The summer holidays are already upon us, although after months of lockdown it doesn’t feel as though much has really changed… or is that just our house! We have been blessed with weeks of beautiful sunshine. Here are my top picks to really embrace our British summertime and make those family memories of long lazy summer days spent outdoors in nature.
1. Den kit Co – The Cottage Garden Den Kit
This Den Kit is my favouite of the series, although they are all fantastic for making outdoor shelters. It contains a tarpaulin, ground sheet, a handmade mallet, tent pegs and a tent peg bag, rope, bunting, a helpful ideas sheet full of den building tips, a kaleidoscope and a patterns in nature booklet.
“Offering every child an outdoor experience whatever the weather, our whimsical Cottage Garden Den Kit was lovingly designed to capture creative imaginations, encourage resourcefulness and innovation, provide escape and sanctuary, and most of all supply hours and hours of simple fun. For boys and girls, for everywhere and for years to come – made for adventure.”
2. Den Kit Co – The Flower Press Kit
One of our favourite things to do on a lovely sunny day is head out for a walk in the countryside. The girls are at the age where they’re really noticing and enjoying the nature around them and wild flowers is one of their biggest interests. These flower press kits are a fun way of collecting natural treasures like flowers, leaves and seeds and preserving them for a future craft session.
“Preserving flowers by pressing is an age-old art, and one that deserves to be celebrated and cherished by every generation. This hand-crafted, wooden flower press enables a simple way for children to enjoy this absorbing and mindful activity, whilst preserving natural beauty for use in craft projects and study. This beautiful 210 x 100mm flower press is made from 10mm birch ply, with 8 cardboard trays and secured with stainless steel bolts and wing nuts. It comes with 8 sheets of blotting paper to place over your plant specimen and absorb moisture. With a hessian storage bag and an easy to follow flower press guide.”
3. Edx Dancing Ribbons
I love these beautiful rainbow dancing ribbons. A strong woven nylon hand strap, with 6 strands of 1 metre long colourful ribbon. Ideal for music and movement, co-ordination and physical play. We play with ours on windy days too, watching the ribbons whip around in the breeze.
4. Mud kitchen Play
A mud kitchen is an absolute staple for any outside play space. They provide an opportunity for exploration and experimentation, messy play, and role play. They are a fantastic open ended resource with as many possibilities as the child’s imagination; a kitchen, a shop, a café, a laboratory, an ice cream parlour, and they don’t have to even be muddy! Add pine cones, pebbles, flowers, sand, water, rice. Any number of natural materials and resources can be used to encourage mud kitchen play. Take a look at the Play Food and Kitchens and Potions sections on the website.
I love these Mud Mud Baby kitchens. They have beautiful designs, a selection of colours and all of their mud kitchens are completely handmade to order using responsibly sourced timber. The timber is treated so will not warp and will last outside for years!
5. Bug Hunting Kits
Children just love bugs, and summertime is full of creepy crawly insects. Let them explore and learn about the nature that surrounds us with their own bug hunting kit.
From just £9.99 for a Bug Hunting Kit with a rainbow viewer, magnifier, a long handled set of tongs and a tweezers to £26.99 for an Ultimate Bug Hunting Kit with wonderful wooden resources; two small treasure tubes, an easy hold magnifier, a hand lens and a set of tweezers. There’s a kit for every price range that will really encourage a love of nature and outdoor play.
6. Treasure Tubes
So many of you are enjoying these this summer holiday and I can totally see why! These beautiful wooden treasure tubes (also available as a block) are beautifully tactile, and a fantastic way to collect, display and explore all of those trinkets and treasures.
“Find trinkets, natural materials and sensory objects to collect in the beautiful, stackable Treasure Tubes. The round, transparent acrylic tubes with removable covers hold small objects to observe, display or rattle. Ideal for colour and sound exploration and light table activities. Holds marbles, beads, twigs, leaves, small toys and more. Stack the tubes on top of each other to customize play experience. Easy-to-remove wooden top keep objects securely in place until ready to be replaced.”
So… those are my top picks for the summer holidays. Hope it gave you some useful ideas. Have fun and enjoy your summer break 🙂
Anna xx