Well that’s one week of the final half term of school done and dusted, only five weeks of school left. If you’re a working parent like me you’ll already be planning for the long six week break of summer.

I’m ridiculously lucky at my work and have been able to book most of the break off as annual leave. I’ve had to rope the inlaws in for a few days and obviously my husband can take time off as well. However, despite that I’ve still had one week left to cover and only having one week makes me one of the lucky ones! Most of my friends are at their wits end trying to make it all work.

It’s not only physically being present for the kid either. It’s trying to make sure he has some fun and fun can be flipping expensive!

I think got we’ve two days of fun arranged so far but that’s it. Thanks to the building work we’ll be having done the garden and lazy pajama days aren’t going to be the easy fix they’d normally be either.

This is why I’m so glad we found Barracudas over the Easter break. L had a great time and so we’ve booked L in for a week this Summer.

For myself and my friend, whose son goes with L, it’s been a real gamechanger. Barracudas Activity Day Camps are open for work friendly hours, unlike a lot of other groups and sessions local to us. So not only have we been able to save our annual leave we’ve not had to mess around changing when we start and finish. In my case I’ve actually been able to pick up some overtime as well so I’m actually making money by being able to send him.

Mainly though, I just know he’s having the best time. He’ll be running and playing all day long, he loved the bouncy castle time and adored the electric Go Karts. The foam fencing was another big hit, not to mention getting to hang out with his bestie all day long with no annoying parents around and getting to make new friends. This will be a week’s worth of fun I wouldn’t be able to get for him anywhere else.

I’ve been recommending Barracudas to anyone who’ll listen to me, it’s great for the children and parents alike and has taken away so much stress from my summer plans it’s unreal. Just knowing I’ve got it all covered is amazing.

Top 5 reasons it’s perfect for parents

• Run times, a standard day is 8.30am to 5.30 pm with the ability to extend those sessions if needed.
• Flexibility, you can book a few days, a full week or a selection of days over the holidays. It’s entirely up to you.
• Peace of mind, the staff are all lovely and have all necessary checks and qualifications. The camps are all Ofsted rated as well so you can easily check your camp’s score.
• Getting to hear all about their day! It’s the best thing picking them up and seeing the happiness and finding out everything they got up to.
• Value for money, with prices starting at £36 a day you get excellent care, for a full day, activities that cost well in excess of that and happy, happy children.

Top 5 reasons it’s perfect for kids

• Brilliant range of activities, with over 80 different things to choose from and well organised sessions there’s not a chance they’ll get bored.
• Theme days at the end of each week are really good fun and something to look forward to.
• Time away from mum and dad, I’m sure it’s his favourite part, feeling grown up and hanging out with his mates doing fun stuff without me.
• Making new friends. I’m still really pleased L gets to go with his best mate as it stops a lot of the nerves but he made so many little friends over Easter I know he’ll do the same this summer.
• Billy Barracuda! Enough said really. Billy is the perfect mascot and seems to get into a lot of mischief with the kids.

If you want to know more about Barracudas and how I’m working with them you can read my other posts or head to their website.

• Barracudas Activity Day Camps – This is a post about how I’m working with them and what they offer
• Barracudas First Time Checklist – What you need to do and what you need to bring, I’ll be referring back to it for sure!
• Our Experience of Barracudas Activity Day Camps in Norwich – a straight up review of L’s time their.
• Barracudas Activity Day Camps Website – their own super informative website with all the info you’ll need to answer any queries and book.

Disclosure – we have been gifted our Camp Kit and some free days at the camp in return for our opinion and acting as a Brand Ambassador.