Hooray! It’s half term! cry the children. Time for fun and relaxation and seeing friends… playdates to arrange, fun outings to fix and activities to find out about. So that means chill time and no work, we say, because that’s what we crave ourselves.

In fact, though a break from routine and super early mornings goes down well, kids actually just love learning. They don’t really want or need a break from finding out stuff, being creative and learning how to do things.They thrive on it and building this into half-term activities can make it all so much more fun .

Fun and educational

Snuggling up with a new book is always a treat, and a great habit to foster!  Find all the latest books to read and to borrow at your local library – check out your nearest option here https://www.gov.uk/local-library-services  Most also run special events in the holidays - plays, readings, activities and more, which are great opportunities to take part, meet authors and also make new local friends.

At school, activities like drawing and writing tend to be separated, but there’s so much fun to be had when the two are brought together.  Kids and adults alike will be charmed by Charlie Mackesy’s book of illustrations The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and The Horse -  great inspiration for drawing and writing about half-term activities, friends, places and big thoughts.

The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy, £12.99

Maybe indulge in a beautiful  half-term notebook to safeguard all those precious pieces of work – we love Katie Leamon’s stationery addict design with blank, lined and grid pages to suit your mood.

 grey grid notebook, Katie Leamon, £14

Colouring in – and learning!

Kids love charts and creating a holiday activity planner is a great activity in itself, involving maths, logic, creativity and handwriting skills. A bumper package, in fact, and great introduction to the concept of spreadsheets ongoing… All you need is some large paper such as A3, a ruler and some pens.  The littlest can enjoy colouring in the squares and bigger children will enjoy writing lots of info into each day’s segment and decorating them. Add in some extra elements maybe – shiny stars for the kids to highlight favourite days, different coloured stars for what they’re doing/who they are seeing.  Lots of fun to plan with them as well as execute. 

Making, baking and maths

Making food for friends is one of those satisfying activities that kids fully engage with at an early stage.  Messy, yes, but often hilarious too – and there’s lots of learning involved.  Everything from reading the recipe and getting out the ingredients to measuring, setting the oven temperature and timing the bake are positive knowledge steps.  Add in organising cupcakes or biscuits in size order, counting out decorations and it’s a maths buzz!

Pond dipping and world mapping– even on rainy days!

While it’s ideal to get out to discover new places and examine new environments, there are plenty of options even when stuck inside on rainy days. Try virtual pond dipping with eatsleepdoodle’s brand new pond life tablecloth.

NEW pond life tablecloth including 10 wash-out fabric pens, £22.95

Here you can colour in and enjoy discovering lots of common and endangered species and habitats -  and you can find out still more about them at https://www.eatsleepdoodle.co.uk/pages/pond-life  and https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/habitats/pond/ . Or enjoy colouring in the countries you’d like to visit, or those where friends and relatives live with this tablecloth showing the modern wonders of the world and more.

world map tablecloth including 10 wash-out fabric pens, £22.95