12 Things '90s Kids Did On School Holidays

Being a kid in the '90s was pretty cool. You said things like "Whatever" and everything was "Ace" or "Rad". And when the school holidays rolled around, everything was just the best. Remember: this was a time before you could waste a whole day scrolling through social media or binge watching shows on Netflix. In the school holidays in the '90s, you were rarely attached to a screen, and got up to some pretty awesome stuff. Or should I say ace stuff.

Some of that stuff is a little cringeworthy looking back, but there were a lot of cringeworthy things about the '90s. Like wearing fluro zinc on your face when you went to the beach. So cool then, so embarrassing to look back on now. Some of your school holiday activities were, of course, contingent on the season, as always, but there were some things all '90s kids did on the school holidays that were universal, regardless of the time of year. The school holidays were (and still are!) a time to hang with friends, to be creative in ways you didn't normally have time for, and to rewind your VHS tapes so many times you nearly wore them out. Here are 12 things '90s kids did on school holidays.

1. Wrote Letters To Your Friends

You couldn't just text your friends constantly, so you'd write them. And by write them, you'd put a few words on Snoopy stationary with love heart stickers, fill and envelope with glitter, put more heart stickers on the front, address it in gel pen, and send it off.

2. Got A Pen Pal In Another Country

Of course, writing letters to your friends wasn't enough, so you'd get a pen pal in another country. If you learned a language at school, this was often organized before the semester ended, with a school approved student from a similar school elsewhere.

3. Watched Spice World On Repeat... On VHS

We didn't have access to limitless movies and TV the way we do now back in the '90s, so you'd take one VHS tape, and spend a lot of time rewinding and rewatching. Especially if your parents wouldn't take you to the video store, and you had to rely on the one VHS you were given for your birthday the previous year.

4. Made Ace Mixed Tapes

In the '90s, instead of downloading music, you'd spend whole afternoons on the school holidays listening to the radio and recording your favorite songs. Alternately, you'd record your favorite songs off a variety of different CDs and make the best mix tape collection ever. This obviously involved drawing and coloring in awesome sleeves for them too.

5. Hung Out At The Skate Park

Skating was cool in the '90s. And so was just hanging at the skate park, even if you weren't a skater yourself. I used to hang out there with my friends and pass notes to the cute boys there.

6. Got Corn Rows

If your family went on any kind of vaguely warm destination, you'd come back like Monica on Friends, with terrible corn rows, probably with shells woven into the bottom of them. (We were clearly not very concerned with cultural appropriation in the '90s — oy.)

7. Had A Fleeting Vacation Romance

I don't know how kids do it now. Tinder probably. But in the '90s when your parents dragged you on vacation you'd get really broody, go sit by the pool by yourself, and inevitably spot some other teen hottie doing the same thing as you, and love would blossom.

8. Tie Dyed A LOT Of Stuff

With endless weeks and no Internet, a lot of stuff got tie dyed. Like, a lot.

9. Had A Scary Movie Sleep Over

The best thing in the '90s was a sleepover with all your besties, scaring the crap out of yourselves watching bad scary movies like Leprechaun.

10. Kept A Very Serious Diary

So serious that even if nothing of much interest really happened in your day, you'd still write down every little excruciating detail. What matters is that you thought it was important to document.

11. Sat Outside In The Sun Squeezing Lemon In Your Hair All Day

If it was summer, '90s kids would milk it for all that it was worth, and spend weeks trying to lighten their hair a smidgen by sitting in the sun all day, constantly squeezing lemon into their locks.

12. Made Many Amazing Collages

Beware the '90s child that got his or her hands on a collection of old magazines, a pair of stickers, and glue stick, and literally weeks of spare time...

Images: Miramax Films; Giphy (6)