There's nothing worse than hearing your kids utter those dreaded words "I'm bored" on holiday - it's enough to make you wish you'd just packed them off to summer camp.
But with the right sort of holiday, it's easy to combine family time with action-packed days for the kids.
Water babies
Anything involving water is popular with kids and bodyboarding, which involves riding the waves on a rectangular foam bodyboard, is the latest watersport. It can also be learnt in a pool, if being out at sea doesn't appeal. Most people ride the board, which is shorter than a surfboard, lying down but it can also be ridden half-standing with one knee on the board or even standing up. Swimfins help with direction, speed and taking off.
Skin diving is also popular which involves swimming underwater with flippers, face mask and a snorkel. Warmer waters in the southern counties are ideal, but pool-based activities are also offered at Haven's Riviere Sands and Perran Sands in Cornwall.
Teamwork goes a long way
Football, cricket, rounders - whatever the sport, kids generally love to play in teams. It's also great for building teamwork skills and getting them to interact with others. Kids' clubs on holidays are ideal, giving kids (and parents) some independence.
Five-a-side football is always popular, plus there's the added excitement of penalty shoot-outs and mock tournaments. Fast, fun versions of traditional games always go down a treat, so shooting hoops to master basketball basics and playing uni-hock or Kwik Cricket are usually surefire hits.
Haven holiday parks which offer kids' clubs, kids' play areas, football and multi-sports courts include Doniford Bay in Watchet, Somerset, Hafan Y Mor near Pwllheli in north Wales and Church Farm near Chichester in Sussex.
On the boat
Britain's south coast is the ideal learning ground for wannabe sailors - from kids who've never set foot on a boat to those at one with the sea. Sailing schools are plentiful and with beginner lessons often taking place on calm boating lakes there's no need to worry about your kids' ocean-faring skills just yet. Courses teach everything from basic safety procedures and equipment to how to rig the boat, capsize recovery to boat launching. As well as learning a new activity, it's great for teamwork, fresh air and in the future, potential family sailing holidays.
Haven Rockley Park in Dorset has a Sailing School. In the north, there are boating lakes at Haggerston Castle Holiday and Caravan Park near Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Teeing off - for kids
It might sound grown-up and only for the very rich but ever since Tiger Woods showed off his stuff, younger players of all ages have shown an increasing interest in golf - minus the alcoholic beverage at the proverbial nineteenth hole, of course. Playing on a practice range can take the pressure off, but with kids' golf lessons and schools it can be fun to learn on a formal course in a relaxed holiday environment too.
The Craig Tara Holiday Park in Ayrshire, Scotland has its own nine-hole golf course which also enjoys lovely views over the Firth of Clyde and Arran. Seton Sands in East Lothian is close to a number of courses, while the nine-hole Pitch and Putt at The Orchards at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex is suitable for families.
Poolside
Standard-sized rectangular pools are so last century! It's all about flumes, slides, wave pools, pool games and more - while parents laze around poolside and enjoy the atmosphere.
The Indoor SplashZone at Thorpe Park Holiday Park in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire features water jets, wave riders and an array of other water features while the £6 million multi-level pool complex at Primrose Valley near Filey, Yorkshire offers over 30 different water features including SplashZone activities, slides, fountains and bubble pools. Or, head to the SplashZones at Greenacres Park near Portmadog in north Wales or Seashore Park in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
