Bank holiday family fun

Turn off all your digital devices for National Unplugging Day this Monday, 26^th May

We love the idea of a day to put away your digital devices, unplug and spend time with your loved ones, doing something different. Here are some ideas for family days out – or in!

Going out…

1) Be a nature detective

Nothing engages children more with the wild world than a mission of discovery. Prepare a nature table (it can be a drawer if you don’t want all the bits and bobs on public display) and populate it with things they find in the garden/park/local woodland. Search under logs for nuts that have been eaten by voles and mice; make plaster-cast moulds of footprints; collect feathers and mount them on card with the species name next to them. Go pond dipping. Climb a tree. Make a den in the woods. Eat outdoors. For your local forest or wood visit woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/ or if you want something bigger, head to one of our beautiful national parks nationalparks.gov.uk

2) Go on a city safari

If you can’t get to a wood or national park, there is plenty of nature in a city. Feed the birds and make friends with the squirrels in the parks, look out for woodlouse, stag beetles, butterflies or ladybirds on the plants there. Visit lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/ to see if there’s an urban nature reserve near you.

3) Have fun at a festival or fair

May is the month for festivals, country shows and fairs. Be it a food festival, agricultural show or game fair, and there are plenty around this Bank Holiday Weekend. game-fairs.co.uk

4) Chalk it up

If you want to stay close to home, a big packet of chunky chalk will lend itself to hours of entertainment and tons of learning opportunities. All you need is a concrete space (like your driveway or the pavement outside your house), a wild imagination, and a hose for the clean up afterwards. Then get drawing!

Staying in…

1) Build a fort or a den

For some good, old-fashioned fun, raid the linen cupboard and construct a fort or tent with sheets and pillows. Not only will little ones enjoy creating the hideaway, they’ll love playing in it afterwards…

2) Get creative in the kitchen

Children love cooking and are more likely to eat their own creations. Try some of these simple recipes for starters bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-cooking or candis.co.uk/recipes. And don’t forget to get them to wash up afterwards. They’ll enjoy that too!

3) Make memories

Create a family time capsule to bury in your back garden. Kids and parents can include letters to their future selves, plus mementos and photos. Seal the whole thing in an airtight container (a tennis ball can or Tupperware tub would work well), and wait until a sunny day to bury it outside…

4) Get gaming

Not the electronic kind of course! Find some classic kids’ games like Twister, Snakes and Ladders and Operation and have a family game-off. They might not be as high-tech as the PlayStation or Wii, but there’s a reason companies have been making them for decades – they’re good old-fashioned fun!