School Holidays are Fast Approaching!

 

Oh yes, the next school holidays are looming and before we know it they will be upon us.  Let’s face it, we all have a love hate relationship with the school holidays.  I for one love the fact that I can stay in my pj’s longer (the girls actually beg for pj days, so I’m all for that) no waking up early to pack lunches, or rushing around after school to the million activities that the kids are doing.  Love the slower pace of it all.

I do hate, all the bickering that starts from the morning because they have to spend ALL day together (um..yeah that’s not gonna change for a while, get used to it), the constant, “I’m Bored” or “I’m Hungry”, the need to always find things for them to do!  I came across an e-card the other day and loved it because it’s so true!

The July school holiday’s I made a point of not paying money for anything to do with entertaining the girls.  It actually worked well, there were some touch and go moments but nothing too bad! They had some money saved up so I took them to the mall, they bought some Lego and then it was straight back home.  Previously I found we used to spend so much on all sorts of activities to keep them happy, well when I was young our holidays were spent with our neighbourhood kids all playing outside, making up lots of games etc.  We never went anywhere that my parents had to pay for us to be entertained.  We learnt how to do that ourselves and use our imagination.  But each to their own right!

However, for those who would like to find activities etc to help keep everyone sane, I have done some research and found a few things on, around the school holiday period, some are free and others are paid activities. So here are some of my suggestions that you can do these school holidays.

MOVIES

The official release dates (in New Zealand) for The Secret Life of Pets and Pete’s Dragon is the 15/09/2016.  They are having advanced screenings of these two movies, if you are club members of either cinema just keep an eye out for those dates, you will usually be notified by email of these dates.  The movie Storks, the official release date for that is the 22/09/2016.  You can watch the trailer for these movies on You Tube or the cinema websites, Event Cinemas or Hoyts

STAGE SHOWS

There are a few good show’s coming out next month.  A Lion in the Meadow will be playing at the Pumphouse Theatre from the 19/09/2016 – 08/10/2016.  You can buy tickets here.  The Gruffalo one of the best children’s books out there, the stage show will be playing at the Bruce Mason Centre from the 30/09/2106 – 03/10/2016, you can buy the tickets here.  Hi Five Hits probably one more for the younger kids, this will be playing at the ASB theatre on the 1/10/2016, buy tickets here.  If you are outside of Auckland, please check the relevant websites for dates in your city.

FREE OPTIONS

We are very blessed to live in a country where there is an abundance of beautiful parks, beaches, etc  Some of the things you can do that are free, is a visit to the Auckland Art Gallery. We took our girls there recently, and they absolutely loved it! The Auckland Museum is somewhere that we also frequently visit, its a great space for the kids, and you can also pop down to the Winter Gardens for a wonder.   If you want something outdoors you could always go to the Auckland Botanical Gardens. Another great option for kids is Ambury Farm, with all the new lambs around they can even feed them a bottle.  Also not forgetting a stroll through Cornwall Park, where there will be lots of new lambs to look at.

Hopefully these options will help you plan out the next school holidays.  All I can say now to my fellow parents is, May the the force be with us all!