The summer holidays are a fun and exciting time for all children.
Six whole weeks away from school, to explore new places, have fun with friends and spend a little one on one time with their family! However, the summer can get a little boring. With all extra-curricular activities ceasing, and not seeing school friend’s everyday, it can get a little difficult to keep younger children entertained. Now of course we recommend that children should go to the park regularly and play outside on physical play apparatus. But we also know that even though these are the “Summer Holidays” they might be a far cry from being sunny at all… That being said a pair of wellies and an umbrella go a long way. So don’t be scared to encourage some outdoor activities, even when it’s raining. On top of getting down to your local park, here at Hand Made Places we also have a few other suggestions which will keep your little ones entertained over the summer break.
So below we have devised a list of four great events and activities which are ran annually over the summer break!
The Summer Reading Challenge
The #SummerReadingChallenge is a fun reading activity for children to get involved in over the summer break. This challenge is set up by The Reading Agency and aims to ensure children carry on reading even when the school year is over. Each year the Summer Reading Challenge will follow a new theme, which is fun and exciting for children. The challenge is really simple to get involved in for any child, there are no set dates or deadlines. Simply start when your summer holidays start and complete the challenge over the subsequent six weeks. It’s so easy to do, just pop into your local library and sign up to ‘The Summer Reading Challenge’ once you are signed up you will receive your very own challenge pack. This pack will advise you to read six books of your own choice!
That’s just one per week of summer.
For each book you read you will collect stickers which can be added to your “Challenge Pack.” Once you have read your book you can log in to the Summer Reading Challenge Website and track the books. You can even write book reviews, enter competitions and chat to other like-minded readers! *Ensure that you have parental supervision when using the internet at any time*
2019 Exclusive
The 2019 Summer Reading Challenge is SPACE THEMED! Readers will receive their very own ‘Space Mission’ Pack with instructions on how they can save the moon library from the evil alien bandits! Your mission is to read enough books to help local ‘Moon’ family the Rockets save the books in their library from the evil aliens! So grab your space suit and join in on this mission from out of space! Find out more about the challenge here!
There's No Place Like Space: ISBN: 9780007130566 There's an Alien in Your Book: ISBN:9780241357200 Zoom, Rocket, Zoom!: ISBN: 978080272790
The Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count is the perfect summer activity for children of all ages. This brilliant event is run by the Butterfly Conservation Society, and as well as being an enjoyable family activity holds a serious message. The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide survey which helps to assess the health of our environment.
Butterflies are excellent biodiversity indicators, this is due to the fact that they react quickly to any changes in their environment.
If we are seeing a significant decline in the amount of butterflies. Then this may be a warning for the imminent loss of other wildlife species. It is so easy to take part and children will love counting all of the beautiful butterflies which they see. All you need to do is go outside on a nice sunny day, pick a spot in which you would usually see/expect to see a high number of butterflies, for example near a flower bed or butterfly friendly flower garden, and using a special butterfly tracking sheet record all of the different types which you see!
Don’t worry if you’re not a butterfly expert. The tracking sheet has clear images of all of the different types of butterflies making it easy for everyone.
Once you have completed your 15 minute count, you should go inside and log your findings on the website. Alternatively you can log your sightings straight onto the Big Butterfly Count app. You can take part in as many butterfly counts as you like over the summer. But make sure you are logging all of your counts. Even the ones where you didn’t see any. *Ensure that you have parental supervision when using the internet at any time*
2019 Exclusive
The 2019 Big Butterfly Count runs from the 19th of July until the 11th of August.
National Allotments Week
National Allotments Week is an event which is run over the summer holidays and has one clear aim. To get people involved in allotment, or any other type of gardening. If you follow our blog you will know that we are great advocates for gardening as we believe that gardening helps to promote positive social and emotional development, as well as helping to promote a healthy relationship with the environment. National Allotment week holds many allotment based events over a week long period. These events all centre around a different annual theme. For more information about the benefits of gardening or how you can get involved in allotment gardening take a look at our blog.
2019 Exclusive
National Allotments Week 2019 runs from the 12th to the 18th of August, and is centred around the theme of “A Shared Harvest.” This year they want to encourage you to reduce waste, and as such donate your extra harvest to those a little more in need. Why not do something great this summer and grow your own produce. You can make home grown dishes like soup or rhubarb crumble and then donate whatever you have left to your local Foodbank or Homeless Shelter!
A fantastic way to teach children about caring for those less fortunate this Summer.
Playday
#Playday is a campaign deliberately set up to encourage play amongst children in the UK. Playday runs for just one day in the UK, however there are plenty of events up and down the country which children can get involved in on this day.
The events are held annually and usually take place on the first Wednesday of August.
These fun-filled days of play are brilliant for children of all ages and the perfect event to get involved in during the summer holidays. For more information about Playday and how to get involved in one of the events head over to our blog.
2019 Exclusive
Playday 2019 takes place on the 7th of August. The theme for this year is "Play Builds Children." This theme looks at how play can help to mould children into the adults which they will become. The theme covers the following four points:
Play Builds...
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Friendships
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Resilience
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Health and Well-being
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Communities
All of the above events are taking place during the course of the summer holidays, and do so each year! The events are suitable for a number of different age ranges. Making them perfect for all Primary School aged children... even those leaving too!
In charge of a local park? Why not contact one of our trained advisers on how to install equipment for your community!