Resources for Busy Parents

Inspiration for family time activities

You know there are bound to be a million and one websites out there giving ideas on how to amuse your kids and spend quality time with them - but tracking them down and working out which ones are suitable is harder than it sounds, isn't it! Here are some great sites we've found that will give you a start and hopefully spark off some ideas of your own.

BBC Website - parenting

Specific areas of this site contain ideas for family time:

Play & Do - inspiration for entertaining your youngsters
Surviving the summer holidays - low-cost or no cost things to do together

Disney Online Family Fun

An excellent site with thousands of ideas for things to do with the children including arts & crafts, gardening, cooking, party games and activities whilst travelling. There are normally lots of topical ideas for things to do as well - ranging from 35 Rainy Day Crafts for doing during the April showers to recipes for delicious Christmas gifts.

Family Education Network

The At Play area of this website is divided into several exciting areas to explore:

Activities - containing, amongst others, art & craft and backyard science ideas

Download - find homework help, educational games and software for parents and children

Entertainment guide - advice on movies, television and toys and what the experts say about the importance of play.

Online games - reading games, maths games, social studies games and games just for fun.

Fathers Direct

Take a look at the 'playzone' for suggestions divided into games for 0-5yrs, 6-10yrs and 11-15yrs. There's also the opportunity to contribute to the site by submitting your own ideas.

Wow Dad

A website advertising a book of simple, fun things to do with your children anywhere, anytime. The site has 20 things you can download to get a flavour of the book - so look here to find out the secret to sandcastles and how you can make maths fun!