Five Summer Holiday Activities That You Don’t Have to Leave Your Garden For!

How can I keep my kids entertained this Summer?

We are in the middle of the Summer Holidays, and inspiration for keeping your children may have taken a dip (let alone the bank balance!). But, it’s entirely doable to create a memory-filled Summer, on a budget that doesn’t take heaps of energy and preparation. There is a balance to be found between scheduling organised activities, and factoring in the downtime that everyone needs during the holidays. These five activities will allow you to spend time at home relaxing whilst still providing an element of structure and purpose, so when the time for Cbeebies arrives, you can switch it on guilt-free!

How do I entertain an older and younger child?

Though your children may not be that far apart in years (it certainly won’t feel like any gap at all by the time your children reach their twenties!), the age gap between older and younger siblings can feel vast. This is because developmentally they are at very different stages, and the difference isn’t just in the years they are apart… but the months too! The best way to combat this when considering how to set up activities is to follow your children’s interests and use open ended resources, i.e. something that doesn’t have a fixed end goal. This way children can bring their own interests and unique learning styles to the experiences that you provide for them. All of the activities that are suggested here will suit children of differing ages… but you may find they end up wanting to do the same thing anyway!

1. A Nature Hunt in the Garden!

Being out in the natural environment provides open ended play and experiences in abundance! You could set your older children a challenge to find a certain number of bugs that you know are frequent visitors to your garden. Here are a few resources which will enhance this activity:

• A clipboard and pencil
• Bug checklist (download one or make your own)
• Magnifying glass
• Bug catching pot
• Paper and pencils for observational drawings

For younger children, think mud exploration! You don’t have to have a fancy mud kitchen to create this experience. Allowing younger children to have an area to dig in the mud with resources that they get to choose nearby will keep them engaged for more sustained periods of time. Here are some open ended resources to support this kind of play:

• A tray or container for mixing
• Sticks
• Garden tools
• Containers of water (our Nesting Babies are perfect for this and versatile enough to be taken outside and played with indoors)
• Old kitchen utensils
• Sand

2. Let them be bored

Ok, it’s not an activity but this is something that will boost your child’s development. Research has shown that it’s actually beneficial for children to feel bored, this encourages them to be creative and use their imagination. So don’t feel like you must provide something every moment of the day, leave them to their own devices and watch the creativity flourish!

3. Water Play

The opportunities for playing in water are endless, and water is such an amazing resource to capture the interests of younger and older children… I mean, when we are lucky enough to have paddling pool weather that pretty much sets us up for the day, right?! Here are just some of the benefits of water play for our youngest learners:

• Learning about texture
• Learning about temperature
• Helps children to develop fine and gross motor skills (using water tools and resources)
• Develops hand-eye coordination
• Helps develop listening skills

There is still so much to be learnt for our older children with water play, these kinds of resources will support their learning to understand different concepts:

• A box of household items that float or sink
• Using straws to blow boats across the water (this supports essential mouth muscles development for speech sounds)
• Different sized containers to learn about capacity 

4. Garden Camping

Trying to book a staycation in 2021 has been less than easy! But that doesn’t mean you can’t explore some fun under canvas if you weren’t able to get something booked this Summer.

If you have all the camping gear but nowhere to go- set it up in your garden and allow the children’s imaginations to run wild with a camping holiday at home! 

No tent? No problem! Throwing a sheet over a table, adding some blankets and cushions will make a cosy play den for children of all ages. Want to enhance their fun and learning with some activities? Here are some ideas:

• Add books to create a reading. Be mindful of the kind of books you put out and children will likely be very excited and bouncing around, board books are perfect for this! Providing simple books such as ‘Rosa & Bo Say Hello’, may even encourage older children to read to the younger ones.
• Toasting marshmallows or having a hot chocolate around the tent always feels special and atmospheric! 
• Torches- there are so many hours of fun that can be had with a torch in a dark space for young children! These are a brilliant addition to any play camping experience!

5. Take the inside out!

You don’t have to buy lots of new activities to keep your children entertained, bringing their favourite activities outdoors (if the weather permits!) can breathe a new lease of life into familiar toys and games. The novelty factor of playing somewhere new can keep children entertained for hours!

This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman