Let's get ready to summer...

The countdown is on! We are just over a week away from the summer holidays and we can't wait! Here are my top 5 things you could try, to help your summer run as smoothly as possible. 

1. Book tickets for attractions you want to visit.

With Covid restrictions still in place, many attractions are booking up well in advance. Most places offer an online calendar so you can see which dates are still available and some places even have a gauge so you can tell how close they are to selling out. 

We headed to Slimbridge (gifted tickets) over half term and can highly recommend a trip there over the summer. They have just launched a new app, which allows visitors to interact with the wildlife and learn more about their various species. There are even fun features such as selfie borders and quiz questions in the app! 

We took a picnic, which is great for keeping costs down and being able to eat wherever you are in the park, but there is also a café and refreshment stands available on site (Team Gore thoroughly recommends the ice cream).

2. Set up a snack station at home.

If your children are always hungry, there are some great snack station ideas out there. Some people give their children a set number of tokens or coins at the start of a day and they can ‘spend’ them at the snack station throughout the day. Generally, fruit and vegetable snacks cost less than, say, a packet of crisps.

We have a low, easily accessible cupboard and I fill up the snack box each week. The children know that if they eat all the ‘best’ snacks at the start of the week, they will be left with their least favourite snacks as the time goes on. It’s amazing how much their hunger decreases throughout the week! I also cut costs by buying larger packets or bags of rice cakes, crisps and breadsticks and then decanting them into reusable snack bags from Nom Nom Kids.

 

3. Fit in some 'sneaky' learning.

Encourage your children to write in a journal. This doesn’t need to be daily, perhaps after a day out of if they have had a great day or a memorable walk.

Ask your child to write a book review if they have read a new book. This can include library books or books borrowed from family members or siblings. If they're reluctant to write, try making a video review to share with others.

Ask your child to write a postcard to a friend or family member.

Head to the library and join their summer reading challenge. Take books to the beach or into the woods for added excitement!

As for maths skills. if you're playing together, ask your children to name shapes they can see or read numbers that appear on boxes, signs or play equipment. Use a tape measure to measure how far toy cars can travel when you launch them off a ramp. Weigh ingredients as you bake or explore capacity while having fun with water play.

 

4. Have a toy/activity/craft menu

Pre-sort and tidy all your toys, games and craft supplies and make a list of what you have. This will enable children to make choices about what to play with or create. I find it helpful to label boxes, so that anyone can easily tidy up and it doesn’t all fall on me! 

During your pre-sort, make sure all your games and puzzles are complete (thus avoiding frustration and arguments over the summer when pieces are found to be missing). Some companies, such as Orchard Toys, offer free replacement parts, so finding broken parts or pieces missing, doesn’t always to mean that something needs to be binned.

If any craft supplies are running low, now is a great time to replenish them. Some items may need to be bought, but lots can be collected from around the house, namely:

- Empty toilet roll tubes (these are fab for making bird feeders, pencil pots and so much more).

-  Packaging and tissue paper (super for collages, paper flowers, sun catchers etc).

-  Ice lolly sticks (great for making puppets, mini picture frames and models).

-  Straws (use for weaving, to make shapes or chop up to use as beads for bracelets).

- Empty jars (for glass painting and/or adding tea light to).

 

5. Start an adventure list. 

Seen somewhere cool on Instagram? Children fancy going to the beach? Why not compile a list so you don’t forget about things and work through it over the holidays and beyond. I find that this helps us plan days out in an instant and am always adding to ours and creating new ones once we've ticked everywhere off. We have found lots of amazing places by doing this, so we also make sure we head back to the favourites too! Obviously it helps if you have a car, but lots of the places we have been to are on public transport routes. For starters, if you live in Cheltenham, there’s a bus stop outside the Koloshi restaurant on London Road, which is a couple of minutes walk from both Lineover Wood and Dowdeswell Wood/reservoir. There are also a range of bus stops within walking distance of Robinswood Hill for those local to Gloucester.

I hope you found something you'd like to try, feel free to come and find us on Instagram to see what we get up to this summer!