School’s out – Computer’s in!

The long summer school holidays are here again. There are plenty of ideas for things to do with the children, from free software to keep them occupied to ideas for days out. Here is a selection of ideas to help avoid the “I’m bored” moan.

Children love to be creative on the computer and I recently found a great little art program which is free to use and is every bit as good as the paid for alternatives. It’s called TuxPaint and is available to download from www.tuxpaint.org. It is very easy to use and my 4 year old intuitively knew what to do.

www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies and www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc are both brilliant websites. With a mixture of factual and entertaining games, printout pictures, quizzes and tv shows to watch, your children will be glued to the computer all day. (Of course, you should exercise precaution and make sure your children take regular screen breaks to avoid eye strain and posture problems).

www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk has an interactive map which allows you to search by county or town for places to visit. You can also filter the results by type for example museum, arts and crafts etc.

Finally don’t forget my favourite money saving website www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals where you find lots of printable vouchers for anything within the realms of food and entertainment.

Enjoy your summer!

By Caroline The ‘Putertutor

www.putertutor.co.uk