3 Ways To Keep Your Minions Busy These School Holidays

This article was proudly brought to you by Despicable Me 3. In cinemas now!

School holidays and sibling rivalry go hand in hand. 

I remember whole long days with my brother. We would be plotting, yelling, slamming doors and provoking each other for hours at a time during the holidays. It drove my parents spare.

Fighting with your sibling is a rite of passage and whether it’s merciless typewriter, the spitting 'game' or simply teasing them until they break, we all have our horror stories.

Now I have kids and they fight all the time. They fight in the car, over toys, about TV shows. It doesn't matter how trivial or petty, they will fight until the end.

They remind me of the Minions, who argue constantly. And like the Minions, my kids will be fighting one minute and laughing hysterically like the best of mates the next. 

The only way to keep kids from fighting, or attempt to, is to keep them busy. 

My kids love doing science experiments (just like the Minions) and there are some simple ones we are going to try out this holidays in our makeshift lab.

For me, experiments need to be easy to do, need minimal ingredients and not be too messy. And just messy enough. Here are some faves to get the kids into full 'Minion mode' these  school holidays. Just make sure you have enough ingredients so each child can do their own experiment - it will save a lot of drama!
 

1. Rainbow Milk:

What you'll need:

Milk

Food colouring in different colours

Dishwashing liquid 

Cotton balls

A dinner plate.

Method: Fill the dinner plate with milk and add one drop of each colour. Squeeze a little dishwashing liquid onto a cotton ball and get the kids to lightly dip the soapy end into the milk. Voila! A rainbow colour explosion! Keep dipping and watch the colours disperse. 

2. Mini Volcano:

What you'll need:

A toilet roll

White vinegar

Bicarbonate soda 

Food colouring

Method: Sit the toilet roll on a plate and fill it up to about a third with bicarbonate soda. Add a few drops of food colouring. Then get ready for a lava explosion. Get the kids to pour in a splash of vinegar and let the show begin!
 

3. Alice in Wonderland Flowers

What you'll need:

White flowers - carnations work really well

Food colouring in different colours

Several drinking glasses

Water

Method: remember how the Queen Of Hearts made her minions paint the roses red? Well, there's a much better way! Trim each stem so the stem can really drink up some water quickly. Put each flower in its own glass. Add different colours to each glass - at least 20 drops. Leave the flowers overnight and by morning you should have a beautiful array of painted flowers - painted from within!

However you keep the kids occupied this holidays, good luck to you! For some states, it's winter, which means lots of time spent indoors. It's not easy for parents and carers to fill long days and keep kids from getting on each other's nerves.

If they need a laugh, check out the pants wettingly funny Despicable Me 3 movie in cinemas now. My kids are Minions crazy and can't get enough of the little yellow banana eating mischief makers. We all loved the last 2 Despicable Me movies and this one was no exception getting us through a rainy Sunday…

 How do you keep your kids busy during the holidays?