Struggling through the Easter holidays can be tricky enough, especially if the weather is bad and we need to think of things to do inside, or money constraints mean we need to find things to keep little minds active for free. But we’ve made it through the two week holiday - hurrah!

HOWEVER... With schools still closed for the foreseeable future and home learning challenging for all involved, many of us are still struggling with ways to keep the children entertained. Bored children will likely bicker with their siblings, eat the contents of your fridge and food cupboards quicker than you can fill them and complain about having nothing to do. So, here’s our top tips on keeping the kids entertained… 

• Make the most of the outdoors – we’re still allowed to leave the house for exercise, so aim for an hour long walk each day. If that’s too much for your little one’s legs to manage, then stick to a shorter route, or small laps around your neighbourhood. Even if you don’t have greenspace nearby, it can still be fun…
• Set urban challenges – these could be guessing how many steps it will take to get to a tree or a post box in the distance, or seeing how quickly you can all run to a certain landmark (and then seeing if you can beat that time the next day). This is fun, and also builds some exercise into your day.
• Keep exercising! The Own Your Goals workouts are perfect for indoor exercise on lockdown and even the kids can even get involved. Make it fun and if necessary, promise something fun afterwards, such as a carpet picnic brunch.
• Families who cook together, stay sane together – many of our fantastic healthy recipes can be made together with the kids, such as these fun Apricot Honey Energy Balls or these savoury Cheese and Ham Muffins.
• Chalk for the NHS! Social media has been awash with NHS rainbows in windows, so now it’s time to turn things up a notch. Get creative with chalks by colouring in pavement stones outside or even your house bricks or other outside walls. You’re not restricted to rainbows either, let their creative minds flow and see what they come up with.
• Ask for help – even though your normal support networks might feel a million miles away during social distancing, you can still call on friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles and godparents to pop something fun in the post. Even the simplest of colouring books or sewing projects wrapped in a colourful envelope addressed to little ones can spark excitement and fun or better yet, have them delivered directly from an online retailer and avoid unnecessary trips to the Post Office.
• Use tech to stay connected – kids can struggle when life isn’t following their normal routine, so help to make them feel connected with normal life by organising video calls with their school or nursery friends and other family members. Half an hour chatting with nanny and grandad could be all they need to feel calm and normal again.
• As much as possible, have a routine – try to keep a sense of normality by having normal bed times, meal times, play times and where appropriate, learning times. If their school has set them work, let them do it during normal school hours and have breaks for ‘play time’. 

Good luck parents, you’ve totally got this!