The BIG holiday survival guide (As written by the Mama of a 5.5 year old and 8 year old).

NOTE: I am publishing this article just before the Easter Holidays so you have at least SIX weeks to get your butts in gear. I’m nice like that!I’ll be honest with you; I’m pretty much winging this parental business to a T.

And when the big 6 week Summer break hits boy am I panicky and jittery like a coffee addict in Ramadan. After spending a few years being disorganised and crying tears of joy come the beginning of September I came up with a system to keep my sanity. I’m sharing my tips, systems and other bits with you guys below.

First things first: find out as far as you can in advance what the holiday dates are. Get hold of a calendar that has enough space to make notes on. I love the 18 month Gruffalo Calendar which I get off Amazon as there’s a column for each of the ladies in the family. The Book People also do great calendars (and usually cheaper too). Put all key dates on the calendar e.g. Birthdays, holidays or when the children will be visiting the other parent etc.

Work out any budget restraints you have for the holiday period. This is vital to ensure you don’t over promise and under deliver (I usually don’t tell my girls what the plans are until the actual day to stop any over excitement). Make a list of all the activities and places your kids love. If you use social media go onto the companies pages and follow.

Sign up to their offers. A lot of companies send out exclusive offers and its vital to be on the lists to get the information before others. So for example my girls like Trentham Gardens so we follow them on Facebook. They also like Safari Parks so we follow them too. That way we never miss any events or offers.

My girls love the following: Outdoor events Music Films Cooking (& baking)Books Gardens/Parks Theme Parks Theatre Themed events where they can dress up.

History (Museums)Arts and Crafts Currently we are located in a small town in the middle of Birmingham (my hometown) and Manchester (my adopted hometown) called Stoke-on-Trent. This city is also known as The Potteries and has produced more Pottery than anywhere else on the planet.

History buffs will love to know Reginald Mitchell was a local lad (google the Spitfire). There’s some really beautiful gardens around too (Trentham Gardens, Biddulph Grange Gardens) and for Theme Park fanatics (guilty) there’s Alton Towers (also good for history buffs and those that love gardens) and Drayton Manor (where you’ll find Thomas Land).

There’s also loads of natural beauty spots such as Dimmingsdale and Mow Cop Castle ruins. Stafford is less than 20 minutes by train and it has one of the most beautiful spots you have ever seen (Victoria Park).

We have a great Library and Museums that organise regular events for children throughout half term and the big holidays. It’s a blessing that my children love books and crafts too.

Birmingham and Manchester are less than an hour away by train or motorway.

Liverpool is around 1 hour 30 minutes by train.

Blackpool is around the same by train too.

London is less than 2 hours by direct train.

And Rhyl is around 1 hour 45 minutes by train.

All in all we’re quite central to so much. So based on my children’s likes I follow the following on Facebook:

I am also subscribed to the Enjoy Staffordshire website newsletter. Once I know what events are happening I mark them ALL all on my calendar (even ones that clash so I know what is actually happening across the city and beyond).

This is essential. Why? Because events can get cancelled and the great British Summer can be anything but predictable so its always worth having a plan B.I’m then able to see how many potential outings we can have a week. I then look at costs. In some cases it’s cheaper to opt for an annual pass if you plan to visit a venue multiple times.

I then list what I would like a week to IDEALLY look like:

2/3 x outings (some events are on the same day so we may get more out of the actual day)

1 x cooking/baking activity
(I gave the girls cookery books aimed at their age ranges and asked them to place sticky notes on the recipes they wished to try. I also use I can cook recipes off the BBC website).

1 x crafting activity
(Top tip: if you use Pinterest create a board to pin ideas to so you know what you’ll be doing and what materials you need in ADVANCE).The girls spend one day with their other parent so I need to factor that in. That leaves two days as potentially free for play dates or free play. This schedule works for us; however this much activity may not work for you. Find your balance.  Unless we go on a day out activities generally last up to 3 hours (craft sessions at the Museum etc around an hour or 90 minutes tops). Considering the time of the activity I then make a note of if we need packed lunches (or a picnic if the weather is good and there’s a park nearby). I then fill out a weekly summary sheet. This contains the following information:

What activities and events are happening that week
Any day trips we are going on (e.g. Stafford Gatehouse)
Do need to buy tickets in advance/do we need annual passes etc
If we need packed lunches
Weather predictions (roughly)
Any specialist clothing required
What time we need to be ready for
Do we need lunches
Any materials or ingredients needed for cooking or crafts activities.
Any additional notes.

Sounds like a lot of work right?

Well I created an A4 sheet and simply complete that. It took me around 3 hours to plan out the 6 weeks.

BUT it’s now all planned out. It also made it easier in case their Nana had to step in for me (everything is mapped out).

Of course plans can change; for us though it was important to get the bulk of things down and planned for my own sanity. 

Post holiday review (what worked and what didn’t): First thing that I want to say is children all mature at different ages. Suddenly the Library and events there were too ‘kid like’ for my oldest which threw a spanner in the works for me as I had a few of their events on our calendar. So that’s something I need to consider next time.

Having the opportunity to try different things and knowing what was happening in the local area proved a huge blessing.

It stopped us from having dull weeks.Next year we will be scheduling visiting friends at home to just watch a movie, go the park etc.

Sometimes it’s the company that matters more than the activity.Children get tired so we ended up spending days doing NOTHING. Just to recharge our batteries. The girls enjoyed free play in the garden.

We found keeping toys in the garden in those outdoor storage trunks helped the girls spend more time outdoors. Our best investment during the holidays was our membership to the National Trust. We bloody love their venues and events they hold.

Crafty stuff always proved popular. We didn’t have many wet days however we had various activities on standby. My system worked for us. I’ll be using this system for holidays (including the one week half terms we get in England and the Easter break).

I thoroughly recommend the Gruffalo Family Planner as it comes with stickers and has plenty of space to write things in.

What do you guys do to stop yourself stressing in the big break?