Add Magic to your Holidays!
It’s the summer holidays! Dreams of endless ice-creams, warm waves, long days and outdoor picnics are on everyone’s minds. Of course kids are excited about being out of school and have all kinds of ideas about what they would like to do to fill up the (hopefully) warm, sunny days.
But after a while, the cries of ‘I’m bored! There’s nothing to DO!” will begin. Blame it on staycation, or on rainy days or simply because … there is a LOT of time to fill up! Summer is the time to go on adventures and make memories that will last a lifetime, and stories can provide great inspiration for fun activities.
Reading stories is great for bedtime and rainy days, but we also want stories to inspire our readers to get out and play! We have been digging for treasure in our archives and have found some great tales that inspire all kinds of fun summer activities…
1. Time for a Treasure Hunt! – ‘Alfie the Pirate’ (Storytime #30)
A little bit of imagination can transform an ordinary experience into something magical! Alfie proves this when he creates his own adventure in his backyard, and creates his own tale of action and adventure. Where would your kids like to go today? To a far-off land, a magical kingdom, or a distant planet?
Activity idea: Choose a theme for your adventure! Draw a treasure map of your home or garden and hide some special treats for the kids to find along the way. Make sure to come up with cool names and ideas for imaginary creatures and obstacles they might encounter on the way!
2. Go wild! – ‘The Selfish Giant’ (Storytime #28)
Parks are great places to explore – and they are even more fun with friends! This is what the giant discovers in Oscar Wilde’s classic tale, after all! Most parks have awesome playgrounds but don’t forget to explore the woodlands or the ponds nearby.
Activity idea: Why not take the kids on an impromptu wilderness expedition? Prepare a picnic and a little backpack with special “tools and toys” for the adventure. This way the day will feel like an expedition and when everyone is tired, you can set camp and share some yummy food!
3. Make a splash! – ‘Moon River Melody’ (Storytime #71)
There’s nothing like a swim on a hot summer day, as the Pied Piper learns when the Little Mermaid call for help! Beaches and public pools can be brilliant, but there are other options. A paddling pool or even a nice cool bath are refreshing too (can be great fun), especially if there are toys to play with.
Activity idea: If you don’t have a handy place to go swimming, why not visit some swimming friends at the local pond? Bring some bread, peas, sweetcorn and birdseed for the ducks and ducklings and other water birds! Imagine what life would be like if you were a duckling and make up stories about their adventures.
4. Visit animal friends from distant lands! – ‘Alphabet Zoo’ (Storytime #29-45)
Going to a zoo or city farm is educational and exciting! Our ‘Alphabet Zoo’ poems are all about the wonderful animals that can be found there. You can spot them in alphabetical order too – it can be really great fun reading the poems out loud! How many of the animals from the poems can you spot at the zoo?
Activity idea: Learning about animals is great fun! Why not print out some copies of the animal data card that you can download from HERE and write down the things you find out about them from the information posters at the zoo?
5. Travel through time! – ‘Away Game!’ (Storytime #78)
In this story, Lincoln and his friends go back in time and play football with some kids from the Middle Ages. We haven’t invented a time machine (yet!), but going to a museum or nearby historical place can be the next best thing! Kids can learn about what life was like in older times, and can imagine what their life would have been like if they live there and then! It’s exciting and educational – and a real time-travelling holiday adventure!
Activity idea: Make your time-trip even more fun by dressing up in costumes! The costumes can match the adventure and make it all more real! Kids can really bring history to life by pretending to speak and act as if they are really from a past era!
Whatever you do, we hope you have a great summer break, and do let us know what you get up to in the comments below!
Happy holidays,
The Storytime team
