Mum I'm Bored.....Activities for the Easter Break

Easter is almost upon us, as is the Term Break. School holidays, love them or hate them, they can present a real challenge for lots of parents to keep those young minds stimulated and busy.

So here is a really simple way to come up with loads of ideas to keep the kids occupied and give you some time to breathe.

Call it what you want...Jar of Fun, Boredom Box, The Rescue Squad...get the kids to come up with a great name for it and they will take ownership of it.

Find yourself some sort of container, anything will do. We've got a selection of examples here, a vase, gift box, bucket, coffee jar, biscuit tin even a humble tupperware container.

Download and print the list of activities by clicking on the image below. Cut them out. These ones all have an educational twist to them, like watching a film with subtitles or making play money from household items. If you or the kids aren't keen on the ones printed for you, you can use small note paper to make up your own.

The rest is quite simple. Fold them up and put them in the container. Decorate it as you like.

Then whenever you hear the kids complaining that they are bored, or you need a five minute break to get the work done send them to the jar. As my Mum always told me..."Boredom is a state of mind." There is always something to do, you just haven't thought of it yet, or it's not what you want to do.

For an Easter treat you could put your activities into plastic eggs and use them as a count down to the Easter Bunny or a daily learning activity to do together as a family.

P.S. Don't tell them it's educational and they'll love it!

Have a great holiday and Happy Learning!

To see more ideas for holiday activities check out our Pinterest boards, like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram @blossomltf

Easter: The Blossom Way

The countdown is on for children all over the world to celebrate Easter, look forward to some time off school and, of course, the food....hot cross buns, family feasts and loads of yummy chocolate.

It's also a wonderful opportunity to spend more time with the family. What will you be doing this Easter? Camping. Visiting family and friends. Shopping. Playing Sport. Relaxing. Catching up on house work.

No matter what you are doing for Easter though, why not throw in some fun activities for you and the kids to enjoy with an educational twist.

OMG! What? Educational? Boring!


Well it doesn't have to be boring. Learning can be fun. At home and with the family kids can explore new ideas freely, puruse their own personal interests and expand their minds by playing and having a good time.

So we've put together some Easter Activities that you can take with you on your trips or do around home and that have some hidden learning benefits. Don't tell them it's educational and they'll eat it by the box full!

Plastic Easter Eggs
These are a great alternative to chocolate eggs and sugary treats if you're trying to avoid that sort of thing. You can use them to put trinkets and treasures inside but you can also turn them into educational games.

* Fill them with math questions and score participants
* Write out general knowledge quiz questions and have a competition
* Hide clues to a hidden treasure
* Use them for challenges and dares
* Play "Memory" by opening two eggs at a time and scoring pairs
* Hide them around the yard for the Egg Hunt and fill with pieces of a puzzle

Easter Reading
The shops are full of bright and colourful easter books at this time of year. Head down to your store and stock up on books as another alternative to sugary gifts for your own or other children.

There are Easter books for all ages and all interests. This one shelf in a local store of mine has touch & feel books for toddlers, flash cards for early readers, activity and colouring books for middle years, craft and recipe books for older children and regular classics for those of us who just love books like Pooh Bear and Peter Rabbit. Books can be so interactive nowadays and can provide hours of learning disguised as fun. 

Get Crafty

* Decorate an Easter Basket and get the kids to help fill it with activities written on pieces of paper to do when things are quiet (save you from their boredom cries)

* Make Easter Cards for close friends and family, decorate them and practice their neatest hand writing in the messages.

* Write poems about Easter together (acrostics are good for spelling - using the letters of a word like Easter, rhymes are also a great way to learn phonics and spelling patterns for similar words).

Activity Sheet
You can also download our Blossom Easter Activity Sheet. Print out copies for the kids and give them something to occupy their time for a while.

What ever you do, we wish you a Happy Easter and hope you and your family have a lovely time together! Happy Learning!

To see more ideas for holiday activities check out our Pinterest boards, like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram @blossomltf

The Long Weekend Best of Blossom

With a long weekend upon us I thought we would revisit some of our previous posts with loads of ideas for fun learning activities that you can do over holidays and weekends.

We always take care to make sure that our activities, tips and ideas are low cost...we especially love it when they are FREE, so we always point that out for you! But most of all there is always some hidden learning benefit...but best of all it's ALWAYS FUN! We want kids to get educated without even knowing it!

So have a look at some of our older posts and get inspired for a few days of fun with the family.

This one was over the Christmas Holidays, but 99% of the ideas can be applied to any weekend:
http://learningthatsfun.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/holiday-learning-thats-fun.html

If you struggle to get your kids away from the box or the computer, direct them toward these sites to play games, earn points and rewards, but don't tell them it's educational:
http://learningthatsfun.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/my-top-4-educational-sites.html

If you or your kids are into your art and craft, here are a few great ideas for simple toys and games you can make at home with everyday items that have hidden educational benefits, but they are cuuuuute:
http://learningthatsfun.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/get-crafty.html

If you're up for a day out over the long weekend, a fun family learning adventure? Try some of these ideas! Art Galleries, museums, libraries, historical buildings, festivals:
http://learningthatsfun.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/day-tripping-with-kids.html

We love to hear your feedback, so leave us some comments about what you plan to do with the family this long weekend.

And if you're in the local area don't miss out on the chance to win a Family Pass to the Ballarat Observatory & Museum (the oldest working museum in Australia!).

Happy Learning!

To see more ideas for long weekend activities check out our Pinterest boards or like us on Facebook.

Ballarat Observatory Winner

Win a Family Pass to the Ballarat Observatory and Museum

Congratulations to Caz Filmer 

From Galileo to Copernicus, Hubble to Ptolemy, great astronomers throughout the ages have been discovering planets and stars and studying universes beyond our wildest dreams. Our minds boggle at the thought of life in other galaxies, we ponder the great speeds and distances that we could never travel in our life time and we dream of going into space and feeling weightless.

Caz & her family have won the opportunity to experience their own piece of astronomical amazement with a FAMILY PASS valued at $40 to the Ballarat Observatory and Museum.

All she had to do was tell us:

If you discovered a new star or planet,

what would you name it and why?

Family Pass

$40 Value includes:

* Family Entry

* Tour of Historical Buildings & Telescopic Equipment

* Night Sky Viewing

* 3D Movies

Caz's answer was "I would name my star Twinkle, because it's funny and it would make me laugh".

To see more about the Ballarat Observatory and Museum visit http://observatory.ballarat.net/