Working from home as a parent during the holidays
Working from home can be stressful, but when we have the children home on the school holidays, we can get a lot of “mum, I’m bored“, “mum, I’m hungry“, “mum, I need my 16th snack of the day” and so on. I don’t know about any of you, but I always feel terribly guilty for having to work and seeing their little faces bored. So, I would love to share with you what I have found helpful during the school holidays.
Spread out any time you can take off with them. You could take a week off or maybe a day here and there to take them out. I like to choose a Wednesday if I take a day off, so they get a whole day of being with you and having fun right in the middle of the week.
Arrange for a play date. This may mean your home looks like a bomb has hit it but worry about that later. Let the kids play, they will keep each other entertained and chances are that the friend will then invite your little one over for another day.
Holiday club. They have some amazing holiday clubs around for children now pretty much anywhere. My youngest likes to go to a football club which tends to spread out across the holidays so they get a break in between.
Local council. Hopefully, this is the same for everyone. We used to receive free iCards for children so they could go swimming and do free activities run by the council. Our council do not have these for free anymore. They are charging £1 per week for use which is still pretty good value for money. They run lots of activities every day of the week and my youngest one loves it. Check out your local council’s website for information on what they can offer.
Arts and crafts day. Again, your house could end up messy! I like to get those plastic tablecloths used for birthday parties to protect the floor and set up a play zone for them. I make prints in potatoes, get the brushes and paints out ready and go looking upstairs for all the play-doh and accessories so they can have a wail of a time.
Build a fort. We did this in lockdown and the kids loved it and then they camped in them for the day. Taking snacks in and watching their devices or taking their favourite toy inside. They even slept in it one night.
Make paper aeroplanes. Give the planes different names and allocate points for where they land. I.E. if you get it on the windowsill, you get 10 points.
TV! This is a naughty one but on those miserable days when they just have to stay indoors. Get them some treats and put a nice movie on for them. Make them a bed on the sofa too just for a bit of comfort. Popcorn also goes down very well in this house. The sofa even enjoys eating it!
Set up an obstacle course. Children of all ages love this one and even sometimes grown-ups too. This is better outdoors. Jump through hula hoops then down the slide. Whatever you find!
Reading. This is a nice one for the older children. Set up a reading challenge and get them to write about what they have read for you to read later or sit with them later and talk to them about what they have read today.
I hope you have found this helpful, and it takes the strain off the holidays a little bit. If you have any other ideas please contact me. I would love to hear from you.
Thanks!