Winter Holidays
I love the winter holidays, even though I don’t really like the cold weather. This year I will be spending some time in New Zealand visiting with my family and the rest either preparing for next term or inside with a good book resting, warm and toasty.
Several of our ELC Families have taken the opportunity of the longer break and headed overseas on holiday or trips within Australia to warmer climates. For those staying here in Victoria I thought some ideas to keep the little ones entertained might be useful.
Over the long weekend I asked my children, now 23 and nearly 25, what they remembered from their winter school holidays and the below are the experiences that held the most memories for them.
Snow play. There is a hidden gem in Mount Donna Buang in Warburton for Snow play. It is a lot closer than the ski runs and lots of fun for little ones. There is a little snow for toboggan runs, building a snow man and generally having a fun day in the snow. Here is a link for more information: Snow Play at Mt Donna Buang — mamma knows east
Build a Fort or Cubby: This was one of my children’s favourite activities as they would build and play in their built cubby for days. I used to turn my dining room table upside down and the children would tie sheets and blankets from the legs to create a roof and walls. Cheap fairy battery lights from Kmart finished the cubby off. In fact, when I was talking to my now adult children about holiday activities, they use to do, this one was the first that came up.
A Gold Class experience at home: On a rainy day this goes down a treat. Let your children choose a movie that they want to watch and then set up a space with cushions, pillows blankets to make a cosy place to sit. Prepare some simple teats and close the curtains to complete the movie theatre feel. Why not ask your children to create a shopping list of what ‘treats’ they want and make movie tickets. They can also help with the setup which is half the fun.
Explore the City: The last holiday experience that my children wanted to share was the day trips into the city to explore. They would have adventure back packs fille with necessary supplies (water bottles, snacks, disposable cameras, and some money. Each child got to choose one place to visit, and we would ride the free city tram to get around. They were allowed to spend their money where they wanted but couldn’t ask for more. This is an excellent budgeting task for them. The ride in and home on the train was aways exciting.
City map link: 25 (melbournemap360.com)
Free City Tram Information: 35 City Circle (Free Tourist Tram) – Public Transport Victoria (ptv.vic.gov.au)
I hope you enjoy looking at the photos of my children enjoying some winter fun from a few years ago. I know we enjoyed relooking at them and reliving our winter holiday fun! I would love to know what you and your children get up to in the holidays. Please send me photos so I can see all the fun. Whatever you chose to do I hope you and your children have fun. We are all looking forward to everyone’s return in Term 3.
Kristin De Vos | Director of Early learning Centre
