27 ways to entertain grandchildren during the summer

27 ways to entertain grandchildren during the summer

I look after Bear, who is three and Bee who is nearly one, for four days a week. During school term Bear goes to pre-school for a few hours each morning. Now it's the summer holidays we have to entertain them both, without breaking the bank.

Sadly many places put up their entrance fees during the holidays so days out cost more. It's also harder when one child is not walking, many places are out of bounds at the moment, mostly because I do not want to carry Bee and he doesn't want to be carried.

We are lucky in Wales as museums are free and once you hit sixty then all residents are entitled to a free bus pass. So what do we do to entertain the little ones?

Annual Passes

We have both National Trust and CADW membership. It allows free parking and entrance to their properties. Children are free up to five years old so very good value.

We love the gardens and parkland of the National Trust and we have so many castles near us that are managed by CADW that we could visit a different one each week during the summer.

Cardiff Castle is in the centre of the city and all residents can get a Castle Key for a few pounds that gives free entrance for three years. It's a great place to have a picnic and really convienient for the cafe and toilets. If you have a venue you love near you check on annual passes. Just a few visits during the summer can easily cover the initial outlay.

The Park

Don't forget the local park with a playground. This is always Bears favourite, he would be happy to go every day, it's just that I get bored of them too quickly!

The Beach

We are lucky to live within thirty to forty five minutes drive of some gorgeous beaches. We take a picnic, the usual bucket and spade and a net to catch any unsuspecting crabs.

Museums

All our museums are free, many have special events on over the summer which are aimed at children of all ages.
We also have the Museum Of Welsh Life at St Fagans. It's an open air museum and costs £5 for all day parking.

The Garden

This year the weather has been fantastic so we have spent lots of time in the garden. Paddling pools, water fights, gardening and growing vegetables. Bear loves to collect the ripe tomatoes every day.

We have a sand table where Bear can play happily and a tuff tray that we can put an inch or two of water in that Bee just loves.

Crafts

On wet days we just put on waterproofs and go out anyway but it's always good to have some crafts available when they can't get out into the garden.

Our favourites are painting, drawing and cutting. Bear will spend ages cutting paper into bits "making snow".

Sculpture Trails/Nature Reserves

We have two sculpture trails that are free to visit near us. One newly refurbished at Fforest Fawr and one that has new sculptures added at regular intervals at Garwnant.

Nature reserves are fascinating and many are free to visit.

This is just some of the things we have done over the last few weeks, still stuck for ideas?

Fly a Kite

Have a Picnic

Go On a Bike Ride

Build Sand Castles

Wash the Car

Go On a Bug Hunt

Blow Bubbles (easy bubble mixture - 1 part washing up liquid, 5 parts water, stir gently do not shake! and 1 tablespoon of glycerin)

Feed the Ducks (not bread please!)

Have a Bus Ride

Play Snap! 

Bake Cakes or bread or anything

Dressing Up (They love it especially if you have a jewellry box with costume jewellry)

Watch Clouds - use their imagination to see what shapes they can see. An elephant? A helicopter?

Have a Treasure Hunt - Treasure can be anything, they choose what to have for lunch, time on a tablet, a film of their choice and so on.

Make Play Dough

Jump In Puddles

Read a Book or tell them a story

Find A Pokemon

Play Board Games

Do a JigSaw Puzzle

Play Football

Roll Down a Hill

Paint Faces On Stones

Go Fishing


Ok that's a lot more than 27 and if you need more ideas check out our 5 Minute Games For Toddlers

Lets hope the summer comes back so we can get out and do these things! What is your favourite summer activity?

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