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The weather here has finally got much better and we’ve been out enjoying the sunshine and fresh air as much as possible over half term and it’s been lovely.
However, I’m sure my daughter isn’t the only child who would stay inside on tech as much as possible given the choice. Obviously, I don’t let her spend hours on technology, especially when the weather is lovely and when we’ve been stuck inside for weeks after so much rain, but it can be hard to persuade her to get outside and play rather than play Roblox with her friends or watch really irritating YouTube videos.
If you are looking for some ideas to encourage your kids outside this summer, or even if you are looking for some cool gifts for kids for a summer birthday coming up, then have a look at these fun ideas – all of which can be done outside with minimal mess!
Most kids of all ages absolutely love getting the paddling pool out when it’s hot or having loads of fun with water play in a Tuff Spot. We spent time at family’s over the bank holiday and the kids had so much fun in the paddling pool and having a water fight with water pistols. This Fireman’s Water Sprayer is brilliant for younger kids to get involved.
A paddling pool in the shade will help to keep them cool and entertained for a couple of hours. If you don’t already have a paddling pool, you can get a little blow-up one really cheaply and just throw in a few plastic buckets and jugs. Older kids might prefer to have a water fight or you might want to invest in a bigger paddling pool, but either way, most children love it (and especially if adults get involved too!).
This water lab set looks like great fun to carry out experiments in the garden. It has test tubes, colourful bubble wands, floater flasks and a floaty boat tray and is great for children to learn about water science whilst playing!
Children usually really enjoy getting involved with some gardening and even little ones can help with planting seeds and watering plants. It also has a great educational aspect to it especially if you are planting some veg and watching them grow and then hopefully getting to eat them too! This Grow It – Rainbow Veg set is great to get started with and as all of the veg are unusual colours and look really cool they might be more likely to try them!
Simple crafts (or more complicated ones if you’re that way inclined!) are great to do in the garden as you don’t need to worry so much about making a mess with paints or felt tips.
Paint sticks are also brilliant, particularly for younger ones, as they twist up and down like a glue stick and you don’t need any water or brushes. We have had some for years and we love using them. They have brilliant, bright colours and are so fun to use, coming out like proper paint onto the paper but more fun (in my opinion).
This is such a fun thing for kids to do over the summer. We got this butterfly garden a couple of years ago, where you get sent some live caterpillars to look after and watch them metamorphose into butterflies and then you release them when they are ready. My daughter really enjoyed the whole process and still talks about ‘our’ butterflies now. It’s such a good learning experience for kids and lots of fun too.
A bird feeder can also encourage them to get outside and take more of an interest in nature, You can make a simple one yourself or this window bird feeder with its one-way mirror that lets you observe birds without disturbing them looks cool.
Younger children love to create their own magical garden for fairies, dragons or unicorns, and it sparks their imagination whilst they get fresh air.
You can get this pretty unicorn garden which includes a wishing well, unicorn, Belle the fairy and mouse figure, as well as grass seed, fairy flowers, coloured gravel, posts and cord bunting, a colour activity booklet and some fairy dust!
I can still remember doing this with my sister and step-sisters (we weren’t even that little!) and we had so much fun getting creative and we were so proud of our masterpieces!
There are loads of fun games and activities that you can do in the garden together to keep children of all ages entertained.
We love playing badminton or frisbee and garden games like giant Jenga or rope toss are always fun.
This build and fly aeroplanes kit looks fun – it has all you need to construct five different flying gliders with ultralight plastic and bamboo parts, and it also teaches them how wings provide lift and how planes stay up in the air. You can try all sorts of different wing positions and angles to see how they affect the flight and lift, and you can even design your own plane!
Sometimes children and teenagers need a bit of encouragement to get outdoors and off technology but these activities and ideas will hopefully help make it a bit easier for you!
This is a paid partnership with Wicked Uncle. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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Some great ideas here – mine love any type of garden game but I also love the idea of getting a bird feeder in the garden too.
Thank you. Ava loves watching the birds in our garden (as does Scout!) and trying to identify them x