Summer is (eeek!) finally here, until Tuesday anyway. Best not to ask….
Make the most out the warmer weekend weather by moving the kids outside to play these cute garden games. Do them together, have buckets of fun, and get loads of fresh air in the meantime. Oh, and send us piccies if you do.
1. Bubble contest
You will need:
- Bubble solution
- Bubble-blowing tools: drinking straws, funnels, wire loops
- Marbles or other small toy if you have little ones that could be endangered by marbles
What you do:
- Wet a tabletop with bubble solution and get blowing.
- Who can blow the biggest bubble?
- Who can create the biggest pile of bubbles in thirty seconds?
- Whose bubble lasts the longest?
- Whose bubble is the prettiest?
- Who can blow a bubble within a bubble?
- Who can get a marble or other small toy inside a bubble?
2. Water bottle bowling
Image via Lindsay & Drew
What you will need:
- 10 plastic bottles
- Food colouring
- Water
- A ball
What you do:
- Fill each plastic bottle with water, then add a little food colouring.
- Keep score of the pins that are knocked down by the ball.
3. Paper plate frisbees
Image via Crafts by Amanda
You will need:
- 2 paper plates for each frisbee
- Crayons or felt tip pens
- Scissors
- Sellotape
What you do:
- Cover the top of each plate with tape, allowing the excess tape to overlap but not fold over. Cut off the excess around each plate.
- Turn the plates upside down and decorate.
- Place both plates together so that the decorated sides are facing out. Holding the plates together, cut a circle out of the center of each plate.
- Place both plates, decorated side facing up, onto the work surface. Using the tape, cover the decorated side, over lapping the center circle. Fold the edges over through the center circle and trim the edges of the outside of the plate.
- Place the two plates together, decorative side facing outward, and tape all of the edges together.
- Throw the frisbees but mind the dog!
4. Lawn scrabble
This is our all-time fave – get fresh air, have bonding time, and educate them all at once. Genius! Thanks to the great blog Constantly Lovestruck for this idea and images. Make learning fun!
What you need
- You’ll need to make up 144 letters so get everyone in on the action and make it fun!
- You can make them on wood or cardboard, depending on how long you want to keep them or re-use them.
What you do
Here is the breakdown of the letters:
2: J, K, Q, X, Z
3: B, C, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y
4: G
5: L
6: D, S, U
8: N
9: T, R
11: O
12: I
13: A
18: E
5 Water balloons ‘egg-and-spoon race
So easy, so effective.
What you need
- Balloons
- Kitchen spoons
What to do
Fill some balloons with water, place them on the spoons and get racing. Guaranteed fun!
Thanks to Two Shades of Pink for the idea and super-pretty images.
6. Outdoor art
What you need
Source a large chalkboard or board you can paint with chalk paint and place it in the garden for non-rainy days.
Fill some buckets with giant chalk and voilà, easy garden fun for hours. Challenge them to create outdoor scenes or draw some together.
Thanks to Project Denneler for the idea and images
