I feel like I’ve written quite a lot of hard hitting stuff recently so I want to do a more light hearted post on who my children are and what we like to do!

My children, two girls aged six and four, are cheeky, wonderful, delightful, annoying, beautiful, tiring, engaging, challenging, intelligent, loving, maddening and full of laughter and I love them more than words can ever say.  I also have a 4 year old step son but he will make his debut into this blog in a later post.

My six year old started her life in a big big city in a two bedroom apartment in a tall building.  We didn’t have a car so we used to spend a lot of time roaming the city on public transport.  She was ten months old when she started to walk and not too much older when she learned to scoot.  We would take her to shopping centres early in the morning when it was quiet and she would spend hours scooting up and down.  We would often go to the many high quality parks in the city and to the museums; war museums, history museums, world heritage museums, art galleries which provided huge spaces for her to run around and explore.  

When my second daughter was born we had made the decision to move away from the big big city back to be nearer family.  We were still nearish a big city but much more in suburbia.  Much more leafy and open.  We had a house and we had a car which hugely opened up the kinds of places we could visit with the kids and how far we could travel in a day.

Here are some of my favourite things to do with the kids (weather permitting) both winter and summer.  

BEACHES 

We are about an hour to an hour and a half’s drive away from quite a few beaches which is more than doable on a warm sunny day.  The kids love it; splashing in the sea and sand tobogganing down the sand dunes.  You can buy sand sleds from Amazon and they’re great fun.  We have these and they’ve lasted well for us.   Even in the winter it’s doable for windy walks and sand boarding though we have to make an early start to make the most of the light!

NATIONAL TRUST

Now you may laugh at this but I honestly think it’s a perfect way to spend time with the kids.  No matter where you live there are bound to be two or three within driving distance.  There are castles and woods and gardens and flowers and vegetables and playgrounds and at Christmas/during the holidays – half term, Halloween, summer, Easter there are often trails, hunts, and crafty things to do which keep them occupied for a whole day.  Some may let you take bikes, some are on the edge of a lake with watersports, some are at the beach.  There really are a whole host of things to do.  I appreciate some of you think the National Trust is a bit fuddy duddy but we’ve had so many really lovely days, summer and winter alike.  For a single person it’s £6 per month and as a couple it’s £10 per month as long as all children are under 5.  For children aged 5-17 it’s £12.20 for a family membership.  Or you can pay as you go but this usually works out quite expensive.

FORESTS

Taking the kids to the woods or a forest for the day is a feast for the imagination!  There’s the Gruffalo, one of my favourite children’s books which the children can reenact plus the big bad wolf, they can make Stickman, another excellent children’s book by Julia Donaldson.  We’ve created many large stickmen which sit outside the front door as sentries.  Whether it’s simply the woods or whether it’s a more commercial woods with official trails and adventure maps and obstacle courses, it’s a guaranteed fun day out for young kids.  If they are old enough to ride a bike and the paths are good enough that’s another ageless activity.  If they’re too young then hire a trailer to attach to your bike/s.

MOUNTAINS / WALKS

As you may have guessed, my family is quite outdoorsy.  There are so many options in the UK for young kids depending on where you live and how far you’re willing to travel.  If you are in the North, there is the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors.  If you are in the North / Midlands there is the Peak District, the Norfolk Broads.  If you are in the South, whilst it is largely flat, there is Dartmoor, Exmoor, the New Forest, South Downs.  These are just a few.  The list goes on and on.  Encouraging the children to appreciate the outdoors I think is so important in a world governed by screens.  

ARTS and CRAFTS

Whilst my children like the outdoors, they are also very interested in colouring and arts and crafts, especially my older daughter.  She very much enjoys watching Mr Maker and we often spend time making (or attempting to make) some of the things from his programmes.  She loves to draw and watches YouTube kids tutorial videos.  

MUSEUMS / SCIENCE CENTRES

If the weather is bad these are fail safes as well.  Find a museum which is geared for kids.  Most museums are these days.  Even if not entirely, there will usually be an area dedicated to children which is more hands on.  There are so many museums so whether your child is interested in history or war or animals or space there will always be something to keep them occupied.  

Science and discovery centres are usually great days out.  There is one in Liverpool called Imagine That which is fantastic.  These are usually much more hands on and are geared entirely around the children where they can role play, dress up, get messy, get loud and run around.  All of which are usually a winner!

These are just some of my ideas based on what my children like and it’s by no means an exhaustive list!  The post was starting to get too long!  🙂 Based on my previous post, and the fact I have every other weekend with my kids, I like to plan things in advance so I have explored my local area and the area up to 1.5 hour’s drive from my house quite extensively and know what works.  The above are all fairly low cost options.  There are plenty of other things we have done for special occasions which have cost far more but I’ll cover those another time!