Boredom busting activities for grandkids
If you're a grandparent who's looking after the grandkids over the summer holidays, it can be tricky thinking of ways to entertain them. Who knows what kids enjoy these days? Designer, author, mother and grandmother Juliet Bawden from Creative Colour chooses some of our products to entertain her three year old grandson to give you plenty of ideas and inspiration.
Sometimes it can be very hard to come up with original and inexpensive ideas for things to do with children during the holidays. Rex London’s website has lots of interesting and diverse products so when my youngest grandson, aged just three, came to stay we had great fun making things, playing games and exploring the world together.
One of the games Rex London has produced was available when I was a child, the Fuzzy Face Magnet Game. Iron filings are moved around a plastic covered hairless face using a wand with a magnet on the end of it. The iron filings look like strands of hair and as they are moved they become strange hairstyles, a beard and the odd eyebrow. It needs quite a lot of dexterity to achieve a hairy-featured face. It also causes great hilarity when playing it.
Playing with the Fuzzy Face Magnet Game, £2.95
My daughter had said her son was desperate to learn to sew and luckily for us Rex London sells a Learn to Stitch Activity kit. This is much more fun than it sounds. The prettily designed card shapes are based on nature, flowers, sun, birds and bees. It comes with primary coloured laces that can be threaded in and out of the shapes; so much easier than using a needle and thread. There are often lots of knots and tangles when first learning, but they are easily undone because of the thickness of the laces and size of the holes.
Learn to Stitch activity kit, £6.95
Most children are creative given half a chance, and the Rainbow Sticky Notes, Mouse Scissors*, and Animal Colour Pencils were all enjoyed.
He loved the technicolour Wooden Folding Rule which I used to measure his height.
Wooden folding ruler, £4.95
Rex London provides for outdoor activities too. The Nature Trail Magnifying Glass was a big hit and was used to examine the dog, the flowers, the grass and, well, everything in the vicinity.
Nature Trail magnifying glass, £2.95
If you are going to be outside why not make your own healthy lollypops with the Bonnie the Bunny Ice lolly Mould. We squeezed oranges, poured the juice in the moulds and a few hours later had delicious lollypops.
Bonnie the Bunny ice lolly mould, £4.95
Make your own lunch together and pop it into a mini backpack and you are ready to go adventuring.
Discover our children's backpack collection, from £12.95
You can follow Juliet on Twitter (@julietbawden), Instagram (@juliet_bawden), or on her blog, Creative Colour.
Photo credits: Antonia Attwood
*Always take extra care and do not leave children alone with scissors.
