Five Free Things to do for the Summer School Holidays in Adelaide (How to Prevent Boredom).

The start of the summer school holidays are not far away and so to may be the cries of  boredom. Finding some fun activities doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, it doesn't have to cost anything sometimes. Here are a few activities to keep the kids and the adults entertained these holidays.

Backyard Bingo.

• On a blank piece of paper draw a grid with the number of squares you want to play with.
• Fill in the boxes with things to find and some pictures if you want.
• Remember to leave a special square or two for a bonus, free square or something rare.
• Set a couple of rules (if you want to).
• Go play!
• The winner is the one to mark off all the items in the squares and call out bingo.
• You can keep the game going by swapping cards or making new ones.

Variations.
This could be 'inside bingo', 'bush walk bingo', 'market bingo' or any safe place you can think of.
Instead of marking all the squares you can play for lines or combinations.

Backyard Archaeology.

• Find an area in the back yard where you can dig a little section without destroying any garden or lawn.
• Use little sticks or matchsticks to mark the area off
• Dig a square or rectangle pit about 1-2cm deep and keep the top layer to put back on later.
• Put some small toys in the pit and cover up with the top layer.
• Get some old spoons, forks, brushes and let the kids carefully dig around the 'fossils'.
• A trip to the Adelaide museum is free and can be good before or after this activity.

Variations.
Different toys make for different stories, if you have a camera take pics to have some fun with later.
Write a 'diary' of findings and measurements, come up with a story and a name for the site, make up some history.

Make a fairy garden.

Fairy gardens are miniature gardens made to look like real gardens, they can be as extremely complicated or as simple as you like. They say a good one will attract fairies and or possibly elves..

• Find some sort of box or container that will house your fairy garden, make sure it has drainage holes if you intend to plant real plants in it.
• Fill with dirt (for real plants) or anything else  you can find (marbles, scrunched up paper for example).
• Make your furniture, little pots, garden tools or use dolls house furniture or small toys.
• Play with your design until you feel the fairies and or elves will like it.
• Place anywhere you like, make sure it's in a spot where everyone can see it so when they ask you can tell them what it's for.

Variations.
There are endless possibilities for your fairy garden and it depends on what materials you have available, almost anything can be used and your imagination is the only limit. Come up with names and stories for your garden or fairy hotel.

Hide and Seek.

• Set some rules and or boundaries (if you feel you need to).
• One person covers their eyes and counts to an agreed number.
• Everyone else finds somewhere to hide.
• When you are found you help find the others until everyone is found. 

Variations.
Limiting the hiding to one room, shorter or longer counts, double chance hiding, finder 'spies', blind-folded finder or hiders, there are more than one hundred variations of this game  and your imagination is the only limit to the rules.

Indoor or Backyard Camping.

• Make a campsite with some sheets and chairs for a tent or tents, make some bedding and sleep in it. 
• Do not have campfires indoors at any time.
• If you have a tent and some camping equipment, set it up in the backyard and use it there.

Variations.
Safaris, ocean adventures, space and other travel related activities can be imagined from inside or in the backyard.

Finding something to do is not always easy, the modern day can have a lot of distractions. A little bit of imagination and time can help ease the boredom these holidays and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Do you have any other ideas for some free fun this summer? Know of anything happening in the northern suburbs we can do for free or little money this summer? Let us know your activities, plans, thoughts and ideas in the comments below.