🗓️ School holiday activity plan checklist

The holidays are weeks with no school day to structure them — decide what's booked, what's free and who's covering which week before the diary fills itself in.

19 items

1. School holiday dates confirmedGet the exact dates from the school newsletter rather than relying on last year's calendar.
2. Childcare mapped across every week
3. Weeks a parent or carer is off work
4. Weeks covered by a holiday club or grandparent
5. Any week still with a gap
6. Holiday clubs bookedThe popular weeks and the popular clubs fill first — book earlier than feels necessary.
7. Days out plannedPrebook anything that sells out, and check under-fives or family tickets before paying full price.
8. At least one week left with nothing bookedDowntime does something a full timetable of activities doesn't.
9. Total cost added up across the whole holidaySix weeks of clubs costs more than any single week suggests on its own.
10. Holiday reading or set work checkedIf the school has set anything, better spread across the weeks than done the final weekend.
11. Friends' plans comparedFor joint days out or playdates on the weeks nothing else is booked.
12. A shared calendar the whole family can seeSo 'what are we doing today' isn't a fresh argument every morning.
13. Passports or ID checked and in dateIf any part of the holiday involves travelling.
14. Emergency contacts updated for whoever is covering childcare that week
15. Spending money agreed for days outDecided in advance, not negotiated at the till.
16. Packed lunches or snacks sorted for full days out
17. A backup plan for a rainy dayBoard games, a library trip or a film — something that doesn't need the sun to cooperate.
18. Sun cream and sun hats kept somewhere findableNot packed away with the winter coats.
19. Return-to-school jobs noted for the final weekUniform, kit and the school shoes that no longer fit — better checked before the last weekend than during it.