To kids the summer holidays often don't feel long enough, but to parents and carers the experience can feel very different.

To keep everyone happy, we've popped together 10 fun holiday ideas that will keep kids busy and could even help to raise funds for and awareness about Devon Air Ambulance. Which will you try?

1. Fill a Smarties tube with spare change

All that's needed for this mini fundraiser is an empty Smarties tube (or a tube from an equivalent brand of sweets with similar packaging), and for kids to gradually fill the tube with coins they have earned for various helpful tasks or activities (e.g. washing the car, tidying a cupboard, and so on).

2. A colouring competition

Crack open the crayons because it's time to get busy with colour. Download one or more of our air ambulance or Ambrose the Bear-themed colouring sheets from our schools and young people pages and get cracking! This activity is especially useful for rainy weather. If you can sell your pictures to patrons afterwards and donate the money to Devon Air Ambulance, then that's even more artful!

3. Get busy baking 

Most kids love baking - especially the part when they get to tuck into the fruits of their labours. This may require a little adult supervision, but few things are more charming than a haphazardly decorated cupcake. If little ones can raise a few coins for charity by selling them to your colleagues or neighbours, then that's better still!

4. Swim, skate, bike, run, walk or skip

Getting out and about is the best way to get kids' heads out of their handheld digital devices and into their senses instead. Any kind of physical activity is a good one, and if it is a sponsored activity for a charity then that can really focus young ones to go the extra mile. 

5. Host a movie night

Get the kids' friends round, pile them into sleeping bags and grab the popcorn. Home movies are way more fun than a visit to the cinema as kids can giggle and be as disruptive as they like. If they can charge their buddies a small entry fee to make it a fundraiser then that's even better. 

6. Recycle toys for charity

Kids have got plenty of time over the summer to have a really good sort through their toys and games, and donate anything they've outgrown to one of our charity shops. We're always grateful for donations which can be loved once again by someone new and parents are always grateful for a bedroom being made that little bit tidier.

7. Teddy bears' picnic

Grab the bears, the sandwiches and head into the great outdoors to enjoy a teddy bears' picnic! Few activities are more fun and even if the weather is not that appealing there's always the option for building a den indoors and having apicnic there instead. Look out for our very own Ambrose Bear around Devon this summer too!

8. Sponsored car wash

A car wash is an effective and fun way to raise sponsorship money. Kids love splashing and creating foam, and all but the most fastidious adults will be grateful to cross that job off their to-do lists. 

9. Build a Minecraft helicopter

If the weather takes a turn for the worse and there really is no alternative to being 'plugged in', then Minecraft fans can have a go at creating one of our helicopters. Here's an example of one that was made by one of our young supporters. 

10. Sponsored silence

Although we don't have the statistics to evidence it, we would speculate that sales of paracetamol increase during the school holidays, so a fun activity for parents, if not the kids undertaking the challenge, is for young ones to embark on a sponsored silence. We'll bet that many parents will be happy to donate to charity for some joined up hours of peace!

Do you have a fundraising idea that you would like to share with us? We can help support your activity or event, so let us know your idea and we'll help you get it off the ground!