Summertime is here and soon the school holidays will be too. For many families with young children or grandchildren, there will be a great deal more time spent together and a need for entertainment to keep young minds occupied.
It can be difficult to come up with fresh and engaging ways to help your little ones stay active, especially when you still have work and adult responsibilities to attend to. However, the right activities can be an opportunity to not only spend some quality time together as a family but also develop new and long-lasting memories.
Read on to discover seven creative activity suggestions that might help you flesh out your summer plans with the kids.
- Take advantage of the warm weather with a water fight
The British summertime is here with a timely heatwave that has people scrambling for their shorts and pulling fans out of storage. Warm summer days are a great excuse for an outdoor family activity to help you and the kids cool off.
One such activity that combines the need to cool down with good old-fashioned family fun is a water fight. A quick trip to your local toy store, or most larger supermarkets, could see you stock up on a few water pistols and some handy balloons to fill up.
- Introduce the little ones to nature and go on a foraging adventure
A walk through the countryside or local forests is a great way to engage the kids with nature. One fun way to make a leisurely stroll more engaging for young minds is to undertake a bit of foraging.
Consider packing a handy guide to Britain’s natural berries, flowers, and fungi and let your kids pick a range of edible delights to put to good use in the kitchen at home. Just make sure you’re aware of what you’re picking and encourage the little ones to make sure they’re certain of what they’ve found before they put it in their mouths.
- Stay fit and active with a family sports day
A family sports day is a great opportunity to get outdoors, stay active, and embrace a bit of friendly competition.
A decent-sized garden or a local park could host a range of activities from a family kickabout, a game of softball, an egg and spoon race, or a flat-out foot race. Just remember to take it easy on the children no matter how much you want to taste that victory!
- Visit the seaside and hold a sandcastle building competition
A trip to the beach is perfect for a hot summer’s day. The family can enjoy a dip in the water, a scramble to collect interesting seashells, and a leisurely lie down while the kids enjoy an ice cream or ice-cold lolly.
However, the activity that could set this trip apart from the others is a sandcastle building competition. Pack plenty of tools and buckets beforehand and help your little ones build expansive forts with all manner of turrets and moats.
- Set up an alcohol-free backyard bar with milkshakes, fresh fizzes, and ice-cold slushies
Trying to urge kids to drink plenty of liquid during a heatwave can be a challenge. So, to avoid dehydration, make it a fun activity by helping your children set up an alcohol-free backyard bar.
A trip to the shops for an array of juices, sodas, fresh fruit, ice cream, and milk can give the little ones a handy arsenal to mix, shake, and blend a menu of tasty milkshakes, fizzes, and frozen slushies to keep them cool on a hot day.
- Let the kids discover their “green fingers” and help them grow their own mini-allotment
You might need to spend some time in the garden this summer tending to important chores. A good way to keep the kids in your eyeline — and with something to keep them entertained and focused — is to provide them with some gardening tools, seeds, and a little allotment of their own to grow their own vegetables, herbs, or flowers.
It’s an activity that’ll keep them within arm’s reach and help them learn a lesson about nature and sustainability.
- Grab your torches and go for a night-time walk and some summertime stargazing
Warm summer nights are a great excuse for a nighttime walk. If you live in the suburbs or countryside, where the light pollution is less prevalent and there are more dark areas to explore, an evening expedition could present an opportunity for a thrilling game of hide and seek.
You could also simply find a nice area to sit and look up at the night sky. If it’s clear enough, your children might be able to enjoy picking out different constellations. It’s an opportunity for you to teach them more about our solar system and the many quirks of our wider universe.
Alternatively, you could use the darkness of the night, a projector, and a handy white sheet hung up on your laundry line to turn your garden into a family cinema for the evening.
Summer nights have plenty of opportunities to come up with fun and engaging ways to entertain the kids.
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