Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[tyme]

Hey there families, parents and caregivers,

As the school holidays have begun and soon-to-begin for thousands of young people around Australia, let's open this space for holiday ideas!

Let's get sharing! It doesn't have to be expensive!

1) sleeping in whenever you can!

2) going for walks and playing mindfulness games e.g. eye-spy, naming colours/sounds

3) going to the park

4) go bush

5) train ride from the beginning to end of a train line

6) picnics

7) gaming tournaments

😎 trip to the beach

9) cooking day

10) pool

What I find best about holidays is that you don't fill it up with back-to-back activities. Too much planning takes away the 'holiday' element!

[ArraDreaming]

Oh. I don’t venture to “this side” often @tyme but it came on the front page.



The library!!!
We have discovered our local library as such a great resource. Our bigger kid will spend time picking out books while our middle kid plays with the toys on offer. There is also scheduled group activities for big and little kids. We have spent upwards of an hour there just hanging out playing with the toys and pottering about.
To be honest a lot of the games, blocks, etc we already have at home like the Lego table but leaving and going somewhere different to play with

 them is refreshing.

[ArraDreaming]

Also: two tips my wife gave me for when I am alone with the kids…
1. There is no such thing as poor weather, just poor clothing choice. Rug them up and go outside. Everyone will instantly feel better.

2. Water. Same as above. If everyone is having a bad day, take them to your nearest water, or put them in the bath, it might be at 11am but does it matter?
Water = instant calm.

[tyme]

Great points there @ArraDreaming 

Another holiday idea is for carers to look after themselves! 

Having kids home 24/7 might not be as easy at it sounds... let alone those who have more than one child! 

So please remember to take care, chill, take time out, tell your kids gently about how you are feeling, and bottom line, look after yourself!

[ArraDreaming]

For sure @tyme I will be at work as normal so won’t be home with them but we will be having some support for my partner while she’s home with all 3 for 2 weeks.

Also - we love a trip to the oval, it’s relatively secure and the kids can just run. Kills a couple of hours if you can take snacks too.

[tyme]

Sounds great @ArraDreaming . I'm glad your partner will have someone to help out.

It'll be warmer the next few days, so maybe you can do something with them in the arvo?

[ArraDreaming]

Lots of beach time! A couple of surfs @tyme
We’ve all just been down there today actually but just for a walk.

[tyme]

I'm going have some offline time now, but I hope to chat tomorrow? @ArraDreaming 

[ArraDreaming]

Me too @tyme Gonna go enjoy the rest of the sunshine with the kids. Got a bit of gardening to maybe they will help me… 🤣🤣🤣

[Krishna]

Hey @tyme  Great post. My kids are all grown up now but when they were school age I made a plan of doing something different every third day to break up the time they spent at home and making things a little special for them for the holidays. Money was and probably is for a lot of people, an issue so planning things at home or close by was a must as is a change of scenery for all concerned.