#HolidayHacks – simple fun ideas for the holidays with Calypso 12

Do you love or dread the long summer holidays?  I always find them challenging, but do love spending time with my boys and this summer I am teaming up with Calypso to bring you some fabulous simple fun ideas for the holidays.  #HolidayHacks for kids of all ages.

Simple fun ideas for the holidays

Sometimes it can be hard to think about things to do over the holiday period and that where the fantastic Calypso Holiday Hacks App comes into its own.  You just pop in the age that you are looking to keep occupied and a type of activity and then it comes it with a fab selection of low cost or no cost ideas for the family to do.

So we decided to give it a try and the boys popping their details and a sunny day and it came up with:

Take the family and the dogs to an empty beach and let them run free, followed by a picnic.

We are really lucky to live 5 minutes from the beach, but we do not visit it as often as we should, especially in the summer.   So we decided to have a late visit to the beach once all the tourists had gone and MadDad had come home from work.  The tide was in, but that didn’t stop us making the most of our evening.

I packed a picnic including a flask and some Calypso drinks for the boys.  Water and a bowl for Alvin and set off to our local beach.

We had a wonderful evening, watching the boys play cricket and football on the beach.  MadDad and I chatted, walked the dog and put the world to rights.  There really is something special about evenings on the beach.

It is much quieter and there is something beautiful about watching the waves lapping the shore. In fact, I sometimes think ti is the best part of the day.

The secret to spontaneous simple fun ideas for the holidays

The secret to being able to have some fab family fun over the summer is being prepared.  I have always carried a summer bag in the car full of things that we might need including:

• Football
• Kite
• Cricket bat and ball
• Blanket
• Chairs
• Sun lotion
• Hats for all the family
• Towels
• £5 in change for ice cream or chips!
• A reading book (for me)

You can mix up your summer bag depending on how old your children are.   When the boys were younger we always carried a bucket and spades and other beach toys, talc for removing sand, a change of clothes, waterproofs and snacks.

You can pick up most of the things you need for your bag from the Pound Shop and it is great to be able to be spontaneous.

Why not take a look at why my fellow Calypso bloggers, Diary of the Dad and The Minis Mes and Me have been getting up to.