Written by Nicole Carter
Sun, beach, bronzed-bodies, ice cream, holidays... it seems we wait almost all of the year for this season to roll around (well, we do in our family anyway!) and when it finally does, it feels like the entire country breathes a sigh of relief at the idea of having some much needed rest and relaxation. However, I have found that in the Southern Hemisphere, we strike a slight bump in the road in the fact that our summer holidays hit right at the same time as Christmas and as we all know, January can be a bit hard on the old bank balance! I think it can be easy to get sucked in, especially in the Facebooking, Instagramming world that we live in today, wanting to take our kids here, there and everywhere to give them the best holiday we can and for some reason, these days it seems that the only way to do that is to drop a whole lotta cash.
BUT I’m here to tell you, it’s not!!!
If it’s the good old fashioned Kiwi summer that you’re after, then in fact doing the opposite and freezing the credit card in a block of ice (great trick by the way! Until you accidentally fill your car up with petrol and realise your only form of payment is nestled nicely among a small iceberg at home…) can definitely be the way to go!
Think back to your own childhood. What is it you remember the most? I bet some of the first things that spring to mind involve things like hot days in the paddling pool in the back yard, or walking to the dairy with cousins to get an ice cream, or ‘painting’ all over the hot concrete with water.
So here are a few ideas to share with you to hopefully help you out as we get to the end of the school holidays. Things that don’t cost a bomb and that your kids (hopefully!) will have fun doing:
- Movie night – set your lounge up to look like a cinema. Prepare during the day by making popcorn, ice cream toppings etc. Let the kids choose the movie, jump in your PJ’s and off you go!
- Create an edible garden together. Get the kids to help with planning, preparing and planting an edible garden. Let them include whatever herbs, veges, edible flowers they like. This could also help out at dinner time as kids are more likely to eat what they grow themselves.
- Design and create a ‘Water Theme Park’ using whatever paddling pools, water accessories, tarpaulins etc that you already have at home.
- Grab some chalk and let the kids draw up a ‘town’ or ‘road map’ on the concrete, complete with stop and give way signs, buildings, parking spots, bike lanes, the list goes on.
- Have a water fight-and get involved yourself! Kids love this type of play with their parents/adults.
This is obviously just a small list off the top of my head and I’m sure there are many, many ideas out there (thanks Mr Google!) but I think the most important thing for us all to stop and remember is that memories don’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, the good ol’ fashioned Kiwi summer, I reckon, requires it! ;-)
