Book in an Easter egg hunt during the school holidays to keep the kids busy. Photo / Getty Images
Book in an Easter egg hunt during the school holidays to keep the kids busy. Photo / Getty Images
As each April rolls around, parents of school-aged children brace themselves for a balancing act between school holidays and long weekends.
But this year, kids will get a whopping 22 days off. That’s more than you get in annual leave each year – anyone else missing their schooldays right now?
With Easter, Anzac Day and two weeks of school holidays in the mix, that leaves just eight days in which they’ll be heading to school – and that’s not counting any teacher-only days. Last year, kids were in school for a total of 10 days in April, and nine in 2021.
Throw in the end of daylight saving, at 2am on Sunday, and parents will be feeling well and truly pranked.
Kids will get just four days of school at the beginning of the month, and will then be on holiday until Monday, April 24. But the next day is Anzac Day, meaning another day off.
And as the colder weather and shorter days set in, the kids – and you – might be running out of ideas for keeping everyone occupied. So here are a few ideas to get rid of the boredom and give both you and your kids a break.
Book a stay with the grandparents
Organising a sleepover at the grandparents’ house is a win-win: they get to spend quality time with their grandkids, and you get some kid-free time.
If you’re lucky enough to live close to your extended family, book in a long weekend’s stay. If they’re a bit further away, make it a week and get the kids excited about a trip away from home. The best part is that, once they’re there, you don’t have to plan anything.
If you’ve got a budding historian, archaeologist or palaeontologist in the family, then Auckland Museum is the place for them to be during the school holidays.
Auckland Museum staff work on the second Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, now on display alongside Peter the T-Rex. Photo / Dean Purcell
Easter egg hunt
With Easter right at the start of the school holidays, why not include some themed activities for the long weekend and beyond?
Book in to join in an organised Easter egg hunt, like this one at the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens, or stock up on the chocolate and treats and hide them around the house. The more elaborate and cryptic the clues the better – you can stretch this out over a whole day if you’re lucky.
Movie marathon
If you’re working from home and the kids are bored, you’re probably resorting to the TV already – so why not turn it into a marathon?
Let the kids set up their very own boutique cinema in the lounge and fire up their favourite Disney or Marvel movies, or maybe one of their favourite TV shows, and settle in for a rewatch. Don’t forget the popcorn.
Fire up a movie marathon to keep the kids entertained during the holidays. Photo / Getty Images
Get crafty
Without school, sports or after-school activities to rush to, the kids might get a tad bored after a few days of freedom. Now’s the time to encourage them to explore their creative side.
If the thought of shopping for craft supplies fills you with dread, order some kits online like these from Little and Loved, and let their imagination go wild, creating jewellery, paintings or mini gardens.
