How do you occupy the kids during the mid year winter school holidays?  So far the weather has been rainy and cold (in the upper North Island, at least) which makes going outside and "getting the energy out" quite difficult. The Gift Loft have a few unique ideas, most are reasonably cheap or cost nothing. Get the kids away from the ipad, the movies and the T.V and have some good old fashioned fun:

Organise an Art Exhibition

Go to your local $2 shop or any craft shop (Spotlight is a good option) and buy several cheap craft kits, paints and felt sewing kits (check out the bargain bin first).  Back at home, get the kids to create their works of art.  This will take a few days. We even went to the beach and chose some smooth rocks, brought them home and painted them into rock people for one of our exhibits. Invite friends, mum & dad, or the grandparents around for lunch in the weekend and use the Art Exhibition as the highlight. Spend a few more hours creating the exhibit area and displaying the art. Then, get the adults to score the exhibits out of ten and decide which exhibit wins.  The winner gets an ice cream or special treat. and the runners up get a consolation prize. This is lots of fun and kids are so proud of their art.

Make Cheese!

New to The Gift Loft are these Italian Cheese Making Kits!  A great gift for Him or Her, these are such fun to use with kids.  With a 7 year old, we tried making ricotta cheese, yesterday. It was really easy, the instructions were simple to follow and all you need, other than the kit, is whole milk to make the tastiest cheese in no time! Next, we are going to make mascarpone and try making tiramisu (the recipe is supplied).

Bake Cheesymites

Easy to make and fun for the kids.  So delicious that they probably won't last more than an 30 minutes!  A great way to fill up hungry little tummies and so much cheaper than the ones in the bakeries. Find the recipe on our recipe blog.

Clean a Beach

Be a tidy kiwi, grab a large rubbish bag & gloves. Throw on rain coats, gumboots and head to your nearest beach. Scour the beach for any rubbish (make sure everyone has gloves on). It is amazing what you will find.  The kids will realise how important it is for us to keep our beautiful natural environments clean. Try to fill a bag.  Everyone will have much needed fresh air and you get the energy out too!

Buy a Book - Boredom Busters

If all else fails, pack the kids off to grandma's place with this wonderful book "Boredom Busters". It is full of wonderful ideas to do with kids - aged 7 years old and older (although younger children will also have fun with these ideas). Activities range from Arts & Crafts; Science (even making tornadoes and lava); Food (making ice cream cone cupcakes and pizza faces) to Travel Activities.

Happy Holidays from The Gift Loft!