) cost less than £2.50 from Aldi and you can use the moulds again and again.
15. Make Your Own Bunting
Making bunting is a great activity for learning shapes and measurement. For older children you can get them to sew the bunting. We cut out paper and card, used a hole punch to make holes to thread through a ribbon and then decorated our triangles with brightly coloured tissue paper as part of our Elmer the elephant parade. Bunting can make an indoor space seem more bright and fun.
16. Hold Your Own Wacky Races
Place straws in two long lines to create a race track. Each player puts a ping pong ball or cotton wool ball on the track and then has to blow the ball, using a straw, over the finish line. Very silly fun for all of the family.
17. Make Your Own Dough
What better way to make the most of your kitchen this summer than to get your kids cooking? My girls love to help in the kitchen. Making your own dough doesn't have to be complicated, in fact there are some great ready-made bread mixes out there that don't even need proving. Making dough is messy and fun! But most fun of all is turning your dough into a pizza afterwards and it is a great way to use up left-overs of lots of different healthy toppings.
18. Time To Scrub And Do The Washing Up
After all that cooking, let the kids do the washing up! You'll be surprised how much fun washing up can seem to a tiny person who doesn't usually get to do it.
19. Build A Marshmallow Tower
Children of all ages love to build towers. Build an edible tower using mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks and see how high you can make it! You can make towers out of all sorts of kitchen equipment such as plastic cups, paper plates and cutlery.
20. Make A Junk Model
I have been collecting toilet rolls, boxes and food trays for a couple of months before the holidays started so that we would have a stash of junk for modelling with. Lara loves making robots, rockets and boats from junk and then painting them after she has built her creation.
11. Set Up Shop And Become A Kitchen Retailer
My Girls LOVE to play with their toy food in their toy kitchen and they have a handy "market stall" / puppet theatre but I had never thought about letting the girls set up their own "shop" using the food from our cupboards. The role play and imagination was great to watch and Lara has started showing signs of understanding money; these days she is also able to read the labels of all of the things she sells in her shop. Great rainy day fun that could last for hours!
12. Make Some Papier Mache Mini-Beasts
All you need to make these is a balloon, some ripped up paper and some papier mache glue (that you can make from flour and water, or diluted PVA). Paste the ripped up paper onto the inflated balloon and leave to dry. A few days later, come back and paint and decorate your balloon as a bumble bee, ladybird or any other creature you can think of.
13. Play Some Outdoor Games Indoor
Our kitchen is a galley kitchen which makes it rather handy for playing skittles! Who knew?
14. Cool Down With Homemade Ice Lollies
Holly had SO MUCH FUN making homemade ice lollies. All you need is a flavoured juice or, in our case, Angel Delight and milk! Our ice lolly moulds (supplied by Betta Living) cost less than £2.50 from Aldi and you can use the moulds again and again.
15. Make Your Own Bunting
Making bunting is a great activity for learning shapes and measurement. For older children you can get them to sew the bunting. We cut out paper and card, used a hole punch to make holes to thread through a ribbon and then decorated our triangles with brightly coloured tissue paper as part of our Elmer the elephant parade. Bunting can make an indoor space seem more bright and fun.
16. Hold Your Own Wacky Races
Place straws in two long lines to create a race track. Each player puts a ping pong ball or cotton wool ball on the track and then has to blow the ball, using a straw, over the finish line. Very silly fun for all of the family.
17. Make Your Own Dough
What better way to make the most of your kitchen this summer than to get your kids cooking? My girls love to help in the kitchen. Making your own dough doesn't have to be complicated, in fact there are some great ready-made bread mixes out there that don't even need proving. Making dough is messy and fun! But most fun of all is turning your dough into a pizza afterwards and it is a great way to use up left-overs of lots of different healthy toppings.
18. Time To Scrub And Do The Washing Up
After all that cooking, let the kids do the washing up! You'll be surprised how much fun washing up can seem to a tiny person who doesn't usually get to do it.
19. Build A Marshmallow Tower
Children of all ages love to build towers. Build an edible tower using mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks and see how high you can make it! You can make towers out of all sorts of kitchen equipment such as plastic cups, paper plates and cutlery.
20. Make A Junk Model
I have been collecting toilet rolls, boxes and food trays for a couple of months before the holidays started so that we would have a stash of junk for modelling with. Lara loves making robots, rockets and boats from junk and then painting them after she has built her creation.
