Holiday Distractions

Skid, I don’t see why the current weekend ‘Whats On’ couldnt do this function.
I simply raised a separate thread so people could throw out suggestions for stuff that’s not unique to a particular weekend (and to get over the fact my brain’s lazy for coming up with ideas) coz of the holidays.

Aurelius said :

To everyone else, thanks for the suggestions, and keep them coming. I sure I not the only parent reading this and making notes and plans.

Does anyone else think that a KIDDIY thread (like the DIY Wotzon weekends, but for children-friendly\targetted activities) being active around school holiday periods would be a good idea?

All those in favour email johnboy.

tylersmayhem said :

Beating Retreat and the 1812 Overture, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October, Parade Ground, Duntroon.

That will certainly resolve any sleeping problems your 9 YO might have if they are restless 😛 I’ve tried taking a 9 yo there before – never again!

Beating of the retreat is designed only for fans of the defense force and old bittys who like boring loud noises that they can still hear.

the 1812 overture with REAL Cannon! reminds me. neighbors have a party coming up this weekend. my 3yo can help daddy lug the speakers out for sunday morning….

Everyone should see an 1812 with cannons at least once before they die.

But nine isn’t the best of ages to really enjoy it.

And agreed, the rest of the program can drag on a bit.

Thanks ebony. I took my son and his best mate to the 1812 last spring, and they loved it. I was wondering when it was on again.
To everyone else, thanks for the suggestions, and keep them coming. I sure I not the only parent reading this and making notes and plans.

tylersmayhem said :

As an enterprising young tike, when I was younger and on school holidays (admittedly more like when I was 12 rather than 9), I’d canvass the neighborhood in the evenings leading up to the school holidays and book people in to have their lawns mowed or gardens weeded. I’d have most of my holidays booked out within a few evenings and made a tidy profit by the time I went back to school.

Good exercise, good being outside, and filled up at least half of each day in the holidays. I sometimes got a mate to help me too and we’d share in the profits.

good to see. I spent my time falling in ginninderra creek, climbing trees, building flying foxes, forts, generally going to places that we shouldn’t including the csiro etc.

Beating Retreat and the 1812 Overture, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October, Parade Ground, Duntroon.

That will certainly resolve any sleeping problems your 9 YO might have if they are restless 😛 I’ve tried taking a 9 yo there before – never again!

Beating of the retreat is designed only for fans of the defense force and old bittys who like boring loud noises that they can still hear.

As an enterprising young tike, when I was younger and on school holidays (admittedly more like when I was 12 rather than 9), I’d canvass the neighborhood in the evenings leading up to the school holidays and book people in to have their lawns mowed or gardens weeded. I’d have most of my holidays booked out within a few evenings and made a tidy profit by the time I went back to school.

Good exercise, good being outside, and filled up at least half of each day in the holidays. I sometimes got a mate to help me too and we’d share in the profits.

Beating Retreat and the 1812 Overture, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October, Parade Ground, Duntroon.

Starts at 6pm, finishes about 8:15pm, $5 donation for entry. Park at Russell, buses provided to get you there and back.

Mount Taylor is a great walk and can kill a few hours if you have a picnic at the top and admire the 360 views. Recommended for kids over 5 (some parts are quite steep), take water and even some pens/paper and ask the kids to draw the landscape (if they are that way inclined). Wear decent shoes. Dogs on leads welcome.

Lisa! *sigh* Yes, she was wonderful. She was everything I aspired to be.

The thing about Adventure Island was that it didn’t just start and end with the show. You could play Adventure Island.

And they loved us!! They knew who we were even. They were thinking of us, dear children.

: )

My kids are nuts for Aunty Jack — they’ve seen more episodes than I have.

Adventure Island! Loved it, loved it, loved it. (I had a bit of a young boy’s thing going for the brunette chick with the hair ribbon. She could have read me stories or tucked me in anytim.)

I actually started a post last Friday but thought better of it, but had it survived it was an homage to the way they all sat down on a Friday afternoon on Adventure Island and looked back on the week and drew their conclusions and lessons learned, and laughed at the funny stuff and pretty much work-shopped their week.

I’ve seen project management plans that could do with a healthy dose of Adventure Island — could be a whole lucrative area of consultancy. Has anyone got John Michael Hausen’s (sp?) number?!

Quackers loves Aunty Jack!! We have the DVDs at home.

But the most important question in the whole wide world ever:

Do they have Adventure Island?

The real one, not that new rubbish!

I have been scarred for life ever since they had my favourite show in the whole wide world ever canned just to pay Godfrey Phillipp out for backing the Labor Party during the election.

The permanent and not-so-permanent displays at the National Film and Sound Archive are great, especially if the weather’s inclement. (Clement works at the Bureau of Met and has a strange habit of nibbling on the printed forecasts.) It’s a scream watching the kids watch bits of film and TV from 20-30 years ago (A Country Practice, Bellbird, Aunty Jack, The Sullivans) like it’s some sort of ancient, historical record.

Haven’t been there for a while, but it was always worth it when we went AND both kids asked to go back.

Also, sorry if someone’s already mentioned this, but Discovery at the CSIRO at Black Mountain is well worth it. It’s not free, but it’s not much and it’s well worth about half a day. Very hands-on and/or interesting. Another good wet weather option OR go in the hottest part of the day then zip up to the National Botanical Gardens for a picnic lunch on the lawn. Or the cafe.

Or do what I’m doing tomorrow — heading back to beautiful Tuross. So far, not too crowded — Saturday and Sunday were sublime at Blackfella’s Point.

4 days of showjumping the week after the long weekend. At EPIC concluding on the Sunday.

But I second Deep Space Canberra and the pies.

“But I am trying to think of what to do with him for much of the next fortnight.

So parental units of the hivemind, want to throw up some suggestions?”

Make him grind corn for the duration. In fact, all kids should have to grind corn for the school holidays.

I have the mind of a 9yo

Me too. It’s in a jar on my desk.

Tidbinbilla Tracking station – plenty for a 9 yo boy with an active mind AND the best pies in Canberra in their cafe. I’d also second a night at the Capitals Game – best value entertainment in Canberra (I just wish they played in Tuggers more often)

Walk up the side of parliament house and watch the sunset. (You can get about 3/4 of the way up)

The track up Mt Majura from back of Watson is good too. My boy did that at 5yo so not too challenging.

Some brilliant ideas…
How am I going to get through them all in the single day I have with my boy…?

BTW: if you can handle the dust-storm induced brownness, there’s still some snow up in them there hills.
Or go down to the lake with lumps of meat on string and catch yabbies (throw-back to 1969 there).

I have the mind of a 9yo and i strongly suggest National Museum of Australia (as mentioned above) – particularly K-space, and the British/Australian heritage thing in the back corner.

Also – (if hes REALLY adventurous) take him for a walk up Black Mountain, there is a track that runs through CSIRO and is much safer than the road.

Bring a digital camera so he can take his own shots when you get to the top (or just of the sites of Canberra). If you like, consider taking them to BigW and getting them printed for 15c each.

Perhaps let him make a photo album/scrap book of ‘sites of canberra’? Some sort of cardboard book, colored paper, some pens, and the photos = a very nice project.

Bike rides – I’m not sure where you live, but there are plenty of different places you can ride to safely around civic.

Craft – a trip to hot dollar, buy some glue and a stack of paddle-pop sticks & other junk. He can make a little display box for something personal of his.

Gosh, no you’ve got me excited for the holidays lol

Man, if he’s expressed an interest in visiting the War Memorial you’ve got the whole fortnight sorted, you’d be lucky to get through it in a month. And for a change, try some of the “you be in charge” type activities suggested above, cooking a bbq for his mates or at the end of a hike at the Cotter, great stuff, and the only prerequisite for it to be fun is that you take him, and you give him some responsibility.

You might like to get a hold of ‘Holiday Happenings’. It’s a little booklet sent home from school with information of which courses, camps, performances and other activities are being offered in the Canberra area during school holidays. You can apparently also get a copy from libraries and visitor information services.

We used to enjoy paddle boating on a warm day, or if you know someone with a yacht it can be fun to go sailing.

Flying kites, especially if you’ve made them together, or even remote control model aeroplanes. It might take more than two weeks to build though. My uncle and cousins used to love these.

A woodwork project like building a cubby or tree house together.

Hiking somewhere interesting with a packed lunch.

Do they still have the planetarium?

Pulling together a few friends and family for a game of cricket.

Camping, even just in the back yard with the stars!

*sigh*

: )

The ACT historic railway put on trips to Bungendore every holidays, not cheap but well worth it, in the warmer months you get the diesel loco, not the steam one – due to bushfire season which drops the appeal a bit.

http://www.arhsact.org.au/tours/bungendore_school.php

Feathergirl said :

Grab a digital camera and put together a photo scavanger hunt for him to do. Eg. he needs to get a picture of a duck, a blackberry bush, someone driving there car on their mobile phone etc.
quote]

You’ve just given me an idea for a party.

But people don’t drive their cars on their phone, they talk on their phone while driving their car.
(Its not James Bond)

Maybe I sound a bit like a nana with my ideas, I haven’t got experience with entertaining 9 year old boys but…

If you have a garden area, you could take him to the garden shop and then put a little veggie patch together? Or try an art, woodworking, electronics, cooking or even car/plane/kite model type project. I always liked to do what ever my dad was doing when I was younger, even if it was painting the fence!

Put him in charge of a BBQ for family or a couple of his friends at the Cotter, so he plans the menu, shops and does the cooking (with help when asked for but, some biting of the tounge may be needed).

Hire one of those two people bikes and ride around the lake.

Grab a digital camera and put together a photo scavanger hunt for him to do. Eg. he needs to get a picture of a duck, a blackberry bush, someone driving there car on their mobile phone etc.

I loved a trip to the library when I was young, but that’s probably a bit un-cool. You can hire DVDs there now though and they have stacks of magazines he might like – computer gaming stuff, fishing or extreme sports.

I love spring, I wish I was on school holidays!!!

For the school holidays, I propose something like “DIY Weekends” for the adults, and “KIDDIY”.

Geocaching was made for 9 year old boys, and handheld GPS receivers are dirt cheap now. It’ll keep him busy next holidays, and the holidays after that…

Have a look at the Capitals post – you guys will have a great night at the basketball and the two for one deal makes it even better value

Take a day trip on the train to Sydney. Kids love train trips. Then take the ferry to Manly, swim at the beach, and then take a double decker train back to central.

@enrique: too true mate! They were some of the best days of my life. We didn’t even wear helmets in Maggies season either 😛

Do what my folks used to do…

Give him a backpack with a good size lunch in it and a bottle of water. Stick him on his bike and send him off with a few of his mates. Give him a designated zone that he isn’t allowed to go beyond and tell him to be home by 4PM.

Trust me, the imagination of a bunch of young kids should be more than enough to keep them occupied. Given they’ll be in a group they should be able to look after each other.

You don’t see nearly as many kids riding around during holidays that you used to. If you’re worried because he is only nine, keep his designated zone restricted to something within your comfort limits.

Ask yourself what sort of things you did with your mates when you were nine.

On the last Sunday of the month the Kingston Miniature Railway operates for a couple of bucks a ride.

Then you can wander through the railway museum next door and ride some of the full-sized things.

I’m no great railway bufff, but I had fun last time we took the bub there.

http://www.arhsact.org.au/museums/canberra.php

Just to clarify, I not necessarily looking for free stuff (although the suggestions thus far have been good – excep the Belco High one) but want to avoid overpaying for stuff that doesn’t deliver (ie, The Zoo & Aquarium, which I found overpriced).

Tidbinbilla Playground is free; the Cotter is free; Kambah Adventure Playground is free; the Stone Castle at Floriade is free, as is Floriade itself; Molongolo Gorge Walk (off Sutton Road) is, I think, free; Belconnen Indoor Pool has a water slide, but is not free; the National Gallery has some beaut classes kids can enrol in, but that is not free; Weston Park has some new play equipment and is free; The Discovery Centre (off Clunies-Ross dr) is great, but has a gold coin donation; National Botanic Gardens are fabulous and free.

Have fun!

Vandals made rather a thorough mess of Belconnen High School over the weekend, so I guess that’s a viable activity for the kiddies…

tylersmayhem said :

The National Museum of Australia has heaps to do…and it’s free! Do they still have Weston Park? That used to be a good one. The Que$tacon of course. If all else fails, take him wine tasting – it’ll keep him quiet for a while at least 😉

until the hangover….

if all else fails, check with the canberra child magazine, they usually have events for kids and things to do for the holidays….

The National Museum of Australia has heaps to do…and it’s free! Do they still have Weston Park? That used to be a good one. The Que$tacon of course. If all else fails, take him wine tasting – it’ll keep him quiet for a while at least 😉