A Schools Out Party and Some Holiday Boredom Busters

So School Holidays - we meet again!

Yup in NSW its time for the teachers to take a well earned rest and for the kids to torment their own for a while.

I remember when I was a kid the utter joy I felt when the bell rang to signal the end of the day and the beginning of the holidays. I can recall racing home to my mum, pinging of walls drunk and high on freedom. I'm so sorry Mum! Its just another one of those I'm sorry moments you have once you have spawned your own offspring and you suddenly find yourself filled with remorse for all you put your own parents through. ha ha.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the school holidays, just generally I prefer the Spring and Summer breaks and not so much the ones in the colder months where you are more dictated to by the weather.

The break from routine, lunches and MY GOD the break from Homework is definitely the cream of this holiday gig. Bedtimes and Nighttime in general become less stressful as the fight to get them in to bed on time has gone from many of us parents, and is replaced with "Sure you can go to bed and watch a movie, read a book, play your iPod till it runs out of batteries at 3am. Your father and I will be in a coma on the couch if you need us!"

Yesterday, I got infected by the kid's end of term enthusiasm. I even *shock horror* offered them the day off school since, it was my day off work and all they typically do on the last day is pack up classrooms, tidy up and watch movies. Even more *shock horror* or *shock delight* (depends which way you look at it) they said "No thanks Mum, we'll go to school!" Oh bless you children, what did I do to deserve you wonderful beings who do not take full advantage of my crazier brain farts?


So suddenly with extra time on  my hands I decided to get my crafty on and don my cool Mummy uniform and throw them an End of Term after School Party!

I could have used the time to attack the mountain of washing, run the million and one errands or rake a path in the back yard through the leaves to see if we still have grass under all that mulch. But nooooo, chucking a party and making some fun holiday activities was way more fun.

So I started with making some cake toppers which I did up in excel and laminated before I punched them out with my trusty hole cutter thingy (totally the technical name). Then I hot glued them to some paddle pop sticks and wallah we had cake toppers.

I then made the label for the Holiday Activity Box I decided to put together for the kids. You see I sadly have to work through these holidays, albeit from home, but it means the kids have to kind of fend for themselves when it comes to entertainment. My hubby has taken the first week of the holidays off to entertain them, but the second week - at least from Monday to Thursday, they will have to make do with their own imaginations whilst I work. And so the idea for The Holiday Activity Box was born.

I started a few weeks back collecting things to go into the activity box (the Toy sales have been very handy in keeping the costs down). I also made up a bunch of envelopes labelled Boredom Busters. These envelopes are for my sanity as much as theirs, and to protect us all from those "Mummmmm I'm bored!" moments.

I printed off a list of suggestions of things for them to do, cut them out and put them into individual envelopes and labelled each envelope with a Boredom Buster tag. So now when they spew out the old "I'm Bored" statement, they can randomly choose one envelope and inside they will find an activity specially designed to make them LESS bored.

Some suggestions for Boredom Busters are;

• Build a Fort with pillows and blankets.
• Make a Movie or Create and Stage a Show. (This one can amuse them for hours as they have to make tickets to sell and costumes and everything) *insert evil mother laugh here*.
• Play Hide and Seek - My kids use Facetime on their iPods to make it more interesting - techno geeks!
• Craft Activities
• Wii Olympics
• Reading Challenge
• Movie and Popcorn Time
• Hey you can even slip in a Tidy Your Bedroom or Wash The Car Envelope in there!

As for the Activity Box. Well this is a box filled with special new things to amuse them on the really rainy or cold days when my conscience wont allow me to send them outside to play in the streets. That sounds way worse than what it really is, as the reality is we live in a quiet street / estate full of kids with a private park and duck ponds in the middle. So playing on the street is actually very safe and civilized - just in case you had your fingers on your phone ready to dial Docs or something.

I picked up this cane basket for $35 bucks from Kmart and I filled it with bits and pieces I have been collecting. Then on a rainy day they can choose something to play with out of the Holiday Activity Box.

It is full of  craft stuff, drawing pads and textas etc, movies, books, cards, science experiments (of the non blow up your house kind) and games they can play together as well as of course, the Boredom Buster envelopes. I even chucked in some Learn to Read and Write books for my older kids to teach their younger brother if they want to play schools (which they do, even when they are on holidays - go figure!).

So that's the Activity Box done and dusted and now it's on to Party Time.

There were blueberry muffins on the menu.....mmmmm nom nom says Mum!



I went with a bright orange theme and I'm not sure if it was me subconsciously trying to channel a summery feeling amidst the cold or if I was hoping that by starting the holidays on a bright colour would mean that I am still feeling bright and cheery by the end of the holidays. Whatever!

There was Gummy Snakes and Cheezels and a bottle of Orange Crush to really send them bouncing off the walls. I'm not sure what I was thinking giving them all this sugar but as I said earlier I had kinda gotten infected by all their end of school enthusiasm and went a little crazy myself. All together now "BRAIN FART!"

I did throw in some sliced up oranges and watermelons as a token gesture to my more responsible parenting side. Of course these were the last things to be eaten cause "You can never have too much healthy stuff at a party" said no Kid EVER!

And cake - there had to be cake! When all else fails - let them eat cake! Or just give me the cake and I will hide in a corner and eat it until it's safe to come out preferably at the END of the holidays. Again - Whatever!

Needless to say, I had some happy boys when they came home to this surprise. I earned myself some MAJOR brownie points that I can totally use for a guilt trip later in the holidays when they decide that a mum distracted by her work is not so cool after all. Hey - You do what you have to right? Right!

So tell me -What have you got planned for these holidays?

Any other Fabulous Boredom Busters I should know about?

Have you got your own hiding place ready to escape too when you need it the most?

(I do - I discovered that I can pick up WiFi if I sit in the corner of my en-suite next to the toilet.)

Once again WHATEVER! I can totally see the appeal of those words "Whatever" to end a point, it feels very satisfying and now I know why kids loves to use it so much!

I'm linking up with the ever gorgeous Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading