Get ready for school holidays

TIPS: HOW TO KEEP KIDS BUSY AND HAVING FUN AT HOME Let them try some easy recipes, join them in board games, video games or, better yet, get them doing chores for scores.

Every school holiday, parents scratch their heads, wondering how to keep their kids occupied while staying at home. If your kids are like most, they’ll possibly spend much of the break buried under a sea of blankets with their phones or tablets, only emerging for sips of cooldrink and snacks. It’s understandable. It’s cold, and sooner or later it’s back to crawling out of bed at the crack of dawn.

But this could also be a time to bond with your offspring. Here are a few ways you can keep them busy during the winter break.

Learn new, kid-friendly recipe

Most kids get a kick out of helping out in the kitchen. It feeds their curiosity and gives them a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they had a part to play in whipping up a delicious meal.

Aside from entertaining them, this is a good life skill for them to develop.

There are several easy recipes online that won’t require them to handle anything too sharp or too hot. Who knows, you might have a chef or baker in the making!

Get competitive with board games and video games

Board games are a great way to bond with the family, especially if you have older kids.

Whether you play 30 Seconds, Snakes and Ladders or Scrabble, getting the family together to play games is a great way to spend time together. Alternatively, you could also play against them in video games.

Get your FIFA 21 with the EA videogame. It’s made for both PlayStation and Xbox.

Tip: If you don’t have R4 000 on hand to fork out for a new game console, Teljoy allows you to pay for the game on a subscription model.

In other words, you pay a small monthly amount and, after you’ve done that for a certain number of months, the game is all yours.

Or even better, you could upgrade to the latest version when it becomes available.

Start a reward system for completing chores around the house

One good way to help young kids ease into the habit of doing chores is to set up a reward system.

This will get them to look forward to chipping in around the house.

The rewards can be anything from getting to choose what to have for dinner, picking out a movie to watch or an extra helping of delicious dessert after dinner!

Set up an indoor scavenger hunt at home

Having a scavenger hunt at home is another great boredom buster for kids. What’s great about indoor scavenger hunts is that they’re inexpensive, easy, and can be done with things you already have at home.

Themed movie nights

Set a theme for every movie marathon or, better yet, get your kids to choose one. Just make sure you have all the snacks on hand to make the movie night even better. – Citizen reporter