1. Go for a Picnic
Why not grab your picnic blankets and baskets and head outdoors for a good old fashioned picnic! Most Wakefield District Parks offer ample space for social distancing but please consider certain popular places could be busier during half term.
2. Geocaching
We LOVE trails! We’ve been fans of geocaching for a while, it gets us outdoors, active and exploring! Geocaches can come in all different shapes and sizes and they are such a great thing for families to get involved in.
Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world —there are probably some near you right now. Download the free Official Geocaching app to your phone and start finding.
3. Camp Out
If you have all the gear and nowhere to go why not set up camp in the back garden? Spend a couple of nights (or just one!!) on a Staycation at home. Leave your phones indoors, light the BBQ or make a fire, roast marshmallows, tell stories and enjoy some family time disconnected from the world.
No gear? No problem. Set the kids to creating a den or tent indoors. Use the dining room table or the backs of the sofa to create the tent and away you go!
4. Themed Day
Check out our May Half-Term Boredom Buster for the national days happening over the week and have a go at enjoying a themed day! You can download a copy to stick on the fridge here!
5. Create your own Seaside
The weather is looking good for May half term and to avoid the crowds at the coast why not create your own seaside experience at home!
6. Have a Family Festival at Home
I am a huge fan of kids festivals (bit biased as I work at them too!) and unfortunately Camp Bestival (my fav) cannot go ahead this year. But there are so many things we can do to create the festival vibes at home! Get the face paints and fancy dress on, see above for some camping ideas, decorate the garden with bunting and lights if you have them and then watch highlights of your favourite festivals online! You can catch most festivals on YouTube, or take a look at the BBC iplayer for some great Glastonbury highlights! Big Fish Little Fish do weekly Sunday Kitchen raves, we loved this session at the Camp Bestival Stay at Home Sleepover!
You could also hire a hot tub or bouncy castle as a treat for the kids for the garden to give a real festival feel!
7. Mini Garden Olympics or Football Tournament
As there are going no be no Olympics or European championships this year why jot create your own? Pick a country to represent, dress up in their colours, create your own competition numbers and start your competition!
You could try one of the below events
You can buy cheap medals online to present to the winners!
8. Paint Rocks for your local Covid Snake
During the pandemic, there has been some great community initiatives including window rainbows, Easter eggs, sunflower planting and now a Covid 19 rock snake seems to be doing the rounds!
Children and adults are being encouraged to decorate rocks and pebbles and add them to the snake to see how far you can get her around your neighbourhood.
As we can’t all be together with our family and friends, this is a perfect way for us all to work together and show community spirit. Also a great art and crafts project for the kids over half term!
You can spend the whole week in Disneyland, a day trip to London or watch animals at Edinburgh Zoo! The Vlog of the cute baby animals at Temple Newsam is one of our favourites! For lots more ideas of virtual day trips visit our dedicated blog here.
10. Virtual Cookalong or Sleepover!
When I heard about the idea of a virtual cookalong from our friends at Ryedale Mumbler I thought it sounded a great idea! The idea with the virtual cookalong is you all make the same recipes linked via zoom, then you zoom again (or stay on) for the kids to eat together. A great way for the kids to see friends! You could also create a theme for the cookalong and dress up if you fancy!
Another idea I heard from a friend is a zoom sleepover! This might be one for the older kids but apparently they all zoom and play games, listen to music, get ready for bed, have a virtual midnight feast and then go to sleep!!!! Anyone else tried this?!
For more inspiration of things to do over May Half Term click here.
