How to keep the kids entertained for 8 weeks?

You may be wondering what to do with your children/grandchildren, visitors children during the long summer break. I myself will be juggling childcare and work for the duration. My children usually go to a holiday club for two mornings a week and they have great activities from cooking to days out, but this summer they are mine, all mine for 8 weeks.

I like to make the most of our time with the children during the holidays and we are planning to combine rest and relaxation with family fun days out and exercising their minds and bodies too.

So if you are looking for inspiration for days out in the creuse or activities for rainy days then I think I have something for everyone in my list below.

Days out

These are locations in the creuse and a bit further afield for family days out. They include adventure activities, zoos, and other animal parks. there is a separate list of lakes and forest walks further down the page. I have also listed the sportier activities separately too.

Wolf Park – Gueret Creuse (23)https://www.loups-chabrieres.fr/
Labrynth Geant
(Gueret Creuse 23)
https://www.labyrinthe-gueret.fr/
Pierres Jaumatres
(Toulx St Crois 23)
Adventure in the trees, mini golf, giant inflatables, laser game, restaurant, and more.
https://lespierresjaumatres.fr/parc-de-loisirs/
Bison Farm
(Bourganeuf 23)
Tour the farm, learn about bison and short pony treks.
https://en.bison-nature.com/
Animal Park
(Bord St Georges 23)
Small animal park
https://lafermedesclautres.fr/
Park Zoo Reynou
(Limoges 87)
https://www.parczooreynou.com
Zoo Le Pal
(Moulins, 03)
Has rides and other attractions too
https://www.lepal.com
Zoo Beauval
(Loir-et-Cher 41)
https://www.zoobeauval.com
Dino Parc/Museum
(Allier 03)
https://paleopolis-parc.com
Take the tourist train
(Gueret-Aubusson or Felletin)
http://autorail-creusois.fr/calendrier.php
Village of MasgotStone sculptures, workshops, and activities
https://www.masgot.fr

Parks and lakes

Lake La Courtille
(Gueret 23)
Activities, swimming, park, skateboarding etc
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/monts-de-gueret/bouger/bases-de-loisirs/
Nature Reserve
(Gouzon 23)
https://etang-des-landes.creuse.fr/
Lake
(Chatelus-Malvaleix 23)
Bike Course, lake swimming, park etc
https://www.chatelus-malvaleix.fr/plan-d-eau_fr.html

Swimming, Walking, and other physical activities

Burn off some excess energy with physical activity and take in the fresh Creuse air.

Adventure in the Trees (Gueret 23)https://www.loups-chabrieres.fr/parc-aventure-de-chabrieres
Swimming:
(Aubusson 23)
https://creuse-grand-sud.fr/sports/sports-aquatiques/
Swimming:
(Montlucon 03)
http://www.ca-laloue.fr/espaces.html
Swimming:
(Evaux Les Bains 23)
https://www.creuseconfluence.com/loisirs/piscines/piscine-evaux-les-bains
Geocaching
(Mont de Gueret 23)
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/monts-de-gueret/bouger/geocaching-terra-aventura/
Foret le Chabrieres
(Gueret 23)
Forest Walk
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/en/offers/la-foret-de-chabrieres-gueret-gueret-en-734785/
Husky / Dog Sled
(Anzeme 23)
https://www.huskincreuse.fr/
Western Horse Riding
(Toulx St Crois 23)
https://blue-shade-ranch.fr/en/blue-shade-ranch-creuse-english/
Donkey Hiking
Peyrat-le-Château 87)
Walk with the donkeys
https://www.anes-de-vassiviere.com
Pierres Jaumatres – Walk
(Toulx St Crois 23)
Tour the meagalithic stones for free
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/offres/les-pierres-jaumatres-toulx-sainte-croix-fr-2312869/

Rainy Day Activities – Away from Home

Prevent cabin fever by getting the kids away from home even on rainy days.

Softplay
(Gueret 23)
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/monts-de-gueret/decouvrir/parcs-de-loisirs/lilotresor/
Softplay
(Montlucon 03)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057307486487
Ludoteque
(Gueret 23)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063725374587
Library
(Jarnages 23)
https://jarnages.fr/index.php/bibliotheque/
Library
(Cressat 23)
https://cressat.fr/bibliotheque/

Rainy Day Activities: At Home

You can still get active at home if the weather means you can’t get outside. These are popular with my children.

Yoga with storieshttps://www.youtube.com/@CosmicKidsYoga
Kids workoutshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyCLoPd4VxBtgaIvUw_d_zeyYskGNn0mE
Dance Tutorialshttps://www.youtube.com/@WixxTV
Fun Freeze Dance/Floor is Lava gamehttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyCLoPd4VxBtgaIvUw_d_zeyYskGNn0mE

Brain Boosts

Keep the kid’s brains active over the summer months. Learn a new skill, practice what they learned at school over the last year, or prepare them for the school year ahead.

More resources for parents/adults can be found at Parentkind.

Cahiers des VacancesAvailable from supermarkets, bookshops and online. Suitable for different age ranges.
Worksheets and activitieshttps://www.twinkl.fr/
Learn a languagehttps://www.youtube.com/@rocknlearn
Answers to all those weird kid’s questionshttps://www.youtube.com/@MysterySci
Learn to drawhttps://www.youtube.com/@simplesketchwithjoryan8492

And now to try them out….

My kids are dying to go to the zoo. swim in the lakes, visit a dino park, and the list goes on.

We have already tried the maze, the wolf park, the Pierres des Jaumatres when my daughter was little, but my son hasn’t been to these places yet, so they will be on our wish list. We’ve also tried many of the lakes and parks and soft play locations too.

Are there any little gems you know of that I haven’t listed here? let me know and I’ll them to the list.

If you like this blog post or you know someone who could find this useful… you don’t have to but… it would make my day if you could please share it or link back to this post. Thank you. x

à bientôt

Natalie