Shorter days, longer nights, chilly mornings, rain and leaves everywhere. Probably quicker than any of us would have liked, summer is well gone and autumn is here to stay. The kids are back to school and we should consider ourselves lucky when we get some dry days to enjoy them outside, someplace nice breathing in nature. So what do nannies (or parents) do with the children during the long, long autumn?
Below you have our top 10 activities to keep kids busy this autumn.
Don’t let the bad weather put you and the kids off – Just because the weather is bad outside it doesn’t mean that all your activities to keep kids busy have to be inside. Put on a raincoat and wellies and you are good to go. Children of all ages like to run around in the rain, jump in puddles and play with mud. A nice, warm bath and a warm cup of milk should be a nice treat afterwards.- Go to the park – Collect leaves of various colours, chestnuts, acorns and watch the squirrels run around or get some nuts to feed them. This is especially fun for younger kids, aged 2-6, but older children will enjoy it as well together with their younger siblings.
- Arts and crafts at home – Cut up some leaves from red/brown/green/yellow/orange paper and hang them around the house. Make some owls from paper plates. Create some Halloween cards or search Pinterest for hundreds of other ideas.
- Library – Take the children to the library and let them choose new books, great for marathon reading on a rainy day or enjoy them before bedtime.
Sports – Now is the best time to sign them up for some indoor sports such as swimming, football, ballet, multi-sports etc.- Board games – Take out Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, Guess Who?, Scrabble etc and enjoy some family time.
- Soft play/indoor play – There are some great indoor/soft play centres out there where children can consume their energy. Google the nearest ones in your area and let them have some fun.
- Museums – Activities to keep kids busy can be educational too. Depending on their age, whether they are interested in the Transport Museum, the Natural History Museum or the Science Museum, this will be a guaranteed fun trip for both children and grown-ups alike!
- Cinema – See what animated/kids movies are showing in cinemas, buy some popcorn and you will definitely have some very happy children for the next 1.5 hours.
- Playdates – When all the above activities to keep kids busy have been crossed out, invite their friends over and have some fun indoors, even if the weather outside is gloomy. You can let them play with playdoh, do some simple baking with them, organise an indoor treasure hunt, let them do some drawing/painting, have fun putting on a puppet show, do some scrapbooks and make some friendship bracelets together.
Sunny weather and summer holidays is so much fun but rainy days can be the same with a little bit of imagination. Children should not spend any time in front of the TV, there are so many activities to keep kids busy that you can do with them indoors, all you need is ideas which we hopefully provided you above.
At Polo and Tweed, we do our best to match our lovely nannies with our great families, so if you are looking for a job this autumn or you have a friend who is looking, please do not hesitate to contact us today.