4 Fun Activities For The July Term Break

Ran out of ideas on how to occupy your kids during the term break this July?

Whether you're looking to stay indoors or get your kids to kick the habit of watching YouTube for hours, read on to see how you can do so in a fun and engaging way.

Grow spring onions at home

Spring onions take about five to seven days to grow and are one of the easiest and most practical vegetables to grow at home. You can use them as a garnish or as one of the ingredients when marinating baked chicken.

To start, you’ll need the following items:

• spring onions with roots
• a bowl
• a pot
• soil
• a place in your house that catches at least 5 – 6 hours of strong sunlight

To grow the spring onions, cut their ends and leave about three centimetres from the roots. Place the ends in a bowl of water and change the water daily. Make sure that the water covers the roots slightly.

Wait about three days and you’ll start to see some regrowth. Measure the spring onion and once it has grown to about 10 centimetres, plant it in moistened soil and check on it daily to ensure that the soil stays moist.

Create colourful masterpieces and preserve them digitally

If your kids love to draw and colour and you’ve been looking for a way to preserve their artwork without creating clutter in the house, you can now do so with the RocketBook Color ($25.20).

The RocketBook Color is an endlessly reusable, cloud-connected notebook that turns your kids’ colourful drawings into digital images in a fast and convenient way.

It works with the entire Crayola line of dry-erase products, which are safe for children and can be easily bought online. If you’d like to use other brands, you can do so too!

The RocketBook App works with your favourite cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud. If you use Google Drive, here’s a quick 5-step guide on how to store your kids’ masterpieces:

1. Download the RocketBook App
2. The RocketBook Color has 7 symbols on the bottom of each page. Using the RocketBook App, choose and assign a symbol to a specific destination – in this case, a folder on Google Drive.
3. Mark the chosen symbol on the pages of the RocketBook Color.
4. Scan the pages with the RocketBook App.
5. The artwork is now saved to your Google Drive.

Make some tiramisu – without the alcohol

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that is enjoyed by many. In Singapore, however, it can be a little expensive to buy enough for the whole family, especially if your kids tend to go overboard with their dessert consumption.

Why not make some tiramisu at a fraction of the cost? You can always substitute the mascarpone with cream cheese, and leave out the rum for a kid-friendly version.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• Ladyfingers
• Cream cheese
• Coffee
• Heavy Whipped cream
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Cocoa powder (for dusting on top)

Instructions

1. To make the filling use a stand mixer and beat the cream cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla together until there are stiff peaks.
2. Dip ladyfingers into the coffee on both sides briefly. Be careful not to leave them in to soak!
3. Smooth a layer of the cream cheese mixture on top of the ladyfingers.
4. Repeat the above steps. Dust with cocoa powder as a finishing touch.

Tiramisu tastes even better when made in advance! Keeping it for a day will allow the flavours to blend more. It will keep in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days.

If you’d like to freeze the tiramisu instead, go through all the steps but don’t dust it with cocoa powder. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or an eco-friendly storage lid like the UniLid ($13.20) and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw it in the fridge overnight and dust with cocoa powder a few hours before serving.

Fly a kite at Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage’s open space is one of the most popular locations in Singapore for flying kites. It’s also a great way for kids to burn off energy and take a break from excessive use of digital devices.

Getting a kite in the air and keeping it there can be challenging, especially if you have no experience in flying kites. For beginners, make sure you choose the right kite.

It may be tempting to choose a 3D kite, but beginners should opt for a regular triangle-shaped kite that is lightweight, stable and easy to keep in the air. If you don’t want to make your own kite, you can purchase one for as low as $3.50 at Decathlon.

When flying your kite, don’t forget to protect yourself and your family from nasty mosquito bites with a non-toxic, long-lasting mosquito repellent.

Do you plan to spend more time outdoors with your kids during the term break in July? If you’re turned off by the hot weather in Singapore – don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with 7 great products you can use to survive the heat in Singapore.