5 public holidays in a row.....

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How can i keep my 2 little angel occupied? It is raining on and off and my daughter is very chesty so the park isn't an option. The local play cafe will be packed so that is a no go. The local cinema has no children's movies showing. The pub has cancelled "kids eat free" on public holidays. Also the inside swimming pool is under redevelopment so we can't go there either.

what can i do with them? Just after today we were going nuts and all the chocolate they are getting given, is making them go crazy. We will go to the zoo tomorrow but then we have 3 more days to fill. I also can't go buy new colouring books ect because shops don't open until wednesday next week. On top of that, my dvd player broke so we have no dvd's, no tv, raining, no shops.


What can i do with them to keep them occupied?

Crafts, computer games, board games, scavenger hunts?

Hmm. We don't go "out" much at school holidays in general because of the people factor. We take our holidays or time off usually when everyone else is busy with the busy things the people do. Mine is relatively self-directed and used to not being kept busy or entertained. There are cool science projects all over the web that you can do. My favourite is testing acids and bases with red cabbage squishings.

Bugger.

Make an indoor den ? chairs covered with sheets make good tents.
Empty cardboard boxes ? Big ones = more dens
Smaller ones like cereal packets = build robots / animals. Any cutting out you'd do of course but they can draw / stick together things without needing more books. If no empties, could use the boxes & just live with the inner packets for a while. Takes a lot of energy and space so prob not ideal.

This site suggests "common household items" but after looking I can definitely say a lot of the things they consider "common" are not common to our house.
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/lig ... nbows.html <-we have stuff for that here, though, maybe you might too!

Rearrange the furniture is another good one we do, it's physical and exhausting figuring out where things might fit and look good, etc. I think these are kinda neat if you have twine or something around the house, could use plastic bags for "balloons" in a pinch http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/yarn-eggs-670275/

Build a monster Lego contraption? Make old or broken toys into strange new creations? Electric circuit experiments are fun http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_7166_elec ... atoes.html

The physical stuff is tough. We have a little indoor trampoline for rainy days, which we haven't had much of lately. Today was 32 degrees here. :\

Yes maybe the furniture rearrangement theme - but make an obstacle course around/under chairs & tables, walking on a line (like wool or something flat), jumping from one marker to another, limbo under a mop handle.

Dens can be made out of big cushions too (like some sofas have).

Pretend the floor is a river & play crocodiles - if you can cross the room on the stepping stones you're safe, if you miss, you get eaten and have to wait till everyone is out to rejoin the game (make stepping stones out of towels, cushions -good for bouncing- or pieces of paper) If you're okay with them climbing allow stepping on chairs /sofas. We loved this as kids

Any old magazines = Make collages - use flour & water as glue if you've not got bought stuff.

Kitchen orchestra = get pots, pans, spoons (pref wooden) or chopsticks, sieves & be amazed at the range of sounds they can produce. Play some music to drum along to or sing your own. (Preferably one game with a limited time-span unless you like hideous cacophany!)

Wish I could send you some of our unseasonably sunny weather to help.

Well it seems like you're the one who knows your children best and is probably best suited to finding solutions to this one!

We had chocolate day today and mine doesn't get any gifts of chocolate so it's a bit easier on that note. Mine made himself plenty ill with what he got today and has some leftover. I also remember when I took mine out of school how stir crazy he was, always needing to be doing something etc. so I feel for you. I just have no idea as every idea so far won't work for either your house or kids. It sucks a bit that your town has no kids movies during school holidays! Teach them how to write complaint letters, there's a fun activity.