The kids in the South have already started their summer holidays, and those in the Middle and North of the Netherlands are following suit this week and next.  Undoubtedly, many of you will be going away for a well-deserved vacation.  To keep that vacation relaxing and fun, here are some tips for child-friendly entertainment!

Usborne is a well-loved publisher of children’s books, and they also have some absolutely great activity card sets.  How about 100 Things for Little Children to do On a Train, 50 Things to do on a Journey, or 100 Games to Play on Holiday?  For the littlest ones we have 50 Things to do with Your Baby, both for the 0 – 6 months range and the 6 – 12 month range, as well as 50 Things to do with Your Toddler.  Some other excellent suggestions are Animal Doodles, 50 Secret Codes, and 50 Optical Illusions.

For the slightly older children, consider one of the Story Cubes sets, or, in the same vein, Talking Dice.  These consist of sets of dice with simple pictures on each of their sides.  Throw them, and create a story with whatever pictures come up.  And with 9 dice with 6 sides each, that’s 9!x6! = 261273600 possible combinations per set, if our math is right.  Bring plenty of paper and pens to capture the stories!

If you’re blessed with kids who love to make things, there are plenty of craft books around, too.  The Kids’ Crafternoon books are a good start, from sewing to papercraft, but there are also titles like Knitting for Children, for example, and general craft books like Made to Play, Handy Dad, or The Crafty Kid. 

Teenagers might be a bit more difficult to please – but we’re pretty sure they can’t resist books like Wreck This Journal, Finish This Book, or The Guerilla Art Kit, all by Keri Smith.

Come browse through our Crafts, Paper Engineering, Art and Children’s Book sections before you head off to your holiday!