The summer holidays are upon us – weeks and weeks of sunny (and not so sunny) days with the kids stretch ahead. Days out don’t come cheaply so we thought we’d put together a few inexpensive and completely free ideas to help entertain the kids at home. Most of them will use things you have around the house too. Feel free to share them with your friends on Facebook or Twitter!
Without further ado, I give you….
WATER BALLOON PINATAS!
You will need:
Balloons
Water
String
A washing line or similar to hang them on
Directions:
Fill up a balloon with water and knot it
Tie it to a string
Tie it to the washing line so it dangles at jumping height
Repeat so there are 4 or 5 on the line
Prepare to replace them as they burst!
What happens?
Kids jump up, grab them, squeeze them, boing them up and down, and when the balloon springs a leak you get a good squirt off them. They can also be pulled off and bounced or jumped on. Repeat until mummy gets sick of making water balloons and then declare the balloons gone. Perfect for some easy fun on a hot day. Toddlers and pre-schoolers love this and I suspect older kids would too. Littlies can have a few water-filled balloons to play with on the ground.
Watch out for:
The game will be over quickly if they just grab them and jump on them so try encouraging your kids to jump up and push them or bap them with their hands and heads.
Caution: Little children and long strings need supervising. Don’t leave them alone with the strings and be sure to cut them down when the game is finished.
About Alison McGarragh-Murphy
Alison writes and edits stuff for The Motherload®, and is also a radio producer and broadcast journalist, a mum of two and a wife of one. Since becoming a mother she has (mostly) gladly swapped a busy social life of gigs, pubs, art galleries and museums for dancing in the kitchen, drinking on the sofa, finger painting and hanging out at the park. She talks incessantly about not having slept for three-and-half years.
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