Sunday 23 February 2014

Center Parcs February Challenge: Indoor Family Time #CPFamilyBreaks

When I heard about the Center Parcs February Blogger Challenge, my mind began to work overtime on all the weird and wonderful ways we could have fun indoors without breaking anything. 

My next thought was to pass the challenge on to the girls (kind of me), to get their imagination flowing. We read the tips from the Games Guru at Center Parcs, Lisa Brown (what a fab job that would be!) and the girls got very excited about one tip in particular - 'Make your own version of Happy Families by asking your children to draw your extended family....'

So off they went, and Tamsin spent a good couple of hours drawing and colouring in the characters for our new game, which she decided to call 'Matching Pairs' (see what she did there?!). 
Our family consists of a lot more than 9 people, but her arm was getting tired. Having just been on a mini film-making course for a couple of days this half term, Tamsin was keen to get back in front of the camera and tell you all about her game, so she created a video for it too.


The beauty of this game is that not only can it be played alone by one person or by several together, but it is also ultra-portable and so would be perfect for packing in the bag to take to Center Parcs for those early mornings before mummy and daddy are ready to drag themselves out of the cosy beds!

Meanwhile Sasha was busy making her own separate indoor game, which also involved colouring and characters, but in a different sort of way. She created some Teletubby puppets which we stuck onto pencils, and some relevant background scenery pictures. Then she insisted I make her a theatre (typically we were a bit short on cardboard boxes, but we made do with a small one!). 

The result was great fun, and although not quite as portable as the cards game, I'm sure it could be recreated in a Center Parcs lodge for another impromptu show!

I love how much creativity and imagination this produced from both girls - we've since seen several shows with a variety of storylines, and there was of course a Stampy Minecraft one!

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 February challenge. If I'm chosen, I would like to visit Elveden Forest.