Things to do in the garden with the family this summer
With the summer holidays just around the corner, comes the dreaded ‘I’m bored’ and ‘there’s nothing to do’, echoing through the house. Well, prepare yourself for this situation this summer and read up on these fun projects you can do in your back garden with your children. Feel encouraged to venture outside and breathe in a huge lungful of healthy fresh air with these fun things to do outside, all on your doorstep.
Make a nature bracelet
This really simple, but really fun project is great for children of all ages. You can even do it yourself as well. First, you’ll need some tape, you can either use parcel, duct or masking. Simply just wrap it around your wrist with the sticky side on the outside until it overlaps to form a ring.
Then you can either explore your garden or take a short walk up the road. As you do, look for natural objects with which you can decorate your bracelet. The children may want to decide on a colour theme or even try to collect every colour of the rainbow from red to violet.
If your little ones are really proud of their bracelet when you finish and you want it to keep for longer, use sticky backed plastic to seal the objects. If you then place it in between two heavy books for a few weeks, it will help to seal it and preserve the flowers.
To finish, use a hole-punch to give you a hole at either end and then re-tie it with pretty ribbon or string. The perfect keepsake for your children to remember their summer by!
Water balloon fun
There is so much fun you can have with water balloons on a really warm day. These are the best days as you won’t mind getting wet to cool yourself down. The most fun I’ve had with water balloons is in a game where the aim is to NOT burst the balloon!
You gently throw the water balloon from person to person and after each successful catch, everyone takes a step back so the throwing distance gets longer. If the balloon gets dropped, the thrower and catcher are out and the last ones left are the winners.
If you’re feeling brave and up for an even messier version, use raw eggs, it makes it that little more thrilling.
Blow giant bubbles
If your children find blowing bubbles good fun, they will find blowing giant bubbles enormous fun. Here’s how you can do it. First, take two pieces of bamboo cane, each 3 ft. long. Then cut a piece of string, just longer than the length of the cane, and tie the ends to the top of both poles, about 2 cm in.
Next, you take a piece about half of this length and tie the ends to the bottom of each pole, again about 2cm from the end. (This bottom string will help to stop you pulling the canes too widely apart. Finally, cut a piece of string just over twice as long as the poles and tie it to either end of the top string, a centimetre in from each pole.
Now it is time to make your bubble mix! Mix ½ a cup of washing-up liquid with 1 ½ cups of water and mix them together. Then, put the concoction into a shallow container and dip the caned string into it to absorb some of the mixture. When you take the canes out, gently pull them apart and you should see a bubble start to form in the triangle of the string.
Voila, you have your very own enormous bubble blower, the kids with love it and it’s a whole days’ worth of entertainment for you all.
My daughter loves blowing bubbles, so making giant bubbles would be a winner with her 🙂
Mine too, bubbles never grow old! xx
Water balloons and giant bubbles….that’s summer in the garden locked down! They keep the children entertained for hours….
I agree, my kids go CRAZY for water balloons, whether the sun is shining or not! xx
Perfect post. I’ve had ideas for in the house on rainy days and even planned cheap days out all I need is garden play and this has perfect examples
I agree, the best days are often just the days we spend in the garden! xx
I love the idea of creating nature bracelets, definitely something that will be on our list this summer x
We just need the weather to pick up, grrr! xx
I love the water balloon idea but the nature bracelet is such a cute way of getting the kids enjoying their summers x
I agree, mine love making jewellery so to make one with nature is so much fun! xx
The nature bracelet is a great idea! Will love to try this out with Pickle when he’s a bit older. Lovely ideas, Laura. Thank you!
Thanks Holly, we just need the weather to improve so we can get out more!! xx
I love the idea of the bracelets, will be trying this when we go a walk at the weekend x
I hope that you have fun making them! xx
Lovely ideas! Let’s hope that the sun makes an appearance this summer so you can enjoy some fun with the water balloons!
Fingers crossed, it’s utterly miserable at the moment! xx
My kids really want these bundle of balloons, great games and I like the idea of not popping the balloon all over you!!
Water balloons are the most fun! And you can’t beat bubbles! xx
Can’t beat a water balloon fight! Those giant bubbles sound good too!
Oh I know, if only the sun would shine! xx
I know my kids would love to play with giant bubbles. Sounds like good fun..
Bubbles are so much fun, whatever the weather! xx
What fab ideas. I used to make nature bracelets when I was younger x
Me too, so much fun! xx