Activities to do with your children

If I don’t write lists I forget things, it doesn’t matter what it is - if there’s no list it won’t happen. Food, for example. The Hubby and I have a list of food we like to eat, we also have a list of healthy food we can eat when on a diet. The reason I keep these lists is because if I didn’t I would forget what foods we like, especially if we haven’t had it in a while.

The same goes for activities to do with the boys, we’ve done lots of different activities, some free, some not, and sometimes I’ll forget the things we haven’t done for ages. That’s why I keep my lists and I’m sharing some of my list with you today to give you some ideas of activities to do with your children.




Bowling


We like bowling, especially since we can get reduced prices with my Clubcard Boost from Tesco. By cashing in some of my clubcard points I get money off a family game of bowling at Tenpin. You can do this too if you have a Clubcard - check out the website, it’s full of fun activities. Anyway my point is the bowling. 




LP swinging as hard as he can.


The boys love bowling, not only because it’s fun but because they get to compete with each other. LP is quite competitive but he’s also a lot younger than us so instead of competing with us LP competes with himself. He has a target on the day and if he beats his target he wins. 

BP, on the other hand, competes with me and the Hubby. He’s quite proud of the fact that he’s beat me on a few occasions. 

And the Hubby and I? Well we just play for fun (or at least I do), although if I ever beat the Hubby that will be a blog post all of its own!





If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. 

Katharine Hepburn





Mini Golf


Not one I’ve been able to use my Clubcard points on but one we’ve done time and again is Mini Golf. We’ve visited Lost Adventure Golf in Nottingham, Paradise Island in Derby, and Highfields Adventure Golf in Nottingham. There’s also one at Alton Towers, and if you have Merlin Annual Passes you get a discount on the games. We’ve played at Alton Towers twice I think. 






Mini golf is fun, whether you have to try to avoid things in your way or you’re just trying to putt the ball. The fun mostly comes in watching others fail but everyone can play - even the little ones - which means it’s a family game. 




The Theatre


While it can be expensive taking your children to the theatre can be a wonderful experience for them. In the last year we have taken our boys to see Lord of the Dance, The Wedding Singer, The Addams Family, and Around the World in 80 Days, amongst others. They loved each and every visit and now whenever they found out we’ve booked theatre tickets they’re super excited. 

Our idea is that if we take them to see lots of different things, some dance shows, some plays, and some musicals, that they will grow up loving the theatre and continue to go. 






Being in the theatre watching actors (or dancers) on stage is amazing. You can get lost in the play/show but also you can see that they’re real people up there dancing and performing for you and all the other guests. If acting is something your children are interested in it is a great way to show them the kinds of things they could do as an actor.

Of course there’s the treats too - we buy our boys an ice-cream during intermission. It’s become somewhat of a routine now but to be honest I don’t mind it. It’s not like we go the theatre every week and it really is something special.




Walk in your local area


Walking is a great form of exercise and you tend to spot things you don’t otherwise when you’re out walking. The number of times the Hubby and I have seen something when we were out walking that we’d never noticed before is unbelievable. Taking your kids for a walk allows them to walk off ahead too - giving them a little bit of freedom but still knowing you’re not too far away. Great for those tweens-in-training






My boys love walking and while it’s brilliant in the summer, when you can walk for miles and know it’s not going to rain, it’s also lovely in the Autumn. You get to point out the changing colours of the leaves and different animals come out during the day (there’s tons of squirrels about in Autumn!) meaning your children get to learn too. 

And as a bonus if you go to a local park perhaps there’s a recreation area you can visit at the end of your walk. We often tell our boys that when we’re done with our walk we’ll let them play on the recreation area. It goes down very well and makes them more enthusiastic for the walk (if that’s something you have trouble with).




Movie night/day


I’ve mentioned it lots of times before but nothing beats a good movie. For the boys our favourites would be any Pixar movie - we particularly love Up and Inside Out - but as they’re growing up now they also like things like Guardians of the Galaxy

Talk to your children to find out which is their favourite movie (preferably one they haven’t watched a million times) and get the disc/streaming service ready. Close all your curtains, light reflecting on the TV will only ruin your viewing pleasure. If it’s getting cold grab a blanket and be sure to have a few snacks on hand - popcorn goes down a treat!





Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun. 

Randy Pausch





Then you can settle down as a family and enjoy a great movie. For 2 hours or so you’ll sit together, laugh at funny bits in the movie, share treats, and just be. There’s nothing quite like a family movie night.




Some of these activities I reserve for weekends or school holidays and some we just do whenever we feel like it. Having an idea to begin with is the biggest hurdle and I hope I’ve helped you there. If you’d like to check out some of the other activities we’ve done with our boys you can see them on my YouTube channel and my Facebook Page.

I’d love to hear if you’ve done any of these activities or have done something different you’d like to share. 

Do you have any activities you do with your kids that I've missed?