The Entertainment Coordinator
Finding things to do for the kids through the holidays can be a major logistical exercise. Pat Albertson reveals his secrets of managing a crowd of three.
As I write this, the summer school and kindergarten holidays are well and truly behind us, but I can still recall the feelings of apprehension I had in mid-December where six weeks of being entertainment coordinator for the Albertson household was stretching out before me.
As is often the case when there are little dollar-munchers on the scene, we were more or less limited to having a petrol-only budget with maybe enough left over for one or two little holiday treats.
It can be a challenge for a parent’s creativity to get through times like this, but with the benefit of hindsight I think I could say that we did not do too badly. Here are a few ideas that we tried out in order to give the kids and ourselves a good time over the holidays while attempting to keep to a tight budget.
First thing in the morning is really not the high point of my day, and so, rather than be faced with “blank-sheet syndrome” (i.e. a total lack of ideas and creativity), my wife and I formulated a plan which we jotted down on the calendar for each coming week, so that we would at least have some idea of where to start.
We generally had a couple of things up our sleeves in case the weather did not behave itself, while any postponed things could be kept in reserve for the next time we were short of ideas.
It would be fairly safe to say that January was a great month for doing outside things, at least in sunny Christchurch.
There are a limited number of indoor activities that the young children will enjoy, and I jealously guarded these like gold, resorting to them only when necessary. Thus, each sunny day was spent at rivers, beaches, parks, playgrounds and anywhere else that might hold some kind of attraction.
Back in my day (as we of the older generation are fond of saying) playgrounds were generally limited to the ubiquitous swings, slides, and the occasional roundabout, but this has all changed with the advent of what one of my friends refers to as “shake-the-box” playgrounds (so called because it looks like the designer has got a big box of modular playground pieces which he shakes upside down before building up a play structure of whatever slides, bridges, pipes and pieces of wood fall to the ground).
While they are all variations on a theme, they are all slightly different, so by checking out a different one each time, you can maintain an illusion of novelty.
We are fortunate in living in a country where almost everyone has a beach, lake, or river within easy reach, and for some reason water play is something that seems to particularly appeal to young children.
Christchurch is particularly blessed with good safe beaches where a lot of fun can be had chasing the waves and playing in the surf. Even on cooler days where swimming is not practical, there is still plenty to do, from building sand forts, to exploring the rock pools.
Digging complex river channels seems to be a favourite pastime that gets passed down through the generations, and I like to think that my own childhood efforts are in some small part responsible for Canterbury’s braided river systems. I had even thought that offering my kids’ construction talents to Project Aqua might have raised some cash for the following holidays, although it looks like my idea is now as doomed as the project itself.
Now that the cold weather is on us, it cuts down the options for water play but when all else fails there is always target practice with the stones in the stream, not to mention crocodile hunting. Yes, crocodile hunting! It may just look like a half-submerged log to you and me, but it is amazing what a bit of imagination can do.
If nothing else comes to mind, and the weather is just not playing its part, bath-time can turn out to be a surprisingly enjoyable and (even better) time-filling activity.
These days I have a tendency to put them in the bath, through in a few toys and then just let them go for it while I sit in a corner reading and doing my best to be tolerant of the water going in all directions. That can keep them busy for up to an hour sometimes, and by then they might be ready for a bit of TV.
Like money, I have found that TV and videos are resources that have to be carefully rationed. With rain pouring down outside it is tempting to take the option of having a “video day” but start that too early in the morning and the kids are bored by 10 o’clock, and indeed endless re-runs of the Wiggles and Thomas tend to lose their appeal amongst the older members of the household pretty quickly too.
Instead, we tend to set up the age-old blankets-and-table tent, get a few sleeping bags and cushions, and break out the picnic set for a bit of indoor camping. When that starts to flag an hour or so of videos will give us parents a bit of time out before setting up the train-set, wooden blocks, play-dough or whatever.
Interludes of TV/videos throughout the day, interspersed with something more hands-on, generally seem to maintain the kids interest while preserving the sanity of the parents. With so much rubbish on the box (a lot of which is so violent I have no intention of letting my little guys watch it), a good supply of previously-taped videos of favourite programmes are a must for those cold wet days.
Heading out on rainy days can be an expensive exercise, but there are still cheap alternatives to be had in Christchurch, as I expect there are in most larger centres. Visits to the museum are free, and they may even run kids’ holiday programmes, like the “find all the Santas” activity set up by someone in the Christchurch Museum who deserves an instant promotion for that idea (our guys spent at least two hours Santa-searching on that one).
Many places, like the local wildlife park and the hands-on science centre can be pricey for individual visits but yearly passes can make then a little more affordable and help to spread the cost. Alternatively joining the local vintage railway/tramway club has given us guaranteed free entry and rides for a year, and that can be a handy option when you just can’t stand being indoors any longer but its too cold to be outside for long.
Then again, there is a certain hamburger restaurant where, for the price of a 50c ice-cream and a cup of coffee, the kids can play for hours on the slides and tunnels while you sit there with a book and ignore the rain outside.
The same old toys can get boring for even the most contented children, after too many wet days in a row. Still, it is amazing how coming up with slight variations on a theme can freshen things up again. One of the best ways to do it is by throwing a whole lot of completely unrelated bits and pieces together and seeing what happens.
For example, we have ended up with Thomas and his little locomotive mates rescuing the dinosaurs from Megatron and the evil Decepticons while being pelted with balloons.
In fact balloons are an excellent prop for lots of games because they are loads of fun to bounce around, safe to play with indoors and, best of all, cheap. Having a huge amount of toys bought from school fairs and garage sales means that we can have lots of them stored away in that handy cupboard under the stairs.
This means that we can have the regular swap over, and bring out a few things they haven’t seen for ages, sort of like our own toy library.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive and fail-safe way to fill all those holiday hours, but hopefully it might be a good starting point.
With this being the last day of school for another two weeks, and a series of wet days on the long range weather forecast, I have a feeling I am going to need all the help I can get. Anybody have any ideas on how to entertain a six, five and three year old on $1 a day? I am all ears.
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