It’s August. The days are long. Few of us are going away this year. And it’s beginning to feel like the school holidays have lasted for months… Mainly because they have for many of us! After almost five months of having the kids constantly at home, it can be hard to find ways to keep them entertained. Swizzels to the rescue!

Right – first things first. Before you start, head over to the Swizzels store where you can order a 3kg party sweet mix, or select one of their other big bags.

Now, on to the fun part. How can you use Swizzels sweets to occupy your kids during a stay at home summer?

1.  Frankenstein bakes. Baking is always a great activity to do with children. But the problem with adults is that we’re too keen to stick to the rules! So what if the recipe says to use tinned fruit? Let your kids release their culinary genius with a pineapple upside down cake made with orange and pineapple Drumchick Squashies! Or maybe try Love Hearts cookies, Drumsticks brownies, cinnamon swirls spiced up with Double Dip sherbet, or simply a cake-based concoction with sweets inside and out. You don’t have to eat it. They’ll have great fun making it.
2. Bingo! The internet is full of free, printable bingo cards. Or, if you’re looking for a greater time-filler, you and your children could make your own. Then use Mr Chews as your bingo markers. To add a bit of educational value, select a bingo subject suited to their key stage – the alphabet, animals, geography, or book characters are all good choices.
3. Candy construction. With a box of cocktail sticks and a bag full of chews, you can design bridges, skyscrapers, anything you choose. Looking for ideas? This great video from Carmello Piazza should get you started. But rather than marshmallows, get yourself a bag of Swizzels Choos to build with!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FmrOS72EA

4.  Pattern making. Pattern recognition is a core skill for young children and it’s not the easiest thing to learn. Help them get to grips with a tricky subject by making it fun with sweets. Get them to select five each of their five favourite Swizzels sweets, then ask them to arrange them into their different groups. Match them by colour. Match them by shape. Then make patterns with them. Leave gaps in the pattern to see if they know what’s missing. Get them to design their own patterns. When you’re finished, treat them with a sweet or two, then save the rest for next time.
5. Maths with Swizzels. If you have a primary school tot to entertain, why not encourage counting and numeracy with Swizzels? Who knows how many sweets there are in a 3kg bag? Who knows how many of each colour? We’re pretty sure that your little one will, if you let them eat a little of the evidence at the end of the challenge!
6. Sweet wrapper jewellery. At Swizzels, we make all of our sweet wrappers as attractive as possible – after all, that’s part of the appeal of any treat. You eat with your eyes as much as your mouth! So, it seems a shame for them to simply end up in the bin once the goodies have been gobbled. So, why not make some jewellery? Gum chain link bracelets, anklets and necklaces can look fabulous, they’re fun to make, can keep your kids entertained for hours – literally, if they really get into it – and the folding is a really great way to build those fine motor skills and hone that concentration. SoCraftastic has a great video to get you started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQvXV8U2mxw

7.  Pick n mix alphabet. If you’re working on your child’s letter recognition and spelling, get them to grab a handful of sweets from your bulk bag and sort them into alphabetical order. Then ask them questions about what letters are missing and see if they can think of any other sweets that would fill the alphabetical gap.
8. Make mosaics. Whether you use the sweets or the wrappers, mosaic making can be a really fun activity. You can design your own, or you can find printables online. It doesn’t matter how you do it, the fun is in the doing.
9. Draw your own sweets. Finally, why not see if your kids can do better than Swizzels and set them the challenge of designing their own sweets and wrappers to match? Articco Drawing and Drawing Geek have some great tips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhAuyQ5Gxzg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krok_JpZOnc

With a paper and pen, the world is your children’s creative oyster! And if you’re brave enough to let the little darlings loose in your kitchen, you could even make your own peppermint creams to go with their bespoke wrappers. We’d love to see the results so please do share with our Facebook or Instagram channels!

Swizzels sweets were made for eating. But there’s so much more you can do with them. You just need a little bit of time and a little bit of imagination.

So, here’s to a super sweet summer.