Let your imaginations take you around the world | Blaise Tapp

Eiffel Tower - which Blaise travelled to virtually with his childrenEiffel Tower - which Blaise travelled to virtually with his children
Eiffel Tower - which Blaise travelled to virtually with his children | PA (Press Association)
For parents, the school holidays prompt a wild array of emotions. While we are naturally thrilled to spend quality time with our nearest and dearest, keeping the little darlings occupied is as tricky as splitting the atom.

My spring break came as something of a relief, enabling me to move from the kitchen table into the living room for a week. As tempting as it was to engage in a three-day CBeebies binge-watching marathon with the four-year-old or star in a dozen TikTok productions, I was determined our week together would not solely revolve around the small screen.

The trouble is, creativity isn’t my strong point – so, I was pretty chuffed when inspiration hit me in a thunderbolt moment just before the holiday started.

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It occurred to me that if we were not allowed to go away as planned, then why didn’t we ‘travel’ to a different country every day?

That is precisely what we did, but there were no queues at passport control or rows about my insistence to ignore the SatNav because all we had to worry about was our imaginations.

We started in France, where we had French toast for breakfast, crepes for lunch and Coq au Vin for tea. We stuck Daft Punk and Edith Piaf on Alexa while we learned new fun French facts.

The following day we hopped across the virtual Alps and ventured into Italy – that is when I discovered my inner Blue Peter presenter.

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After the unimaginative pesto pasta for lunch, there was a lull in proceedings, which is when we decided to reinterpret the Coliseum by using the box that our wine was delivered in, and a pot of black paint.

The most encouraging aspect of this crisis is the coming together of communities and the willingness to share ideas, especially parents who are keen to help other exasperated grown-ups. Via my social media feed, I have discovered that you can create an Escape Room in your shed, although, sadly, you do have to let the children free at the end of it.

When all of this ends, there will be plenty that we will have learned about ourselves – my discovery is that I can think creatively after all.

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