When the sun comes out and the days get longer we seem to naturally want to spend more time outside.
It can be hard sometimes though, to think of things to do as a family other than heading to the local park.
If you’re a bit lost for things to do, here are some fun, family-friendly ideas for ways to enjoy the great outdoors this summer.
Go rock hunting
Or paint your own then head outside and find somewhere fun to hide them.
Have you come across this in your local area yet? It seems to be slowly taking off here in Swansea. It’s sort of like a big, ongoing game of hide and seek but with fun, painted rocks. So you paint a rock, write a note on the back telling people where to post about it on Facebook when they find it and then hide it somewhere outside.
If you find one, take a photo of it and share it on the Facebook group that’s written on the back and then take it somewhere else to hide it again for someone else to find.
Hit the beach
If you’re as lucky as we are and live close to the coast then heading to the beach is a great way to spend time together as a family.
With all the paddling and swimming in the sea, building sandcastles and digging holes, along with the lovely sea air I always find we come away from the beach feeling happy and ready for a good night’s sleep.
If you don’t live near the coast then you can really make a day of it and jump in the car or hop on a train to the beach.
Sleep under the stars
One thing we’ve not done yet as a family, but that my children would love to try, is camping.
Now that they sleep quite well I might be tempted to give it a try this summer. I can definitely see the appeal of camping somewhere on Gower and waking up right by the beach in the morning. And glamping sounds like even more fun, and perhaps a little more comfortable.
If you’re not up for camping in the middle of nowhere, you could still have so much fun doing it in your back garden (if it’s big enough). And that way you’re right by all the comforts of home if you need them!
You can get some really lovely garden and camping bell tents these days, which you could easily pack in the car to take to a campsite or put up in the garden to sleep in at night and then let the children use as a playhouse during the day.
Visit the woods
On those summer days that aren’t all sunshine and blue skies you can still have great fun in the great outdoors by heading for the local woods to go exploring.
My children love wandering round our local woods, playing with sticks and seeing how far they can throw stones into the stream.
There are some great health benefits to walking in the woods too, including helping us feel less stressed thanks to the special phytoncides that some forest trees emit. These phytoncides have been found to reduce our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Go on a walk with a difference
If you find that your children are a bit reluctant to go out for a simple walk, then try making it more fun by going on a treasure trail.
You can download a booklet from the treasure trial website which then leads you on a walk as you solve around 20 clues to solve a mystery. It sounds like so much fun, getting the whole family outside and working together to find the answers. There are trials all around the UK and as much as possible they’ve been made accessible for wheelchairs and buggies.
Give geocaching a try
If you have children that are slightly older then geocaching is a great idea for making a walk more interesting.
Anyone can join in with geocaching and it’s completely free, you just need a mobile with GSP enabled on it. If you’ve not heard of it before, then here are the basics of geocaching. Someone will take a waterproof box and put a little log book and pen inside, along with a little item like a toy, or foreign coins or a decorative button.
They’ll then hide the box somewhere and upload the coordinates of the place they’ve hidden it to the website. Other people will then get the coordinates and go hunting for the box. When they find it they make a note in the log book so say when they were there. If they want to they can take the little trinket from the box and put something new in there for the next person to find.
I hope these ideas have got you raring to go and ready to head out the front door and spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors this summer.
What other things do you like to do as a family that get you out and about?
Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post