As bank holiday approaches you might be thinking of things to do with the kids. Why not turn your garden into an adventure playground.
Here’s how:
1. Create a mini beach.
If you don’t have a sandpit, try making one out of railway sleepers or decking. Fill the frame with sand, complete with bucket and spade and you’re good to go. Get those sandcastles built and then relax with your toes in the sand as you imagine yourself at the seaside.
2. Wet weather? Don’t let it stop you.
Get the wellies and raincoats on and make mud castles, or look for earth worms and other creepy crawlies with a magnifying glass and teach your children about the wildlife that exists in their own backyard.
3. Build a structure.
Tape old cardboard boxes together to make a tunnel or use other recycled materials to create an obstacle course, for example, make cones out of empty cartons, a walkway out of an old piece of decking and hula-hoops laid out on the ground to hop between.
4. Design a treasure hunt.
Hide treats or painted stones in the garden and let the kids run around and find them. If using painted stones, you could hide them in increasingly challenging places and time them to see who finds everything in the quickest time.
5. Set up an artist’s quarter.
Decorate a paving area with a bucket full of colored chalks, make flowers out of coloured card/paper shapes and stick them on wooden ‘stems’ in the grass, create mobiles to hang from trees by using ribbon and painted objects that would otherwise be thrown away (old cotton reels, pine cones, buttons etc.) and encourage your kids to create something new every day.
Have fun and stay safe!