Keep The Kids Occupied These School Holidays
Boredom Busters For A Staycation With The Kids
If your school holiday hasn’t quite gone to plan, you might be looking for fun things to do closer to home. Entertaining the kids over the school holidays is hard at the best of times, but if you’ve made the decision not to travel or you’ve had to come home early, you’ve now got even more time to spend together. Don't let an unexpected cancelled holiday take the shine out of your family time with these boredom busting ideas for kids.
We love finding new ideas for fun things to do with the kids—whether it’s family activities, games to share with their friends, or children's toys to spark their imagination. If border closures or Covid cases close to home have changed your school holiday activities, we have all the ideas you need to bring the fun to you. And because we know you're on a budget our ideas won't break the bank.
Need inspiration to entertain the family? You'll love our list of things to do with the kids if your holiday plans are cancelled.
Make it family game time
Set the kids up with a selection of new games. Cheap family games that they can play on their own or with a sibling are perfect. You don’t need to spend a fortune on elaborate board games. Often, just the novelty of an easy to learn game that they can play with their friends is enough to liven up their holidays.
The Brainbox range of games are perfect for primary-aged kids and pre-teens. These games can be played solo or with as many friends as they like. Enjoy Brainbox Science or Brainbox Animals, or get both and add them together! The games can be played with a time-limit for a quick play challenge, or play through the whole box for hours of fun facts to test your memory and observation skills.
If you like family card games, then the Peach Snaps Card Game by Ridley's Games is a fast, fun, and easy to play new take on the classic game of snap. The carry case makes it easy to stick in your pocket or handbag for a compact travel game. While it’s recommended for ages 6+, younger kids familiar with snap will have no problem picking up the original rules that makes this game great for all ages.
Get serious with your colouring in
Colouring in is a wonderful way to relax and is fun to share with a friend. Gifts Australia has a range of colouring in books for kids and adults, plus quality pens and markers. Our colouring in sets include glitter colouring sets and magic disappearing paint colouring in books for the littlies. For the teens who love a challenge, give them a Where’s Wally Activity Book, or there's even a range of intricate adult colouring in books if you want to get in on the action yourself.
A favourite colouring in book to share is the Extra Long Colouring Book by FAO Schwarz. Featuring the seven wonders of the world, this jumbo fold out colouring book is an amazing 3.2 metres long! Plenty of room for everyone to colour together. Spread it out on the kitchen table or even just use the floor, add in a few strategically placed bowls of snacks, and you have hours of entertainment. Pro tip to avoid fights: make sure there's plenty of colouring in pencils of the same colour so the kids don't have to share. You can guarantee everyone will need the blue pencil at the exact same time.
Building and construction toys
Hands-on STEM kits or construction toys are always a winner for kids of all ages. The Strawbees Maker Kit is the perfect stuck-at-home activity for kids aged 6 to 12. It comes with step by step instruction for 16 projects including geometric shapes, a rollercoaster marble run, a catapult, bridge, mechanical arm, and more! Plus, they’ll have fun coming up with their own freeplay construction builds.
Give the teens a real challenge with the ultimate Lego style challenge. The incredible Nanoblock Titanic is made with 1800 pieces of tiny 4mm blocks! This is a next-level gift for kids who love Lego and are ready to test their construction skills on something more difficult. They'll be busy for days with this amazing building block set. It also makes a great activity for kids to share with a parent.
Unicorn gifts for some holiday magic
Hatch It eggs are simple fun that young kids love. The Hatch It! Unicorn egg takes several days to finish hatching, so your child will have days of excitement watching their little unicorn slowly emerge from its shell. Pair this fun activity with a unicorn book to read and your child will love spending quiet days at home. Our Thelma The Unicorn Book even comes with a pop-out unicorn horn.
You’re never too old for unicorns! For kids who love unicorns and jigsaws, we even have a new range of awesome puzzles. Bigger kids will love making their own Rainbow Glitter Unicorns. This would be a fun gift for teens or kids aged 8+ and is the perfect rainy day or holiday activity for creative kids. It comes with full instructions and all the material and accessories they’ll need to create their own sparkling unicorn figurine.
Books and puzzles for days
If your kids love to read or they love discovering new facts, Gifts Australia has a great range of books for kids. Escape into a whole new world these holidays with a selection of fun books to entertain girls and boys of all ages. One of the most popular books for under 10s this season is the Big Book Of The Blue. This gorgeously illustrated book is a great way to learn about the ocean, its habitats, and incredible ocean animals. If you need more ideas for all the kids, browse the full range of children's books to find something they’ll love.
Jigsaw puzzles are another great activity to do at home with the kids. We have a range of different puzzles including dinosaur puzzles, space puzzles, and even unicorn puzzles! For something different, try the Fairies Glow In The Dark Puzzle. This is a fun and vibrant 100 piece jigsaw puzzle that is just as much fun once it’s finished. You can turn out the lights and see the magical fairies playing in the garden.
Science and exploration activities
You’ll find a whole range of hands-on and interactive science and nature exploration activities kids will enjoy at Gifts Australia. The Crystal Geode Factory by Wild Science will give days of fun for kids as they create their own crystals. The kit comes with facts and science explanations about crystal seeding and supersaturation, so they can learn about what’s happening as they create sparkling colourful crystals.
Or send the kids out into the backyard with a Make Your Own Bug Habitat kit. This nature discovery kit is a fun way to get your kids interested in the bugs and critters living right in their own garden. Take it a step further and encourage them to draw or photograph the insects that they find. There’s also a number of Australian based websites that help kids identify insects and learn all about them, like the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Backyard Buddies site.
Order Holiday Fun Online
Don’t let an unexpected change of plans ruin your fun family holiday time. Get a whole selection of activities to share and you’ll soon have plenty to do to make these holidays fun, even if you spend most of your holiday time at home! Order online and you don’t even have to leave the house to go shopping! Gifts Australia offers free delivery when you spend over $99. There’s no reason to wait for a birthday or other special occasion when buying fun activities for kids is easy and so affordable with Gifts Australia.
