Be the most popular dad (with kids and peers) this summer with these awesome holiday tips.

We’re banking on a wet summer, but we won’t dampen your  fun with these activities.

Head to a water slide: Keeps them fit and happy and think of the sunscreen you’ll save on those wet days. The worse that can happen is they get wet. Dive into dad!

Splash about in the park. Strip down to T’s and boardies, garb the bike and devour puddles. Good clean healthy fun riding bikes through parks with puddles.

Using too much energy already we haven’t even started…

Head to the flicks and catch today’s classics with Harry Potter and the next Narnia. Prime yourselves the days before by watching the prequels. This will burn time, but not fat!

Play tourist in your own town. Brave the public transport (major warning alert fort those in NSW), grab a tourist guide and discover. Think the city, a national park or a new suburb (think international cuisines by suburb, e.g. Cabramatta / Vietnamese etc…).

Get back to basic with board games. Out pick is Monopoly card game (note: not board game) this is a ripper Christmas gift as is Blockus.

Liven up your local park with mini-games / triathlons / kids Olympics. Choose any of these and add some more: run, bike, swim, jump (long and high), throw a ball and / or climb a tree.Create obstacle courses that include some of the above. Add in swings, slippery dips, chairs and some good distances. Introduce a trophy – this is something you can make with the kids before or after and can be as simple as a cup, ornament etc..glued to a piece of wood.

Treasure Hunt. Divide the kids into teams and handout a questionnaire to each team (you could do this individually). You’re small questionnaire will look something like this:
• How many rungs are on the ladder to the slippery dip
• How long is the monkey bar
• How many chain links are in the southern most swing
• What type of oval is the one near…
• Bring back a leaf, what is the name of the tree it came from
• Climb the tree nearest the _______ what did you find in it (have a small bucket of lollies as a mid-way treat)
• Find signs and get the kids to write down names, phone nembers etc.. signs can be on posts, bridges seats, trucks, equipment etc…
• When you look due north (south, east, west) what can you see
• What’s the full name of this park, oval
• Who opened this park
• Name three native flora within the park
• Name the species of birds…
• What local Aboriginal land are we now on
• Be resourceful and creative. Make a  raft /  house / aeroplane out of natural objects (twigs, leaves etc..) you could add cans, paper etc..
• Draw an aerial map of this oval and name a,b,c and d

In the kitchen Treat Mum and the family to a three course meal.Go for an international cuisine e.g. Chinese, Thai, Italian etc..and theme it with fortune cookies and lantern; tropical looking flowers; red and white table cloth etc…
Stimulate this activity further by adding trivia questions during the meal.

Head to the markets. Turn a weekly shopping chore into an adventure and take the kids to the food markets instead of the supermarkets.
Spice it up with some haggling, be adventurous and buy something completely different.

Round up the local Canines and have a derby

• Organise a local dog derby in the park.
• Map out a dog track and have a race.
• Check out your local dog track, you may be surprised what they’ll let you do.
• Failing any successes here, take your pooch for a walk.

Plan a project and build it
Research a DIY project and plan, build and celebrate it these holidays.

Build a billy cart, fish pond, tree house, raft, herb garden, shed, doll house, worm farm or swing set. For more DIY ideas and tips.

Paint a masterpiece. Buy some low cost canvases from Go-Lo and let the kids be creative.
All going well you’ll have a masterpiece to hang. Makes a great gift.

Try a new sport. Watch or try out something new.
Find a kids sports club or sport stores here.

Get more sports activity ideas and links here

Plant a herb garden. We’re all going green and summer is a great time to get creative in the garden. You can use pots or dig up your garden. Potted herbs  make a great gift.
DIY garden tips here.

Dinner in the park. Get the kids to design a menu and treat Mum to a picnic dinner in the park.
You may be inspired by what you’ve learn from some of the other activities in this list
• Discover a new suburb.
• Discover a new bike ride.
• Head to the markets.

Camp in the backyard. Turn a sleep over into something more fun. Set up tent, blow up the mattress (or drag your kids’ mattress outside) and spoil the kids with marshmallows (toasted if you can).

Go bowling. Bare foot bowls is great for those warm evenings.  Contact your local bowling club. Air conditioned ten pin bowling makes a great escape on those hot days.

Get off your butt and have some cool fun with the kids today.

Get  more ideas , deals and info on activities for dads and kids right here, NOW