Bristol Mama

Sharing ideas and tips to keep the family entertained across Bristol and the SouthWest.

♥️ BRISTOL MAMA’S ULTIMATE FEBRUARY HALF-TERM GUIDE 2024 ♥️

Photo: @bristol_mama

BRISTOL MAMA’S ULTIMATE FEBRUARY HALF-TERM GUIDE 2024 

Hi everyone! Welcome to my February Half-Term Activities Guide. 

2-New Sections! 

As a working parent who is not always able to take time off for every school holiday, I felt it was important to add a couple of new sections to this guide, specifically for those of us who might not be able to take the family out and about every day in half term, but still want to be able to spend quality time together, or who simply need to be able to entertain the children whilst working from home. Therefore, I have added two new sections to the list titled: ‘Lunch Breaks/After Work’ (Things to do during lunch breaks and after work) and ‘Working From Home’ (Ideas for keeping the family entertained whilst working from home). 

Please see below for the full contents list:  

  1. Animal Parks, Farms & Zoos
  1. Baby/Toddler Specific Activities
  1. Cinema/Movies
  1. Crafts
  1. Free/Low-Cost Activities (Indoor & Outdoor)
  1. Holiday Clubs/Drop-Offs
  1. Indoor Activities (paid for)
  1. Key Charity/Awareness Days 
  1. Kids Eat Free or for £1 
  1. Lunch Breaks/After Work
  1. Outdoor Sport/Adventure Play
  1. Outdoor Activities, Trails & Walks
  1. Pancake Day Recipes and Ideas (including Vegan & Vegetarian options) 
  1. SEND Activities
  1. Theatre 
  1. Theme Parks that are Further Afield
  1. Tweens & Teens
  1. Ways to Save Money
  1. Working From Home

I will be adding to this list as more and more events get publicised and will continue to share details on my Instagram stories.  

Have fun this February! 

Best wishes 

Charlie 

*** Please do share this with friends and family as the feedback I’m getting is that these lists are useful not only for parents and carers to refer to before and during the holidays, but also for many local businesses who are trying to spread the word of their existence. Thanks everyone! *** 

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1. ANIMAL PARKS, FARMS & ZOOS 

[Please Note: Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park & Farrington’s Farm are closed until Easter Holidays] 

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2. BABY/TODDLER SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES 

[Not an extensive list but just a few ideas…] 

PLAY CAFES: 

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3. CINEMA/MOVIES 

[Listed in order of release date] 

  • Goldbeak - Rated PG (release date 12th Jan) 
  • Mean Girls – Rated 12A (release date 17th Jan) 
  • Migration – Rating TBC (release date 2nd Feb) 
  • Peppa’s Cinema Party – Rated U (release date 10th Feb) 
  • Wish – Rating U (may still be showing in some cinemas) 
  • Wonka – Rating PG (may still be showing in some cinemas)  
  • Cinemas usually do Mini Mornings or Totally Tots on Saturday/Sunday mornings (or every morning during school holidays) which cost a couple of quid per ticket. Showcase Cinema also do ‘Baby Cinema’ on a Monday & Thursday morning 
  • Toddler Club at Everyman Cinema 
  • Nappy Mondays at Curzon cinema in Clevedon (kids aged 3 and under visit for free!)  

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4. CRAFTS 

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5. FREE/LOW-COST ACTIVITIES (Indoor & Outdoor) 

INDOOR: 

OUTDOOR: 

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6. HOLIDAY CLUBS/DROP-OFFS  

Here’s a list of some School Holiday Clubs – but please note…there are a load of them out there and this is only a small selection!…   

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7. INDOOR ACTIVITIES (Paid For) 

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8. KEY CHARITY/AWARENESS DAYS (up until end of March) 

  • Children’s Mental Health Week (5th – 11th Feb) 
  • Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday (13th Feb) 
  • Valentine’s Day (14th Feb) 
  • Stand-Up to Bullying Day (23rd Feb) 
  • World Book Day (7th Mar) 
  • Mother’s Day (10th Mar) 
  • Neurodiversity Celebration Week (18th – 24th Mar) 
  • Comic Relief/Red Nose Day (17th Mar) 
  • World Down Syndrome Day (21st Mar) 

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9. KIDS EAT FREE OR FOR £1 

These are historically the usual places that regularly offer the “kids eat free/for £1” meal deals, but please check before visiting as I don’t always have the most up-to-date information when publishing this list… 

  • ASDA café    
  • Bambalan 
  • Beefeater & Brewers Fair     
  • Bella Italia   
  • Bills  
  • Café Rouge  
  • Dobbies  
  • Farmhouse Inns   
  • Future Inns  
  • Gordon Ramsey Restaurants 
  • Harvey Nichols  
  • Hungry Horse Pubs   
  • IKEA  
  • Marks & Spencer’s  
  • Morrisons   
  • Pausa – Dunelm stores   
  • Premier Inn  
  • Preto  
  • Purezza   
  • Revolution Bars (tbc) 
  • SA Brains Pubs 
  • Sainsburys 
  • Sizzling Pubs  
  • Tesco café   
  • The Mill (at Wookey Hole Caves) 
  • The Real Greek   
  • Travel Lodge  
  • Whitbread Inns  
  • YO! Sushi   

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10. LUNCH BREAKS/AFTER WORK 

Ideas for things to do with the family during your lunch break (if working from home) and after work. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, just a few ideas. 

  • Arcades 
  • Baking 
  • Board games 
  • Bowling 
  • Camping in the garden 
  • Cinema 
  • Crafting 
  • Dinner out (remember the ‘Kids Eat Free’ section above) or make a fun dinner at home together e.g. Making your own pizzas etc 
  • Facepainting (if you have facepaints at home)  
  • Go to the local park 
  • Go out on your bikes/hover boards/roller skates/scooters 
  • Home pamper evenings (do nails, hair, facemasks etc) 
  • Home scavenger hunt 
  • Indoor crazy golf/games bars 
  • Library visit 
  • Lunch out somewhere local or otherwise make a fun lunch together at home 
  • Movie night at home 
  • Play dates with friends 
  • Theatre 
  • Trampoline parks 
  • Visiting family & friends/family & friends visiting you 

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11. OUTDOOR SPORT/ADVENTURE PLAY 

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12. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, TRAILS & WALKS 

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13. PANCAKE DAY RECIPES & IDEAS (including Vegan & Vegetarian options) 

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14. SEND ACTIVITIES  

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15. THEATRE 

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16. THEME PARKS/LOCATIONS THAT ARE FURTHER AFIELD  

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17. TWEENS & TEENS 

(Please Note: There’s plenty of activities in the rest of the list that tweens and teens might also be interested in) 

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18. WAYS TO SAVE MONEY  

  • Kellogs 2 for 1 on Merlin attractions via different promotions you get on cereal boxes, multipacks of chocolate bars and crisps etc    
  • Kids Pass – basically gives you discount on a tonne of different days out and activities – but you need to subscribe to it which costs £3.99 per month – although you can sometimes get access to several months’ free when buying various supermarket products 
  • Sell your clutter and unused items on sites such as Vinted 
  • Shop second-hand and shop around for deals   
  • Sun Savers – x2 free tickets to Merlin attractions    
  • Tesco Clubcard Points – get points to use and spend at various UK attractions  
  • Use cashback sites such as TopCashback 

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19. WORKING FROM HOME 

Ideas for keeping the family entertained whilst working from home. How appropriate these ideas are will ideas vary on the child’s age. Sourced the ideas from various websites, and my own experience. 

  • Arts & crafts including ideas such as: 
    • Construct an animal out of recycling items e.g. toilet rolls, egg boxes etc 
    • Keep some cardboard boxes aside and then hand them over and task them with constructing something like a pirate ship or castle, or a car!  
    • Build your dream playground out of recycling items 
    • Use a mirror to draw a self-portrait on paper 
    • Make paper-bag puppets 
    • Make paper chains 
    • Make paper airplanes and race them
    • Origami 
    • Rock-painting 
    • Sticker/Puzzle Books 
    • Watching kids online art tutorials such as Art Ninja, Makeaway Takeaway or Art For Kids Hub 
  • Domino chains – challenge them with who can create the longest one 
  • Educational Websites such as BBC Teach, National Geographic Kids, BBC Earth Kids or Educational Apps such as Reading Eggs - you can take advantage of the free trials to cover the school holidays so you don’t have to pay anything – just be sure to cancel your subscription before the trial ends so you don’t get charged for the subscription renewal at the end of the trial!  
  • Exercise such as Joe Wicks’ Kids Workouts or Cosmic Kids Yoga 
  • Reading & Audio Books/Podcasts. Here’s some great blogs pointing to recommended podcasts for children: 
  • Play/Interact with pets if you have them 
  • Pretend Play including playing with dolls, teddy bears or simply dressing up in costumes. Here are some ideas for scenarios: 
    • Doctors/Vets 
    • Shop-keeper 
    • Hold an event (like a wedding or a birthday party) 
    • Play restaurant 
    • Open a vet clinic or a hospital 
    • Take a trip into outer space. 
    • Re-create a scene from a movie 
  • Make a ‘Den’ in the living room using cushions and sheets/blankets etc 
  • Puzzles 
  • Screen Time: Not always the favourite option however if you’re in need of an activity that captures the family’s attention for a longer period of time, movies and tv shows can be an easy win, but here’s some ideas for shows that have an educational value to them… (age range suitability will vary per show but I’ve included separate links here for EYFS and KS1)… 
  • Task them with constructing a large building or city etc using LEGO/Building Blocks or even creating a house of cards. Tip! If they’re playing with Lego/blocks and you need them to be occupied for a large amount of time, empty every block or lego your children own on the floor and challenge them to use every single one to build their city. This may occupy them for quite some time! 
  • Write letters/make cards for loved ones e.g. Birthdays, Mother’s Day etc 
  • Write their own story which they can talk about at dinner time 
  • Teach themselves a new dance which they can perform later on 
  • FINAL TIP: Put all of the ideas above on separate pieces of folded paper and into a jar and call it the ‘Boredom Buster’ jar. They can then pick out an activity each time they’re feeling bored or need entertaining whilst you tackle your emails 😉  

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bristolmama

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