Frog Breeding

Raising a family of frogs is a fascinating experience for everyone. Even the shortest attention spans won’t get bored by something that they can watch grow everyday before their eyes.

Watch the eggs turn to tadpoles and then the tadpoles develop legs. Sadly not all will make the journey from egg to frog, but it’s a good chance to explain about the laws of nature and celebrate the life you’ve helped raise too.

Say goodbye to them together by releasing them into a pond - maybe you’ll see them again next year when they’re having tadpoles of their own?

Grow Your Own Vegetables

The whole family can get involved in a summer project by growing your own vegetable garden.

Everyone writes down their favourite vegetables and together you can discuss why you can or can’t plant these in the back garden.

It’s a great way to encourage kids to eat their five-a-day and a satisfying way to show the importance of how to care for living things. If you don’t have a garden, go for indoor plants and herbs that can be raised on the window sill.

Bird Watching

The fun starts by making your own bird feeder together - maybe you could each make one and have a friendly competition of which one proves most popular with the local wildlife.

Get a bird breed book, some binoculars and keep a diary of what you’ve seen. Have a point scheme where rare spots are rewarded with higher points. Take pictures too so you can record your different sightings.

Nature Hunts

A chance to get all the senses involved and explore every season.

Make a special worksheet with a list of tasks. For example: ‘find something smooth’, ‘what insects can you hear?’ and ‘jump into something that makes rustling noises’. You can play this game at the beach, in the local park as well as your back garden.

Keep the worksheets so you can compare summer’s with winter’s - they also make a nice keepsake.

Back Garden Camping

Camping takes a lot of time, preparation and travelling - so make it easy and camp in the back garden.

You don’t have to go to the countryside to experience the fun of the outdoors.

Get set up with the tents, prepare the bedding and arrange a seating area - blankets and patio chairs. Pack yourself a picnic, no cheating and running back into the house every five minutes!

Entertain yourself by - stargazing or cloud gazing, holding a nature scavenger hunt and making something useful out of nature’s materials e.g. a rack to hold bags from branches.