Winter Holiday Survival Guide

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I realised with a shock this morning that the winter holidays are a mere 3 weeks away. And for us, it's a long holiday - almost a month. My immediate reaction was one of happiness - no lunchboxes to pack, no rushing around the cold and dark mornings to get everyone dressed and to school in time. But then the reality set in...almost 4 weeks of having the kids at home 24/7 while I try and get some work done, entertain them whilst maintaining a tight budget and keeping the house clean. I started having anxious flashbacks of the first 5 weeks of our summer holidays.

One plus point of our "very boring" summer holiday (because mom and dad had to work) was that the littlies eventually learnt to entertain themselves. They learnt to play together without killing each other. They made tracks in the dirt for their hot wheels, jumped on the trampoline for hours on end and swam every afternoon.

If you are anything like me, you like to plan ahead. Because winter in the Cape is generally very wet and cold (and we so desperately need the rain, so I am not wishing it away at all), I have decided to come up with a plan of action to keep everyone sane and happy. There will be a fair amount of  "I'm bored", of this I am sure, as again I need to work throughout the holidays. But I also want to make this holiday enjoyable and make memories with my kids. So I have researched some fun, inexpensive things to do with our kiddos this winter holiday.

1. Make the most of living in the winelands
We live in a picturesque part of South Africa with wine farms on our doorstep. Many of them offer kiddies grape juice tasting while mom and dad can sample some of their wine. Follow this link to the Stellenbosch Mom blog for details of four local wine farms who offer grape juice tastings: https://thestellenboschmom.co.za/4-wine-estates-that-offer-kids-juice-tastings/

2. Make the most of the dry days
I have lived in the beautiful Cape for 21 years now and one thing I have learnt is that between the very wet and cold days, we are usually blessed with a few days of gorgeous sunshine. On those days I plan to get everyone outside, absorb some rays and produce some vitamin D. My kids love riding their bikes and being outside. Helderberg Farm has so much to offer - mountain bike tracks, walking trails, a play park and farmyard and some the best cheesecake around. Go check out their website at www.helderbergplaas.co.za . There will be plenty of muddy puddles to jump into, so just remember to wear gumboots and take a change of clothes.

3. Let them get rid of their pent up energy at an indoor play park
Recently there seems to have been quite a few new indoor play parks that have opened up in the greater Cape Town area, such as Be up! and Rush, and most recently The Playstation in Tokai. But if you are not up to the drive, the Helderberg also has a couple of options available. At the Gants centre in Strand there is Kidz Corner indoor play centre and over weekends World of Adventure at the Root 44 Market also has loads to offer our little busy bodies. For most of the indoor play areas, you play a per hour fee for your children to play. If you budget is as tight as mine is, then Indigo Spur at Waterstone Village is a fantastic option!

4. Movie day
My kids love movies...or perhaps it would be more fitting to say, they love the whole movie experience - the popcorn, slushies, big screen, surround sound. There are some fun kids movies coming up in the holidays like Cars 3, Despicable Me 3 as well as Captain Underpants. And if you are a Discovery Vitality member, kids get to watch family friendly movies for free before 19h00 - BONUS! And on the days where it is just tooooo cold and wet to venture outside, why not build a fort in front of the fire place, make some good old fashion homemade popcorn and hot chocolate and pop in a favourite DVD.

5. Family games day
We have a cupboard full of board games! Because of the fast pace of life during term, we never get to play them. So this winter holiday, we are going to have a family games day. It will offer us the opportunity to engage with one another and I am positive that we will have plenty of good laughs. Some of our favourite games to play as a family are Monopoly, Guess Who, Uno and Twister.

6. Weekly visits to the Library
My kiddos LOVE books and I love reading to them. Our local library has an awesome kids section complete with poofs and beanbags to lounge in while browsing through the books. We are each allowed to take home 7 books. YAY! Just check with your local library as often during the holidays they have a special story time where someone reads a story to the little ones. And if your library doesn't offer it, why not volunteer?

7. Educational outings
Yes, I know...educational outings. But these are sometimes really fun and I know my son loves them. Our favourite place to go is Giraffe House just outside of Stellenbosch. They have a so many animals to see and feed and offer daily reptile shows. It does however need to be a dry day to go there and wear gumboots when you do go if it has been raining. They have a little tuck shop there but you can also pack yourself a picnic basket and enjoy the surroundings at one of their picnic tables. Other outings on my "radar" for this holiday are trips to the Science centre, Observatory and the Museum. Also if the weather plays along, I would love to take the children to feed the squirrels in the Company gardens. And our favourite outing, which is always a hit, is a trip to the Two Oceans Aquarium.

8. Children's theatre
I love the theatre! There are some awesome kid-friendly shows on during the holidays. Peter Pan is on at Canal Walk, Disney On Ice is coming to the Grand West Arena and Noddy is on at Artscape.

I hope I've given you some ideas of how to survive the winter break. Let me know if you have any more ideas!

Until next time,
XX-L