If you’re anything like me, you start the first week of the School Holidays, full of ideas and inspiration for keeping the little ones busy but tend to peak after the first seven days!

By week 2 you’re tired, all of the things you had planned you have done and the devices start coming out while you try to steal 5 minutes to yourself to drink a hot coffee in peace!

If your motivation is waning and your ‘get up and go’ just ‘got up and left’, here are our top tips for inexpensive activities for that final week:

Visit your local Museum.

Lots of museums are free or ask for a small donation. They usually have events and activities especially for children during the holidays.

Head to your library.

Libraries often also put on events or reading challenges for children in the holidays.

Go somewhere on the bus or train.

It doesn’t have to be far but children love buses and trains. They can turn even the most simple of days out into a mini adventure.

Turn your walk into an expedition.

Make up a story or little mini adventure for your little ones. Maybe they need to go on a scavenger hunt through the woods for items you have (secretly) placed there. Or perhaps there’s been a report of pirate treasure hidden on your local beach and they need to make and follow a map to the (again, secretly placed) ‘treasure’ (chocolate coins) the ‘Pirates’ (you) have placed there…

Put them to work!

If your house is anything like mine, it is feeling the full effects of the Easter holidays! Children love to help around the house (usually for a small fee…) Mine particularly love washing the patio door, using the hoover and cleaning using a damp cloth. Yes they won’t do it perfectly, and yes, it might even end up looking worse but a clean house is not the goal here. The goal is finally getting to drink that cup of coffee…

Ultimately it’s really important to remember that you are your child’s parent and not their entertainer. You need to be looking after and meeting your own needs too. There are so many benefits to children being bored. Often it can lead them to developing their own games and ideas which is great for their creative development.

And remember, the house will be tidy again and you WILL finally get to that coffee at some point!