The first week you are happy to not be doing the usual school routine. The second week, it pours with rain and the kids keep saying “I’m bored”. By week 3 you are starting to wonder when do the schools go back again…

From Dining Outdoors to Outings, we’ve got a fun list of 26 things to do this summer, in our A-Z guide to surviving the summer holidays!

Check out art-themed summer events and activities taking place in your locality. Local art centres often run camps and classes for kids, or there might be a local art school doing drawing or painting camps.

Head to your nearest art gallery or art museum with the children, many offer art trails for children to follow or run family art-themed events.

Summer wouldn’t be summer without at least one trip to the beach. Even if the weather is not perfect, time at the beach can be very absorbing for children.

Pack a picnic, take some towels, remember the suncream and head off for some fun time at the beach. Check out our fun and interesting things to do at the beach with kids.

In Ireland we are blessed with some amazing beaches on our coastline, many are blue flag beaches and offer great amenities for families.

I still remember movies that my parents took me to when I was a child. Even though we live in the age of streaming, nothing beats seeing a movie on the big screen. And enjoying treats like popcorn and sweets when you go to the cinema is part of the fun.

Check your nearest cinema to see if they have any family ticket offers or early bird screenings that are cheaper to go with kids to.

Food always tastes nicer outdoors! Pack a picnic for days out or even in the garden. We have some delicious picnic recipe inspiration here. You probably have a favourite picnic place that you’ve been to before, but try somewhere new for a change.

Also you can’t beat a BBQ on a summer’s evening. Keep an eye out in local supermarkets for special offers on BBQ essentials. Has anyone else noticed how kids tend to clear their plates when they eat outside?

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

The great thing about summer time is that is the most popular time for events and festivals to take place. From annual holidays to food festivals, there’s usually something on every week.

Your local council or library is a good place to follow on social media, libraries offer summer reading programmes, while local councils often help support events that appeal to families.

If you’re in Ireland, keep an eye on our events page for what’s happening around the country.

Organise playdates so the kids can keep in touch with their school friends. If you’re entertaining your own kids what’s another one or two! Chances are they will entertain themselves and you can arrange for your kids to visit their friends house in return for a change of scenery.

Summer time is also a good time for a sleepover, put up the tent in your garden, pile out the sleeping bags, duvets and pillows, feed and water the kids and then leave them to have fun.

Plan a games day. Arrange with family and friends and visit a local park or green and have a sports day. Play Five-a-Side Football, Rounders, Egg and Spoon Races, or whatever you prefer!

Pick up some cheap prizes or trophies in a discount shop and have a “prize giving” and picnic afterwards. Here are some ideas for fun games to play outdoors.

Pack up a backpack with picnic, drinks, and a blanket, and head off for a hike. You could go up a nearby hill, explore a forest or woods, head to the beach or do a walking trail.

Stop half way, spread out the blanket and enjoy some eats before you head back again. You might want these games to play while walking up your sleeve if little people start to flag on the way back. Or try a nature scavenger hunt to make the walk even more fun.

Play pretend with the kids and get them to use their imagination!

• Camp out the back garden and pretend you’re in the desert or jungle
• Visit a castle and pretend you’re royalty or a knight from the olden days
• Set up pots and pans in the garden and pretend you’re a top chef cooking
• Build a fort and pretend it’s a pirate ship

The possibilities are endless…

You’ll have the kids jumping with excitement if you show them some of the things we did as children. My kids just love when I draw and play hopscotch with them, a very cheap and easy way to keep them entertained, if you haven’t done it yet, try it.

Or you can get a long skipping rope and teach them how to skip with more than one person…. oh I remember the days!!

Let the kids into the kitchen and enjoy cooking together. We have loads of tasty family recipes, why not let the kids try a few (with supervision, of course!).

It’s a great way to get children to try new foods if they have helped prepare it and also helping prepare a three course meal can entertain children for a whole afternoon.

Every summer at the start of the holidays my daughters and I would make our summer bucket list. It had to have a mix of free and paid for activities, and some had to be local while some could be days out that we would plan to go on.

Decide which places you would like to visit and things you would like to do with the kids this summer and make a list! Hang it on the fridge to remember and aim to tick the list off regularly.

Keep mementos from your trips this summer, take plenty of photos, collect shells and stones, pick flowers. Let the kids pick their favourites and make a  scrapbook or memory book.

This will keep the kids busy for hours throughout the summer and is great for winding down time after a day out or on a rainy day afternoon.

Get your kids outdoors and exploring some nature, even if it’s a bug hunt in the backyard or looking at nature in their own garden.

If you have a nature centre or national park near you, they often run nature-themed activities and events for kids to enjoy.

Here are more fun ideas for nature activities for kids and cool books for curious kids to learn about nature.

Outings are a great way to break up the long summer holidays. Of course there are lots of attractions and venues where you have to pay for your outing there, but there are lots of other outings you can do for very little cost or free:

• A visit to the library to pick up new books
• Write a letter and go to the Post Office to buy stamps to post it to Grandma and Grandpa
• Climb a hill with a kite on a windy day
• Pick a new playground you have never been to and visit with the kids
• Ride a new bus or train route to somewhere you’ve never been before
• Head to the beach for some sand and sea time

The perfect summer day activity! Get some picnic food inspiration here, make up some homemade lemonade to take with, gather all the bits and pieces you need to make a picnic outing and head off to the beach, river, lake, forest or park.

And if the weather threatens rain, you could always set up a home picnic – teddy bears are invited of course!

Enjoy a family quiz together. Here are some fun facts for kids to help you design your quiz:

• 12 ROARsome Tiger Facts for Kids
• 15 Fascinating Science Facts for Kids
• 21 Mega Moon Facts for Kids
• Fun Facts About Ancient Greece for Kids
• 15 Fun Panda Facts for Kids
• 20 Cheeky Chipmunk Facts for Kids

Here’s how to create a family trivia game, but Amazon also has plenty of quiz games for families if you can’t be bothered to make your own.

Or you may enjoy playing The Categories Game otherwise known as Stop the Bus or a simple game of Animal, Mineral, Vegetable too.

Fingers crossed they will be few and far between, however, there is bound to be a few (especially in Ireland). We have plenty of ideas for rainy day activities for you to do, both out and about and at home, but here are some of our favourite things to do when the weather is wet:

• set up a home cinema and watch a movie
• bake cookies together
• arts and crafts, draw or paint or collage, then have an art exhibition
• make a family magazine or newspaper
• put on a playlist and dance around the kitchen

In the pool or in the sea, one of the nice times of year to go swimming is in the summertime. Many local swimming pools extend and increase their family swim times during the holidays, and have splash times for families too.

If you’re heading out for the day this summer, why not try to leave the car at home and go with public transport? It’s much more exciting than the car for the little people and it saves the hassle of finding parking. Older kids could get involved with planning your itinerary and checking transport times.

You will find everything you need to keep the kids entertained here at MyKidsTime, the only other information you need is an accurate weather forecast!

Why not be a tourist in your own town or city and visit the places you never think of going to? Most of us never do the things that tourists do and summertime is a great time to join them and find out more about your city or town. So make a list of attractions or places that visitors go and head off for a day of sightseeing.

Many towns and cities offer visit passes that offer discounts for entry so it’s worth checking what you could avail of.

Summertime is the perfect time for watery fun, eg water balloons, set up a slip n slide, let the kids run through the hose or sprinkler, fill the paddling pool or get them to wash the car!

As always, be vigilant with kids around water.

Encourage your child to be an eXplorer this summer, whether that’s exploring for bugs in the garden, doing a summer reading challenge to explore new books, going geocaching, or simply exploring your neighbourhood together.

Get your child to try some fun off-screen activities, the kind you used to play with and do when you were a child:

• Yoyo
• Slinky
• Hula hoop
• Skipping rope
• Marbles
• Hopscotch
• Make a fortune teller

Summer is a time to relax and recharge, with all these suggestions to entertain the kids, fingers crossed they will sleep a little better and a little longer giving mums and dads a bit more rest too..

Enjoy the rest of your Summer!

From walking, cycling and activity trails to magical fairy adventures and historical sites where the kids can dress up and explore what life was like in days gone by, you’ll be amazed what you can see and do for free in South Dublin!

Here are some ideas of what’s on offer for free, all within easy reach of the city centre.

Small but mighty, the Round Tower Clondalkin has loads of free interactive activities to keep the family happy.

From dressing up to building your very own round tower to seeking out Milly the mouse who is hiding in every room of the exhibit to learning about different plants and herbs in the monastic garden, a visit combines fun with history and education.

Discover some of the history and lesser known sights around South Dublin when you download the free interactive heritage trail app.

From an 8th century round tower, a 12th century weir, a 16th century stately home to a 17th century hunting lodge in the Dublin mountains, you will discover over a 1,000 years of Dublin’s history all in one handy app.

The app has both audio and visual guides, and can be downloaded directly to your mobile so you can plan your days out and explore at your own pace. It’s available in English, Irish, French and German.

We all know Ireland is famous for myths and legends, but did you know you can find fairies too?

There are 3 free to visit sites in South Dublin where you can search for fairies; Corkagh Park, Tymon Park and Lucan Demesne Park. The fairy trails have been developed in conjunction with the Irish Fairy Door Company and children of all ages love them.

There is always something happening at the County Library in Tallaght and the other South Dublin village libraries. From story time to a teen zone as well as a large up-to-date stock of books for all ages.

The library is free to visit and you can certainly while away a few hours with a good book or spend time reading to the kids in the children’s library. And if you want to take some books to enjoy at home, it is free to join too.

Follow them on Facebook to hear about upcoming events.

The Pearse Museum is free to visit and Rathfarnham Castle is free to visit on the first Wednesday of the month. They are 5 minutes apart by car and while either are worth visiting independently, combining a visit to both means you can enjoy 2 museums, 2 cafés, two parks and a playground! Both locations offer good accessibility too.

Orienteering is a great way to get the family active with a purpose. Massy’s Estate in Glencullen offers a permanent orienteering course and nature trails that are suitable for all ages and abilities.

In addition there are waymarked trails to guide you through the atmospheric forest where you may spot deer, red squirrels, birds and other wildlife.

It is also home to The Hellfire Club, am impressive hunting lodge which dates from 1725! From here visitors can enjoy breathtaking views over Dublin city and beyond.

The Dublin Mountains Way is a 40km waymarked trail across the majestic Dublin mountains.

It stretches from Shankill in the east to Tallaght in the west. It is especially designed for those who are looking for more of a challenge. Visitors can download the Dublin Mountains Way map and plan their journey, which is best completed in stages rather than tackled all in one go!

There are no fewer than 12 large parks with a further 50+ community parks to explore in Dublin South. All are traffic free and offer acres of space for a fun family day out.

Whether you want to feed the ducks, see other wildlife, visit a playground, ornamental garden or check out other amenities, you will be spoiled for space and choice in any of these amazing parks.

These parks are all accessible for buggy and wheelchair users. Perhaps the best known of them is Corkagh Park where you will find a purpose built cycle track. Here you can learn to cycle in a safe environment or improve your cycling skills or even have races against other friends and family members.

The Liffey runs through the heart of Dublin city centre. But you can follow the course of the river from Palmerstown to Lucan where the River Liffey Valley offers tranquil walks, parks and villages to explore.

Alternatively, the The Grand Canal Greenway is just a short stroll from Clondalkin Village and you can walk or cycle or push a buggy along the banks where you might spot some of the local wildlife.

I hope we have given you some ideas for some free fun days out with the family in South Dublin. You can find loads more ideas on Dublinsoutdoors.ie including places to stay, eat and more fantastic things to do.

Head out to your local woods, beach or park for a walk. Make your walk more fun with our free nature scavenger hunt list turning a walk into an adventure!

Family walks are a great opportunity to get out and active, have the kids run around in the fresh air and off screens. But if you need a little incentive to entice them for the walk, then games and a little competition can really help. These entertaining games to play on a family walk are suitable for a range of ages and need nothing more than a little imagination and creativity!

Create a fun obstacle course, indoors or outdoors, and test your skills in a friendly family competition.

The course possibilities are endless and you can change it around each round, becoming more challenging as the players improve their skills.

If you want to increase the motivation of the children you could award a unique medal for the ultimate winner.

Customised Award Medals can be easily created and ordered online. Use your creativity and cool graphics that the kids will love to customise a medal that can be given and treasured for years to come.

Wow your friends and family, and learn some magic tricks – here are 10 easy magic tricks for kids to master.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Create a time capsule together. Put things in it that are happening right now and then open it in 12 months and see how things have changed.

This is a great activity for birthdays. You could create a sheet of questions that you answer annually and see how your ideas change as you grow. They could be favourite bands, foods you like, friends, goals etc.

Gardening with kids is great fun – they love to get mucky and see the results of their work. If you have room, why not assign them their own flower bed and help them plan out their planting? Here’s how to make your garden a fun place for kids.

Give them their own pot/planter. Herbs and salad leaves are quick to grow, and most kids enjoy eating what they have grown! Here’s a how to grow your own pizza garden.

Fill water balloons or buckets, and place them equally on opposite ends of the garden.

• Split up into teams and stand facing each other.
• When the signal is given, begin throwing water balloons at the other team.
• When a player is hit, the other team scores a point.
• Play until all the balloons are gone, the members of one team have all been hit, or a certain number of points have been reached.

Get out the blankets and cushions, make and deliver the invitations and decide on whether your picnic will be indoors or outdoors.

Cut out some teddy bear footprints from pieces of paper and put these on the floor leading to the picnic area. Footprints could also lead to other activities if you are having them. You could include a teddy bear themed pass the parcel game or even dance with your teddy bear.

Take turns saying these fun tongue twisters and see who can say them the best. Tongue twisters like “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?” will surely leave you in fits of giggles!

Let your kids make a camp/den  using old blankets/duvets, cushions and chairs for props. Or gather some sturdy sticks from the wood and use some old tarpaulin as a roof.

Set up a home cinema and settle down to watch some fun family movies together.

Wondering what to watch? Try these feel-good movies, introduce your kids to some 80s classics, or work your way through our A to Z of fab family movies!

Create your very own hairdressing studio and take turns doing each other’s hair. No scissors needed for this one!

Scavenger hunts are great fun for kids as they adore the thrill of hunting. It’s also a great excuse to get them active outdoors, so a win-win for everyone! But we know that the weather doesn’t always play ball, so we’ve also got lots of indoor options to make sure you can enjoy the fun whenever the mood takes. Here are some mega fun scavenger hunt ideas for kids to turn your little darlings into mini-explorers!

From sounds and colours to shapes and nature, we’ve got printable scavenger hunt downloads all ready for you.

Strap on the helmets, grab the bikes, and go for a cycle. Cycling is a great activity that the whole family can do together – it’s an opportunity to get out with the kids and get some exercise and fresh air. But being cycle-safe is important too, so here are 9 essential tips for safer cycling and bike safety for kids that you should keep in mind.

Homemade science experiments can get messy, so if weather permits, move the “lab” outside. Here are some ideas:

• 5 fun science experiments for kids
• 18 easy science experiments for preschoolers
• How to have fun with kitchen chemistry
• How to make playdough
• How to make honeycomb
• How to make slime

Kids love to mess around in the sand, particularly at home in the garden. Even if you don’t have a sand table, it’s easy to make your own, with a large shallow plastic container, and some play sand. We’ve got lots of great sand play ideas for kids – just remember to cover when finished, to keep the cats away.

Love them or hate them, bugs are fascinating to kids! Download our free Big Bug Scavenger Hunt List to search for critters in the park, woods or closer to home.

We all love to dine alfresco, and kids especially love a picnic. Pack a basket of homemade goodies, a flask with tea for yourself, and a waterproof blanket. Why not try our easy recipes for homemade sausages and homemade lemonade?

This cheddar and bacon quiche is delicious hot or cold, while these baked berry squares are a tasty treat with oaty goodness for all that running around!

Picnics are such a fun way to enjoy food casually, and kids particularly love the fun that goes with eating outdoors. Whether you’re planning to picnic in the garden at home or out and about this summer, these practical picnic ideas for the perfect day out, will help keep the focus on the fun and family time that it’s all about.

Going to the playground is a great way to get the kids active outdoors. Most towns have a local playground, but for a change, why not try a different playground in a nearby town? Pack a picnic and make a day out of it.

Design and build a LEGO or plastic brick structure. It could be a castle, a house, a fire station, or maybe a small town. Or have building competitions, where have to make structures using only one colour brick.

Give your creativity and imagination a boost with more than 50+ LEGO instructions and how-to videos that are sure to turn you into a Master Builder. Our list of LEGO instructions has it all – from Yoda and Minion favourites to chocolate cake, hot air balloons and vintage cars!

And don’t miss our 30 Day LEGO Challenge or fun LEGO Bingo Challenge if you need even more ideas!

Kids love to run and jump in puddles. Dress them in their wet gear and head out for some rainy day fun! Take some inspiration from these fun outdoor rainy day games.

We asked Mykidstime parents for their favourite outdoor childhood games when they were young – you know those games that occupied our free time and summer days, before computer games? Here are their 20 great childhood games, perfect for parties, weekends or to play in the garden.

Teach your child some of your favourite childhood games – from Bulldog and What’s the Time Mr Wolf? to rounders and elastics, these outdoor games are lots of fun!

The best bit? You can play too!

Wait for a windy day, and head to an open space to fly a kite. You could even try your hand at making the kites.

Host a mini fun sports day, with obstacle courses, long-jump, and novelty races like 3-legged, sack, and egg and spoon.

Hours of fun and exhausted kids guaranteed!

Take a trip to your local park, river or lake, and feed the ducks or swans. But please don’t take bread, as this isn’t good for birds. Other options that are better for them include grapes cut in half, cracked corn/barley/oats/birdseed, frozen peas or corn kernels (defrosted, but no need to cook) or duck feed pellets available from pet shops.

Play a game of dominoes or for something even more creative, set up a huge long line of dominoes and then have fun knocking them down!

A much loved activity in my house, treasure hunts are great fun! All you need are some pens, paper and of course, treasures! Here’s some tips on setting up a kid’s treasure hunt.

A night out in a tent is definitely a must for all kids – I still remember my first night out camping, and having to run back inside when the worst ever thunderstorm erupted!

Even if you don’t get away, you can set up the tent in the back garden, and enjoy sleeping outdoors.

Here are some essential tips for first-time camping with kids, and some delicious ideas for camping meals that are more than just s’mores!

All you need is some sand, water and a desire to get mucky!

Head out the nearby park or woods, with a ruler and tape-measure, and measure a tree. See who can find the tallest tree.

Fishing is a great outdoor activity, but remember, it requires lots of patience on your part. Gear the day/expedition to their level, and assume they will want to get wet, and look for everything else but fish!

However, it can be a great way to spend time with your child, and you might even bring home dinner!

Fishing nets on the beach are ideal for catching crabs in rock pools, and a lot easier too!

On a clear night, bring the kids outside for some star gazing. If you have a telescope all the better, but is not necessary.

See if you can recognise any of the well-known constellations with our tips on fun astronomy for kids.

Let the kids loose on your pavement or driveway, with some pavement chalk, and stand back and watch their creations unfold!

Watching clouds is a very relaxing way to spend time, for all ages. Get the kids to lie on a blanket in the garden or at the park. Clouds all look the same but yet can be so different as they morph into different shapes and objects.

A lovely summer’s activity and a great way for your kids to learn about money. All they need is a table/box, sign, paper cups, jug, and lemonade.

Help them make homemade lemonade instead of buying lemonade. Alternatively, they could sell some cupcakes they have made themselves.

Washing the car = fun for kids! They most likely will get wet, have a chance at using the hose, and might even earn some pocket money! They could even do a neighbourhood car wash.

Skipping can be done individually, or if there are a few friends around, get a large rope, and get the kids doing some skipping games.

Jump Elastics are also great fun. Do you remember them from childhood? Inside, Outside on the rails? All you need is a long piece of elastic, stitched together at the ends.

Let the kids make a temporary waterfall in the garden, using large stones, hose, plastic tubing, and any other props they might require.

They could also make a marble-run but use water instead of marbles.

Provide some treats for our feathered friends and help the kids make some bird feeders.

• Gather any old welly boots your children have outgrown.
• Poke a few drainage holes in the bottom of them and then fill them with some compost.
• Choose which flower seeds you would like to plant. Sunflowers are a favourite among kids as they grow very quickly and are very easy to grow.
• Place them along your path or outside your front door. Your kids will love to see their old wellies blooming!

Get the kids to let their imaginations run wild, and set up a crazy golf course in the garden, using buckets, plastic cups/glasses, ramps, car tracks, boxes etc. Anything will work, to make the hole as crazy as possible!

Aim for 3 or 4 holes minimum in their course, and then have a competition, counting lowest number of shots to reach hole as a win.

This is a lovely project for the kids to do, particularly if they have helped you with the gardening. And even if the scarecrow is never used in the garden, it’s a fun project to do. All you need is some old clothes, hat, canes, straw or old newspapers for stuffing, needle and thread, and plastic bag. Here’s how to make a simple scarecrow.

Kids love painting. How about moving it outdoors if the weather is good?

Use lots of outdoor interesting shapes for painting, like grass blades, or sticks, or unusual plant leaves. Get them to gather some leaves and do leaf patterns.

If you need more ideas, try these easy painting ideas for kids.

A great beach activity, enjoyed by kids, time after time. As well as using the bucket and shovel, why not use some flat knives and spoons to help carve out their structures. Collect shells and stones to decorate your amazing castles!

Blowing bubbles should lead to giggles! Make your own bubble mixture at home, then use different blowers for a range of bubbly fun. When all the bubbles are used up, why not try making your own using washing-up liquid, sugar and water?

Why spend money on a slip ‘n’ slide, when you can easily make your own, with strong refuse bags or a large plastic sheet, washing-up liquid, and a hose.

Guaranteed hours of fun!

Look around your garden or if you are out for a walk, and see if you can spot any animal tracks. Borrow a book from the library to help you identify the different animal/bird tracks.

Most houses have a toy box full of cars. Bring it outside and let the kids have car races down the driveway, seeing which car goes furthest. They could even award “cups” to the winners!

Use tape or chalk outside to make roads, race courses, roundabouts and parking spaces.

We all know that when you give a child a toy, they often have more fun playing with the box!

There are lots of great cardboard box ideas to make with kids – from a doll’s house to a jack-in-the-box, the only limit is your imagination!

Great fun for older kids. Head outside with torches to play chase or tip the can in the dark – amazing how the whole game can change when played in the dark.

For this, you will need:

• Sunshine
• Nature items e.g. leaves, twigs, flowers
• Construction paper – darker colours work better

What to do

1. Find a sunny spot outside late morning. Arrange the items on a sheet of paper.
2. You might need a stone for each corner to keep it from blowing away if it’s breezy.
3. Leave the paper for several hours in direct sunlight.
4. The sun will fade the construction paper, it will create silhouettes where your items are located.

These can be as simple as you like, just blend your favourite fruit and pour mixture into ice pop moulds. Freeze until firm and enjoy!

If you want some more inspiration, try these healthy ice pops that kids will lick clean.

Let the kids and the adults swap roles and clothes for the day- or at least an hour or two. It will be lots of fun choosing what to wear as well as trying to find children’s clothes to fit the adults!

Upcycle old jam jars by painting them to use as pretty vases on your window sills.

With some simple ingredients, the kids can enjoy helping make homemade pizza and pizza dough (you could use ready made pizza bases too if you want).

Chop up some vegetables and other toppings, and let each person arrange on their own pizzas. Make some funny or scary faces out of your pizzas. Pop in the oven and serve for dinner.

Cut up old jeans to make shorts or an old T-shirt to make a sleeveless top, then design and decorate as you like. Adorn them with sequins, add buttons, or tie-dye them for something unique.

Root out any toy at home that works using a remote control. This could be a car, a dog, dinosaur or anything at all. Let your children choose which toy will be theirs for the race and line them up at a chalked out start line. Then let the race begin as each toy must compete to cross the finish line first. The toys can be swapped around for each race.

Kids love to bake and nothing beats the smell of home cooking. Enjoy some quality time baking a cake, be it for a birthday, a special occasion or just for fun.

If you’re looking for some ideas, you could try:

• Lemon bars
• Easy homemade Swiss Roll
• Upside-down ice cream cone cupcakes
• No butter and no eggs needed for this ‘Depression’ cake
• Easy bunny cupcakes
• Classic homemade flapjacks
• The always-popular lemon drizzle cake
• Melt in the mouth chocolate brownies
• A versatile vanilla traybake
• Berry muffins for breakfast or snacks

My children love to design their own jewellery using penne pasta. This is a great way to pass a few hours on a rainy day.

First the children paint the pasta. Once dry, thread some string through various coloured pasta to make bracelets and necklaces.

Perhaps there’s an old tin whistle or piano lying around at home. You could download some instructions and simple songs to learn too. You could also make some cheap instruments, using kitchen utensils (most popular in our house are pots, wooden spoons, tins, spatula) and form a band – check out our tips here.

A trip to the beach is always a fun day out, no matter what the season! If it’s a nice sunny day, you might want to check out our summer beach checklist, to make sure you don’t forget to pack an essential item!

Why not collect some stones and shells, and paint them when you return home to make some garden decorations? Try these beach craft ideas and 50 fun things to do at the beach with kids.

Play some games together. Parents recommend their top 20 board games for families, or you could try one of these unusual board games that are lots of fun!

Alternatively, enjoy more traditional ‘parlour’ games such as Consequences.

• Use old bottles that have a screw top, such as a water bottle. Remove any labels from the bottle.
• Paint the outside of the bottle using some fun coloured paints.
• When dry, fill the bottle with rice or lentils or beans. Each item you use to fill inside will make a different sound.
• Close the lid and add some stickers to the outside and your shaker is ready to use.

The art of daisy chain making is one that should be passed down to your children. Put a small slit in the stem of a daisy with your nail, and thread a stem of another daisy through it, and repeat to extend length. “Fashion” into necklaces and bracelets, or challenge the kids to see who can make the longest.

Have a story writing competition or write a play for puppets or for you all to perform. Help younger ones who may be unable to write but can still make up their own story. Let them illustrate their story with pictures.

Or create your own stories playing Chinese Whispers. See how different the story is by the time it reaches the end!

This is a great activity for older kids – set a challenge to see how many books/chapters can be read during the day. During summer, encourage your kids take part in a summer reading challenge.

Visit your local library to stock up on books, and if you need some suggestions we’ve got plenty!

• 20 Top Dinosaur Books for Your Little Bookasaurus
• 15 Weird and Wonderful Neil Gaiman Books Your Child Will Love
• These Humorous Books for Kids Are All Good for a Giggle
• 14 Epic Stories with Giants for Kids Who Love an Adventure!
• 30 Amazing Books for Kids Who Love David Walliams
• 23 Fantastic Books Like Harry Potter Your Child Might Enjoy

Remember playing Miss Mary Mack? Or A Sailor Went to Sea? Play these and make up some of your own ones too. More nursery rhyme activities here.

Many local museums are free to visit, they can be inspirational places and provide a learning experience. Often they have kids activities such as treasure hunts or activity sheets. Or join a tour to find out more about some of the objects in the museum.

A trip to the Library can pass a few hours as they often have colouring sheets and toys for children to play with. They sometimes have storytime too, which is great for younger children.

All you need is a drawing pad, and pencil. Draw an image in the same corner of the book on each page, and that each image changes only slightly. Stickmen are a good starting point, in different poses. Then you flip through the pages and watch their character start to move.

Wind chimes are a fun craft activity to do with your child, and can be made from a variety of materials you probably already have at home. If you want to have a go at making your own homemade wind chimes, we’ve got some tips and inspiration to get you started!

Not only will you be creating something completely unique to display at home, you can also upcycle and reuse items you would otherwise have thrown out.

You will need some paints and 2 large sheets of cardboard (or use A4 paper) and willing hands.

1. Working from the biggest to smallest hands, have each person dip her hands in her chosen paint and print them on the page, overlapping the handprints slightly as the group moves up the tree.
2. Use a paintbrush to add a tree trunk and then let all the paint dry.
3. Identify each set of handprints with a permanent marker.
4. Cut out the tree and glue it to the page. You could then date and frame this family handprint tree.

Set up a little grocery/mini supermarket with tins and packets. If you have a play till set up a checkout table and they can take it in turns to be the checkout person or the shopper. The ironing board made a great checkout in my youth! Have some bags ready to put the purchases in.

All you need is some balloons, and either table-tennis bats, or make your own bats using paper plates and sticks for handles. Clear some space in the hall and off they go.

Get a large roll of paper, like you use on easels/boards, and draw the outline of your child(ren) on the paper. They can then colour in, adding features, clothes etc. This is also a great winner at parties.

You could do each portraits of each other once the outline is drawn. Or if you don’t have paper, then draw the outline in chalk outside and decorate afterwards.

If you have a giant cardboard box, why not draw a town on the bottom of the box, with roads, tracks, bridges, parks, car-parks, etc. Add some wooden building blocks, cars, trains and some wooden/plastic animals.

Older kids could help with decorating/creating the scene. Or convert an old shoe box into a dolls house or garage.

Apparently skimming stones is a skill! But if you can find a small rounded, flat stone you should manage to skim it enough to impress your little ones.

All you need for this ingenious activity is some string or wool (preferably red), sticky tape, and a hallway. You need to create a grid using the string/wool that the kids will then attempt to pass through without touching the string or “laser”. Anyone who does touch the laser has to return to the start line again.

You can begin with an easy grid and increase the level of difficulty with age and ability. It will occupy them for hours! And you may want to have a go yourself!

Browse through your phone, camera or your pictures on the computer and print off your favourite family photos. Then let the kids arrange them in a photo album.

Or use them to create a collage of a special family time.

Give kids old magazines/catalogues and get them to cut out pictures of heads, bodies, legs and shoes. They can then have some fun mixing them up, and gluing on blank sheets of paper.

The movie will be a delight to watch when your small ones have grown up and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. The movie can be about everyday tasks or you could dress up and bring out the inner actors in you and yours!

There are some great movie maker downloads for tablets and mobile phones, if you don’t have a video camera.

Alternatively, here’s how to make a stop motion movie, which kids will also enjoy.

A great way to get rid of unused toys, have your friends or neighbours do a toy clear out and then gather to swap your old toys for something new.

Tell some jokes you love. The classic “Knock Knock” jokes or perhaps “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road”? Find out who is the wittiest in your house!

Check out all our jokes here!

There’s nothing better than the smell of cookies wafting through the house! Set their little hands to work with one of these easy cookie recipes to follow or join in the fun too.

Jigsaws are a whole-family activity that can work well between differently-aged siblings.

Set each member of the family up with a puzzle to suit their skill level, all helping each other finish, or create teams to work on large puzzle together.

You can even make your own family-photo jigsaws using an enlarged photo printed onto plain paper from your computer.

Juggling is a fun activity, albeit a challenge to learn. Juggling helps your hand/eye coordination, encourages brain growth and is also a great way to de-stress.

Bean bags are a better choice to start with for beginners as otherwise you will tire yourself out running around after tennis balls or other bouncy balls.

With your Hulas at the ready, get those hips moving and try to control your hoop longer than everyone else.

Whistling can seem a bit hard at first, but practice makes perfect. Once that mastered why not try whistling through a blade of grass. Not as easy as it sounds, place the flat grass leaf between your 2 thumbs and blow through, to make a most unusual sound.

Pick some flowers and place them either in a flower press or between 2 sheets of paper in the middle of a big book. Put some more heavy books on top of the book if using and leave for a few days.

Once the flowers have dried and are pressed, you can use them to decorate craft projects, homemade bookmarks, or for cards to give to friends and family.

Take a large jar, or cut the top off a large plastic water bottle, and put outside in the rain. At regular intervals or when the rain has stopped, measure the height of the rain that day or hour and make a chart of the rainfall over time.

Can you reach 4 or more levels of your card house? Check out this video showing a cool card house technique!

Set your alarm clock and wake your children in time to watch the sun rise. Then get out the paints later and have them paint the sunrise they saw.

Glam up your summer shoes by adding sequins, ribbons and buttons to them. Use craft glue and any items you have lying around at home. Or use beads and paint to upcycle your trainers.

Hold a family game of football in the garden or ask your neighbours to join in and choose teams. If stuck indoors have a family tournament using a smaller soft ball.

Have the kids participate in your own boot camp. Ease them in to it by having them walk 2 laps of the garden. Next let them jog around. Throw in some jumping jacks, lunges, squats and leg lifts. Are they sweating yet? Try the What’s Your Name Exercise Challenge! Or how about some hula hooping, frog jumping or skipping. Cool down afterwards.

Take turns painting each other’s faces. You can say what you want to be, as in a tiger or let your face painter surprise you. Take photos of the handiwork!

Or have each child ask questions about what they could be and let them guess what you have painted them as.

One person thinks of a thing or a person and the others have to guess what it is but are only allowed to ask questions that get a Yes or a No answer. The others must guess by the 20th question. First one to guess gets to pick the next item to be guessed.

Or write something on a piece of paper and each person sticks it on their head and has to ask questions to help them guess what they are.

Gather up some of your old socks, and some items for eyes, mouths, and noses, to make some sock puppets.

If your kids can sew, they can add the decorating with needle and thread, but for younger kids use glue. You could create a puppet theatre in a cardboard box, and let the kids put on a puppet show for you – be sure to record it though.

Stare at your opponent while trying not to blink. Whoever closed their eyes first loses.

Charades can be played with any type of word or phrase, but with kids you may find that movie titles work best. Most kids are familiar with many simple movie titles such as Sleeping Beauty or The Lion King. And even the youngest can act out Pinocchio!

All you need is plastic bottles, filled with rice, and paints and a ball. Fill the bottles with rice, and tightly close/glue the lid back on. Next paint the bottles, with some funny faces and bodies, patterns and numbers etc. Grab a ball and all set to play.

One person kicks off a story saying something like “One day a man was in the jungle. Unfortunately he met a lion”. The next person has to be the Fortunately person, so e.g. “Fortunately the man was a lion tamer”. And so on.

By far the most popular amongst our parents, and still one of the best childhood games for all ages.

“I loved playing Kick the Can! I still love watching the kids play it now!” – Jacqueline

What You Need:

• A group of at least 3 friends
• A small can/bucket or something you can use as “can” (can be wall or other base also)

How to Play:

1. One person is picked to be on and counts to 30, while the others run away and hide.
2. When the person who is ‘on’ finds a player hiding, they run back to the can/base, and shout “Tip the can, I see X…”
3. If the player that is on catches everyone, then the first person caught is next on.
4. A player who is hiding can win by touching the can and shouting “Tip the can, I free all”

“I have great memories of playing this on street with my friends” – Dervla

How to Play:

1. The game is played between two lines of players, who link their arms to form a chain.
2. The game starts when the first team calls out “Red rover, red rover, we call [name of player on opposite team] over”. The person called is to run to the other line and break the other team’s chain (formed by the linking of hands).
3. If the person called fails to break the chain, s/he joins that team. However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, this player may select either of the two “links” broken by the successful run, and take them to join their original team.
4. The other team then calls out “Red rover…” and play continues.
5. When only one player is left on a team, they also must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

“We used to play in the school yard and after school for hours! If you had no one to play with, you used 2 chairs for legs to practice.” – Jacqueline

What You Need:

• 3 friends at least
• A long piece of elastic, knotted to a loop – at least 2m long

How to Play:

1. Two children stand inside the loop so they are stretching it relatively taut around their ankles.
2. The others chant the rhyme “England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Inside, Outside, On the Scales“.
3. The third person starts with left foot inside the elastic loop and right foot just outside [this is England in rhyme]. Jump over to to the other side so right foot is inside the loop and left foot is outside [this is Ireland]. Repeat same moves for Scotland, Wales. They then jump both feet “Inside”, both feet “Outside” and then land both feet on elastic for “On the Scales”.
4. If pass this level, the height of the elastic is raised to knees, then thighs, then waist.

Can also be played solo, with elastic around 2 chairs.

This is one of those classic childhood games that appeals to all ages, from preschoolers to older kids.

How to Play:

1. One child stands apart with his back to the other children, who should be a good distance away. He or she is Mr Wolf.
2. The group calls out “What’s The Time, Mr Wolf?”
3. Mr Wolf replies with a time – for example, “It’s 2 o’clock”. The group then takes 2 steps forward, towards Mr Wolf, and asks again, “What’s The Time, Mr Wolf?”
4. This time he might say “It’s 10 o’clock”, in which case the group would take 10 steps forward.
5. The group is attempting to reach Mr Wolf without him first catching them. When Mr Wolf senses that somebody is close, he can call out, instead of a time like before, “It’s Dinner Time!”, at which point he can finally turn around and see where everybody is, then try to catch somebody before they can make it back to the starting line. Lots of screaming and excitement at this point!

“With four auntie Marys, once “M” was called one of us would always win!” – Steve

How to Play:

1. One player is leader and stands on one side of the road/garden.
2. They call out a letter, and everyone else on the other side takes one step for every aunt or uncle whose name began with that letter.
3. First to reach the leader wins.

How to Play:

1. The play area is usually a large hall or large area of a playing field, though there are no definition of the size of the pitch nor the number of players as long as there is enough space for the players to manoeuvre and enough players to have fun.
2. Most commonly one or two players – though this number may be higher in large spaces – are selected to play the parts of the “bulldogs”. The bulldogs stand in the middle of the play area.
3. All remaining players stand at one end of the area (home). The aim of the game is to run from one end of the field of play to the other, without being caught by the bulldogs.
4. When a player is caught, they become a bulldog themselves.
5. The winner is the last player or players ‘free’.

How to Play:

1. One player is on. They have to chase the other players. If have a big group, can have 2 players on.
2. Once caught, that person must stand with legs wide, and arms out – they are “stuck in the mud”.
3. Another player can release players who are “stuck in the mud” by running under arms (if kids very small) or crawling through their legs.
4. The player who is on must catch everyone before he wins game – all players must be “stuck in the mud”.

How to Play:

1. Start with a single child (the “farmer”) in the centre of a circle of children.
2. The children sing: The farmer wants a wife, the farmer wants a wife , Ee – I – ally – o, the farmer wants a wife. Who do you want for your wife, who do you want for your wife Ee – I – ally – o, who do you want for your wife?”
3. The “farmer” then selects a “wife” from the outer circle, and she joins him in the centre. The children continue to circle in the following verses, the two circles moving in opposite directions and the inner circle growing (and the outer one shrinking) as each verse is sung :
4. The wife wants a child, the wife wants a child, Ee – I – ally – o, the wife wants a child…..
5. The child wants a nurse….
6. The nurse wants a dog…..
7. The dog wants a pat……..
8. We all pat the dog……….and the “dog” is “patted” vigorously on the back by everyone, and becomes the “farmer” in the next round of the game.

One of the most popular childhood games of all time!

What You Need:

• Chalk if outside, masking tape if inside
• A pebble, small beanbag, button or other small marker to throw

How to Play:

1. Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on the ground (or use masking tape on a floor). Create a diagram with 9 sections and number them. Each player has a marker such as a stone, beanbag or button
2. The first player stands behind the starting line to toss her or his marker in square 1. Hop over square 1 to square 2 and then continue hopping to square 9, turn around, and hop back again. Pause in square 2 to pick up the marker, hop in square 1, and out.
3. Then continue by tossing the stone in square 2. All hopping is done on one foot unless the hopscotch design is such that two squares are side-by-side. Then two feet can be placed down with one in each square.
4. A player must always hop over any square where a maker has been placed.
5. A player is out/returns to beginning of game, if the marker fails to land in the proper square, the hopper steps on a line, the hopper looses balance when bending over to pick up the marker and puts a second hand or foot down, the hopper goes into a square where a marker is, or if a player puts two feet down in a single box.
6. The player puts the marker in the square where he or she will resume playing on the next turn, and the next player begins.

Similar to hopscotch. Aim is to kick a shoe-polish tin into the numbered squares, while hopping.

What You Need:

• Minimum 4 players
• Beanbag/jumper/hat for the “bacon”

How to Play:

1. Divide the players into 2 teams, and line up opposite each other, a good distance apart. Assign a number to each player – a one on each team, a two on each team etc. These pairs will run opposite each other.
2. The “bacon” is place in the centre.
3. The referee or one team player not running shouts go and the two number 1’s run to middle and try “snatch the bacon” and return to their team.
4. Winning team is one who makes most snatches of the “bacon”.

How to Play:

1. This games needs a minimum of 5 players and some clear space.
2. The person designated on, stands in the middle, with the other 4 players standing in four corners.
3. The player standing in corners try to swap places, without person in middle getting to a corner first.
4. If the middle player gets to the corner, the person caught without a corner becomes the middle player.

How to Play:

1. This games needs a minimum of 5 players and some clear space.
2. The person designated on, stands in the middle, with the other 4 players standing in four corners.
3. The player standing in corners try to swap places, without person in middle getting to a corner first.
4. If the middle player gets to the corner, the person caught without a corner becomes the middle player.

How to Play:

1. One player is chosen to be on and they stand at top, about 10m from others, with their backs to them.
2. The player who is on shouts “1-2-3 Green Lights” while the other players move up behind them.
3. The player who is on then shouts “No Laughing, no talking, no moving, Red Lights” and turns around quickly. Any player caught moving, talking or laughing must go back to start line.
4. The first person to tap the play who is on, becomes the next person on.

We may be showing our age with this one, but sometimes these childhood games are the best!

How to Play:

1. One person (the leader) has to stand on one side of the road and think of a TV programme while another group of children stand on the other side of the road opposite him/her.
2. The leader then has to give clues about the programme for e.g. it’s on a Tuesday night on RTE 1 at 6 o’clock and the initials are T. S. N. then the leader shouts ‘GO’
3. If one of the children from the group across the road think they know the answer the have to run over and back to the leader 3 times and then shout their answer in this case ‘The Six o’clock News’.
4. If they are right they become the new leader. If they are wrong they are eliminated from the game and the leader must give more clues until eventually someone from the group names the show correctly and becomes the new leader.

“We play it where members of the group are eliminated by failing to keep up with the prescribed beat, or eliminated as a result of being chosen as one of the accused.” – Annette

How to Play:

This is a sing-along song/game. It is usually performed as a fun game, with the children sitting or standing in a circle. Each child gets a number starting at 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

The song usually begins with the group leader asking who stole the cookie from the cookie jar, followed by the number of one of the children in the circle. A clapping beat accompanies the song – a hand clap followed by a clap on the knees.

The song’s lyrics are:

• Accuser: Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
• Number …….  stole the cookie from the cookie jar.
• Accused: Who, me?
• Accuser/Group: Yes, you!
• Accused: Couldn’t be!
• Accuser/Group: Then who?

This is followed by the “accused” saying the number of another child in the circle and the subsequent back-and-forth lines are repeated.

What You Need:

• A group of at least 3 friends
• A small ball or something similar

How to Play:

1. Pick a person to be the “Queenie” and that person turns their back to everyone else.
2. The Queenie then throws the ball over her shoulder and one of the other players needs to catch it or pick it up.
3. All of the players except the Queenie need to put their hands behind their backs so the Queenie doesn’t know who has the ball.
4. The Queenie then turns around and everyone shouts: “Queenie I O who’s got the ball? Are they big or are they tall? Are they fat or are they thin? Or are they like a rolling pin?” 
5. The Queenie has to guess who has the ball through a process of elimination.
6. If the person with the ball is the last one to be picked, that person becomes the new Queenie.

“My favourite childhood games was curbs – I loved it!” – Jen

What You Need:

• 2 friends
• A big ball like football/basketball

How to Play:

1. You stand on the path on one side of the road and your friend stands on the other side and you have to try hit the kerb on the opposite side so it bounces back at you, scoring a point.
2. If it bounces back and you catch, you can continue playing scoring points.
3. If you miss, play switches to other player.
4. You got extra points if you can throw it over a car and hit the kerb, or if you throw backwards over your head.
5. First player to 20 points wins.

How to Play:

1. Players stand in a circle, and throw the ball to each other without dropping.
2. If a person drops the ball, they get a letter from the word “D-O-N-K-E-Y”, so first time “D”, second time is “O”, and so on until one player has reached DONKEY. That person is out and play continues until one person left wins.

Childhood games that can incorporate a variety of ages, from young kids to adults, are a great way to spend a sunny weekend.

“We loved this game and played it with all the family, and anyone else visiting. Occupied many a summer’s evening!” – Jennifer

What You Need:

• Some good space (garden/beach)
• A ball
• A bat (or a tennis racket)
• Four items to mark out four bases.

How to Play:

1. Lay the rounders field out in a square, marking 4 bases with items.
2. Divide into two teams – one team will bat and run between the bases, the other team will bowl the ball and try to catch it out in the field or pitch. Each team takes turns batting and bowling.
3. One person from the team stands in the first base with the bat and is the batter. The bowler has to throw the ball in the direction of the batter, but not below the knee or above the head of the batter.
4. The batter hits the ball – they have three goes and can run to the first base at any time, once ball is hit.
5. When the next batter strikes, they then run to the first base and the person who went before them, runs to the second one or further on if they can.
6. A runner is “out” if: The ball they hit is caught by the other team, before ball hits ground /before reaching their target base a fielder (player on the opposite team) holding the ball touches the base.
7. The objective of the game is to get as many of the team home before three people are caught and put out. Then the teams swap roles and try to do the same.

“I spent hours on end playing Sevens with my friends! Great thing was you could play on your own too!” – Jill

What You Need:

• Tennis ball
• A flat wall

How to Play:

1. Player stands a comfortable distance from the wall. When starting the game, being closer to the wall is better. As the game goes on, player will figure out how to adjust the distance for each task.
2. They follow these steps until finished with all seven rounds:
3. Onesies: Throw the ball against the wall and catch it before it bounces.
4. Twosies: Throw the ball against the wall and let it bounce one before catching it. Do this step twice.
5. Threesies: Throw the ball against the wall and clap before catching it. Do this step three times.
6. Foursies: Throw the ball against the wall, spin around, and catch it after the first bounce. Do this step four times.
7. Fivesies: Throw the ball against the wall, clap twice behind your back, and catch it. Do this step five times.
8. Sixies: Throw the ball against the wall, bend down and touch the ground and catch it. Do this step six times.
9. Sevens: Throw the ball against the wall, jump and clap hands once in front of you and catch the ball. Do this step seven times.
10. If the player drops the ball, he has to return to the beginning of the seven rounds and start over. Once all steps have been completed, he wins!

Whether your outdoor space extends to lush lawns, a patio, deck or balcony it can be quickly and easily transformed to create the perfect outdoor area for inviting friends and family round to enjoy a day or evening of entertainment.

With these tips and ideas on entertaining outdoors, we hope to inspire you to make the most of your outdoor space this summer and beyond.

Is there anything better than cooking outdoors on a warm summer afternoon or evening and enjoying relaxed time with family and friends? Get your BBQ fired up and enjoy some tasty treats from tangy citrus delights to potato boats and a delicious S’mores dip, the perfect way to round off your feast!

Be sure to grill safely with these top BBQ tips and some extra recipes.

For a break with tradition, a pizza party is not only great fun, but everyone can customise their toppings to get exactly what they want so there is no waste!

Best of all you can get perfect pizzas in 3 minutes with the portable Sahara tabletop pizza oven from Calor, or by adding a pizza stone to your BBQ, so you can even cook your creations outdoors too.

Prepare your dough in advance and set out a selection of pizza toppings for everyone to customise their own pizza, before baking to perfection and settling down to enjoy your Italian feast.

Evening get togethers are always enjoyable but often we don’t consider using our outdoor space for evening gatherings. You can easily extend your time outdoors by adding heat and light to your outdoor space.

Whether you are having drinks and nibbles or plan on serving a meal or takeaway, set the scene with solar powered, battery or plug in lights or lanterns to make your outdoor space look beautiful.

Be creative and think about where else you can include lights to showcase your plants, or create a canopy of lights by hanging them overhead.

To stay cosy, have throws and cushions available and check out the range of outdoor heaters from Calor. They really do have an option for all outdoor spaces with everything from tabletop and free standing patio heaters to flame towers, ensuring you and your guests stay cosy no matter what the weather.

And with their renewable 6kg and 11kg gas tanks, Calor have the perfect fit for your outdoors and are kinder to the planet too.

Once you have your heating and lighting set up, you can be creative with your evening entertainment.

We love hosting cinema nights in the garden with kids, grandparents and neighbours all invited round to watch a family movie under the stars. We have a small projector, which are easy to source from local electrical retailers or online, and we use the side of the house as our screen!

Add in cushions, bean bags or deck chairs, popcorn and treats and you are ready to go! It is a real treat on warm summer nights for kids and adults alike.

No good outdoor gathering would be complete without a round of s’mores! Fire up the BBQ or heater, hand out the skewers, biscuits, chocolates and marshmallows and you are ready to go. Or you could try this tasty s’mores dip.

For the pot luck element of your party, ask guests to bring along a ready prepared dish that everyone can tuck into before cooking your s’mores.

Add a theme to your outdoor get together to get everyone in the party mood!

Ask guests to arrive in outfits/costumes associated with the theme and prepare food, music, decorations and games to tie in with the theme. You’ll find loads of themed party ideas in our party section to get you started.

If you would prefer to keep it simple, have a dance party, all you need is some music and enthusiastic guests!

If you have the space, a homemade obstacle course is a great way to keep kids, teens and adults entertained.

For fun outdoor games that require no equipment or set up, check out how to play everything from Land, Sea, Air to Choose Your Corner!

For smaller spaces, or to simply keep the kids entertained, you could organise a scavenger hunt.

Finally how about an outdoor family board games night? Just make sure you invite the neighbours so the inevitable family arguments don’t keep them awake!

We hope these entertaining ideas inspire you to make the most of your outdoor area and to safely enjoy time with family and friends outdoors at home.

Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens in Cork is operated by Irish Heritage Trust, an independent charity. The Gardens extend to over 40 hectares and the Arboretum is set in over 11 hectares. The Arboretum is home to a unique collection of rare trees and shrubs. In addition, visitors can enjoy an ornamental pond, orangery, sun temple, formal gardens and much more.

There is no charge to visit the Arboretum and Gardens where you can enjoy walks, digging for history, a honey bee adventure and lots of fun outdoor activities and events suitable for all ages. For those looking for more eco-friendly options, did you know that you can even get to Fota House by train? So leave the car behind and head to Fota House for a eco-friendly adventure designed to be family-friendly!

The Fota Junior Pollinator Trail is the perfect introduction to bees with an activity trail around 12 stations that will have children buzzing! They will learn about pollination, the Queen Bee and other types of bees, plants and flowers that bees love and they will also get to observe a working hive.  Trail maps are available free from the welcome desk.

There are several outdoor fun nature trails to enjoy at Fota House including:

• Junior Plant Hunters Activity Trail collect your activity book and take the trail to discover everything there is to see and do in the Gardens and Arboretum. A fun way to spend a morning or afternoon discovering nature.
• Little Explorers Trail is a fun trail around the Gardens and Arboretum to explore the wonders of nature.
• Plant Hunters Tree Trail is a trail to identify rare and unusual species at Fota. It is a free-ranging trail suitable for families with older kids and teens and adults.

You will find ducks on the pond in the Arboretum. See if you can spot any ducklings. And count how many different colours are in their feathers.

The Arboretum at Fota House is home to many rare species of trees, flowers and plants. Be sure to take a stroll around it and see if you can discover a tree, plant, flower or shrub you many not have known before. Don’t miss the fern garden!

There are some wonderful spots to enjoy a picnic on your visit to Fota House. Pack some goodies to enjoy before you leave home or you could stop by the Bakestone Café and buy some treats.

Throughout the year you can enjoy events at Fota House, Arboretum and Gardens. During the summer months many of these take place outdoors including outdoor cinema screenings, outdoor theatre and markets. Be sure to follow Fota House on Facebook to keep up-to-date with all the upcoming events that are happening there.

For eco-friendly travel to visit Fota House and Gardens why not go by train? There is a station at Fota and it will take approximately 15 minutes to walk to Fota House. The route is well signposted. Trains to Fota run from Cork city centre.

This scavenger hunt is fun for all ages. Preschoolers will enjoy looking for things, and you can also make it more challenging for older children by setting a time limit!

You can download our free Nature Scavenger Hunt here – then print it out and let the kids loose for some scavenging and hunting fun!

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Put the treasures you find along the way to good use with some fun craft projects and activities:

• Create your own botanical artwork with this easy nature project that could be adapted for all ages.
• Use the different colours, shapes and textures of leaves for these eye-catching leaf craft ideas.
• Give pebbles and rocks you find along your walk a new look with your own adorable pebble cactus craft project.

You’ll need a big plastic sheet or tarpaulin spread out on the ground, ideally on a slope. Use a small amount of an inexpensive bottle of shampoo or liquid soap and drizzle over the tarp to make it slippy, then start the hose running.

Create your own bubble mix and see if you can blow giant bubbles big enough to stand inside!

1. Pour enough bubble solution into a kiddie pool to cover the inside in at least an inch of liquid (if you keep it clean, you can scoop it out to save for later when you are done).
2. Then place a clean hula hoop in the pool and carefully step into the middle of the hoop.  Avoid splashing as much as you can, as any foam will make the bubbles less effective.
3.  Have two friends grab either side of the hula hoop by the outside edges.  If they lift it up at the same time, it should make a bubble that stretches as high as they can reach.

Once someone is in the bubble, you can see who can stay inside the longest without it popping or try to do tricks, like touch your toes without bursting the bubble.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Keep younger ones occupied “painting” things with water – either pictures on ground, or get them to “paint” the shed or fence.

Fill water balloons with water, divide the amount of balloons up and place them on opposite ends of the garden. Next split up into teams and stand facing each other. When the signal is given, begin throwing water balloons at the other team. When a player is hit, the other team scores a point.

Play until all the balloons are gone, the members of one team have all been hit, or a certain number of points have been reached.

Divide into two teams and line up behind a starting line. Each team gets an empty bucket and a large sponge. They have to run to the finish line where there are 2 large buckets filled with water.

The first person runs to his/her team’s water bucket, dunks the sponge in, runs back and squeezes it out into the team’s empty bucket then passes it to the next person and so on.

As a bit of extra fun, you can make it a rule that the wet sponges must be carried above the players heads as they run back from the water buckets for more wet fun!

Play water limbo with your garden hose, turn it on full and everyone has to limbo under the water stream. Once everyone has gone under, the stream gets lowered!

You’ll need a spray bottle, small bucket or water gun for each player.

• One player is “It”.
• You can only “tag” a person and get him to “freeze” by spraying him with water.
• Then the rest of the players can only unfreeze their teammates by spraying them with water.
• If the person who’s “It” can freeze everyone at the same time, they win and the game starts again.

Set up a hoop in the garden. If you don’t have a basketball hoop, then string up a hula hoop. Divide into two teams and give each team a wet sponge. They have to shoot the sponge through the hoop.

Start with the sprinkler/hose turned off. Players have to move around the garden, jumping, dancing or striking funny poses. Then, when the sprinkler/hose is turned on, they have to freeze in position and get watered until the sprinkler/hose is turned off again.

You will need a bucket for each player, plus two empty “team buckets” and 12 small kitchen sponges (6 for each team)…and water obviously!

• Divide into two teams and line each team up behind each other. The first person is the Thrower, the rest are the Catchers.
• Each Thrower has the bucket of water with 6 sponges and stands about 2 meters in front of his team with his back to them. He throws a wet sponge backwards over his head and each Catcher has an empty bucket and has to try to catch the sponges without stepping out of line (if possible).
• At the end of the round, the Thrower collects the caught sponges and wrings them out into the “team bucket”. At the end of three rounds the team with the most water in their “team bucket” wins.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Small tools that the kids can use are great as they can dig alongside you then. I bought a little gardening set for my daughters that had a small trowel, small fork and a mat to lean their knees on.

Take out a magnifying glass into the garden and have your child see how many worms, bugs etc. they can spot. This turns the garden into a fun exciting place to explore.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Plant bulbs and see whose bulb grows the fastest and flowers first.

Let each child have their own patch where they can sow seeds of their own.

Sow seeds in the shape of your child’s name in seeds, e.g. pansies. You can buy some flower packets that give you the tape to mark out their name and the seeds go on the tape then and get covered in soil.

Watching the sunflowers or beans grow taller, and measuring them every week is super fun for kids. Have a little notebook where they can write down the height each week and track the growth.

Get the wellies on, hand over the watering can and/or hose, and let them at it…!

Plant butterfly-friendly flowers to encourage garden wildlife. Build a bug hotel and make sure to leave a corner with some wood and leaf debris for other insects and hedgehogs to hide under.

Planting things to eat e.g. cress, rocket leaves, vegetables. Here’s how to grow a pizza garden and you might also enjoy growing your own salad bowl.

They naturally want to pull on things so getting them weeding is handy! Show them which plants are weeds and which are to be left.

Try planting some unusual varieties of veggies, for example purple carrots, striped beets, ‘Easter egg’ radishes.

Garden centres are fun places to take kids as they enjoy wandering in and out of the plants and containers. For more inspiration, why not visit a garden centre or gardens near you?