Love Outdoors
Meander through local meadows and fields, parkland and The Vyne gardens, by lakes/ponds and if you are lucky by the seaside. You can enjoy the colourful blooms of summer and see birds and butterflies on the wind. There's nothing quite like taking a stroll surrounded by nature in the summer time, where you can pause under the cool shade of a tree and take in the sunny view before you.
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Find summer walks near you.
Delve into the National Trust's garden shed of fun activities for the kids throughout the seasons. Explore things to do, games to play and recipes to bake. There's lots to do outdoors and indoors, come rain or shine
Signs of Summer Hunt
June signals the start of the meteorological summer and the natural world is buzzing with life. We’ve put together a list of six signs of summer to look out for while you’re enjoying the warmer, longer days.
Summer Science
Frozen Flowers Sensory Ice Play - for all ages
https://www.craftsonsea.co.uk/frozen-flowers-sensory-ice-play/
Making (and playing with!) frozen flowers is a popular sensory play idea and it’s really easy to see why – they just look so pretty! I’m a great believer that if you want kids to do something then you have to make it interesting and inviting for them and these frozen flowers are so lovely that I’m always quite tempted to have a play with them myself. While it does involve advance preparation it really only takes a few minutes as you’ll be able to see in the video link above. I’ve made and I promise, it can keep your kids busy for ages. What’s more it’s something that your kids can return to year after year.
Games for Walks
How about playing these games and may be it might give you inspiration to make up your own too...
Pirates - Use fallen trees in the woodland to imagine these are pirate ships. Look for land ahoy! And keep an eye open for swashbuckling pirates keen to invade and steal your treasure. What could be your treasure today?
Spies - The adults walk ahead and children secretly follow behind, darting from tree to tree and ducking down to remain hidden.
Bad Dad/Mum/Brother/Sister - Your dad/mum/brother/sister plays the role of a robber trying to escape. They run ahead and the family run behind shouting "Don't let him/her get away!"
Sloths - The children hang upside down from tree branches being sloths. The adults are the conservationists coming to help them.
Motorbikes - This means running up and down steep-sided halfpipe like paths and ditches, pretending to be motorbikes, making higher and higher pitching revving noises when going uphill. (You have to not care about looking like numpties if you encounter other families out walking though!)
Introduce Incentives!
Find a matchbox to fill with tiny treasures; - what is the most unusual thing you can find?
Map Read
Print off a map of your local area - mark a route and then try to follow it out on your walk. Your parents/carers may have to help you.
Create a Nature Journal - When you are out and about take a bag to fill with treasures and do bark rubbings, take photos, do on the spot drawings and make nature notes; Bring hot chocolate or a cold drink if on a hot day.
Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of specific things you might see locally eg red bicycle, car park, couple holding hands. Split into teams within your family and walk around in your group, photographing the items when you find them. Whoever finds all the items first, wins!
Volunteer
Demonstrate the importance of kindness. Volunteer to clean up litter in your community (you just need a bag and pair of gloves to wear) or walk dogs for a local animal shelter.
How old is this oak?
Noticing the enormous oak trees in our local woods started a conversation about how old they were. Arm-spanning the trunks to measure the girth (your arm span is the same as your height), we used this table from the Woodland Trust to work out their age. We began to talk about the events these trees had lived through and created stories about their lives. The planes that flew over in the second world war; the disappearance of the red squirrel and the arrival of the grey; how fashions and land use have changed since they were an acorn. Fuel for inquisitive imaginations!
Why not prepare a summer picnic with your family and pack a few tasty treats - Take a blanket to sit on and a throw to pop over you if it still a bit chilly! Why not take a kite and take it in turns to fly it - which family member can keep it up the longest?
What signs of Summer can you spot this summer break when you are outside for a walk/scoot or bike ride with your family?
Have a look at the pictures below - Have you spotted all of these things when out and about? Have we missed anything?
