You might be wondering how to enjoy a bank holiday during lockdown, but it isn’t impossible to have fun while staying at home. Let’s manage expectations now - this won’t be the best Spring bank holiday of your life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it a little sweeter with some assistance from Bulk Wholesale Sweets.
That’s right. If you haven’t realised already, as a consumer you can purchase direct from our website with no minimum orders (unlike our sister site Appleton Sweets). So if you’re looking for ways to entertain your children and family over the bank holiday weekend, look no further, we have you covered.
Yes, it won’t be the holiday you were hoping for, but let’s be honest, 2020 isn’t exactly shaping up to be the year of our dreams. But hey, we’re British, we have the best stiff upper lip in the world, and we know how to have fun whatever the weather or situation.
So try a few of these ideas on for size and enjoy yourself, heaven knows you’ve definitely earned some down time by now.
Organise a treasure hunt in the house and garden
1. Plan in advance. It’ll take some time to get organised, to plan your route and write your clues, so get started now, rather than leave it until an hour before you want to do your treasure hunt.
2. Get the treasure. Select some of your children’s favourite sweets, such as Haribo or something from the Swizzels Matlow range, and then get planning.
3. Plan your route. Just because you’re stuck indoors doesn’t mean you can’t be creative with your hiding places around your house and garden - take a look around and scout out great locations for hiding clues.
4. Write your clues. Think of fun activities that the kids have to do to get each clue such as 10 jumping jacks before you hand over the clue, or write a riddle they need to solve to find the next clue. Make sure each clue location is within a few minutes of the last one to prevent kids getting distracted and abandoning the treasure hunt half way through.
5. Rope in helpers. Get older kids involved - pair them up with little children to ‘help’ them solve clues. Make sure your partner is on hand to help resolve any squabbles and to occupy the kids while you set it up.
6. Set it up. With the kids distracted, distribute your clues according to your map and hide the treasure. Plan for things to go wrong - i.e. expect it to rain, so seal the clues in the garden in plastic bags so they don’t get wet. Print out extra copies of the clues as they’ll inevitably get lost or someone will destroy one before figuring it out.
7. Hide treasure with the clues. Ensure motivation to finish the treasure hunt remains high by hiding treasure along the way, such as popping candy or sherbet sweets, to tempt them to find the motherload at the end.
Recreate some Harry Potter magic
Just because you can’t go out to Harry Potter World, doesn’t mean you can’t recreate the magic in your own home. You could create a Harry Potter inspired escape room in your house for everyone to solve individually, or you can work together as a family.
You could even rope in friends to do it at their homes and have a competition to see who solves it first. Prizes can include some Harry Potter sweets such as Bertie Botts Jelly Beans, Chocolate Frogs, or Jelly Slugs.
Teach your children about routine
This may not sound like a particularly fun Bank Holiday activity, but with schools opening in the not so distant future, preparing your children for their return by introducing a slightly stricter routine than they may otherwise be following right now, will help ease the transition.
One great way to do this is by giving THEM a routine THEY have to ensure is adhered to.
What does that mean? Well, nagging children is never going to inspire them to do anything, but if you put them in charge, well, they can be the boss that way!
Give them an object they have to ‘look after’ for a week - a new toy, a hard boiled egg, whatever you think will entertain them and create a set of rules they have to ensure their object ‘follows’, ie:
- The object has to join them at meal times
- The object has to be in bed by 8pm (or your child’s bedtime)
- The object must be read to once a day for 10 minutes
- The object must have its teeth cleaned every time you do yours
- Rules are worth 5 points each, and points are earned by adhering to the rules.
- The winner is the child who’s object has accrued the most points
Rewards can be a sweet treat such as a bar of chocolate, a lollipop, millions, or something from the Wonka range. Make sure the reward is something your children love and will be willing to put the effort in to ensure they ‘win’ it.
Take part in a PE class
How do you ensure your child gets enough exercise when they’re stuck at home? Or how do you burn off some of that pent up energy? Why not do a family PE class at some point over the weekend.
Join Joe Wicks or Oti Mabuse for an online exercise class and enjoy a half hour’s sweaty session which you can reward yourselves for finishing with a treat the whole family can enjoy.
Who isn’t going to put the extra effort in to ensure they enjoy a tasty chocolate bar, or your favourite Swizzels Matlow sweets?
Finally
Don’t worry about having THE BEST TIME EVER, that isn’t what life is about at the moment. It’s about enjoying the little things, and making sure you’re all having fun, however you can.
So stock up on your favourite sweets this Spring Bank Holiday and treat yourself and your family - you’ve made it this far, you deserve a reward!
