With our busy lives and the constant attatchment of stuff on our time, it is very easy to get a day off and to fill it by sticking the kids in front of the tv and leaving them to it for hours, while you do your own stuff.  But following this kind of plan is a real problem waiting to happen. 

Kids love to be physical, they thrive on activity, whether creative or otherwise.  But once the routine of school, homework and the other routine activities of their lives, keeping them happy and entertained is not always easy for busy parents and having to come up with new and fun ideas time after time can be a struggle.

Here are some tips to help with that:

1. Ever heard the saying “it takes a village to raise a child”? Well that’s so true. Find other local parents, the parents of your child’s school friends are usually a great start - and set up reciprocal play days. You’re happy, the kids are happy, what else is there?
2. Kids love cooking! I don’t know if it’s the idea that a whole heap of disperate and random ingredients can come together and create something lovely, or it’s the fact that they feel like they are close to you as they stir and pour and measure, as you oversee. So set up a regular cooking day and see your child blossom and watch their confidence grow.
3. Load up the car or get on the bus or walk to the park and spend the day out. Take a packed lunch, take the bikes, eat out, do whatever it is you can manage to, to get out of the house for a whole day and have some fun. The zoo, the seaside, a museum - teach your child that there is a whole life/world outside and you will raise socially able, independent souls.
4. Have a Messy Day.  Mark out a place in your home or in the garden and designate that the Messy Zone for the day or afternoon.  There they can paint, model, have fun in the sand pit, whatever they want to do.
5. From time to time allow your child to choose what they want to do - this will also take some of the pressure off you to always come up with stuff. You know your child, you should have a rough idea about what they might come up with, trust them. Trust them to be who they really are and not who you want them to be. Allow them to express their personality and stand back and watch them shine.