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Put a selection of fresh herbs and tubs of spices in the mud kitchen. (CL, UW)
Lie on your back and look for pictures in the clouds. (CL, UW, EAD)
Go out butterfly spotting for Butterfly Education and Awareness Day. (CL, UW)
Make collages and mosaics with natural materials. (CL, UW, EAD)
Make ice lollies then see who can make theirs last the longest. (M, UW)
Hang prisms and watch them refract the sunlight. (CL, UW)
Make a salad and some vegetable kebabs and have a barbecue. (PD, UW)
Play racing games, set up a score board and practise using ordinal numbers. (PSED, PD, M)
Set up a role play laundrette with wash boards, rinsing tubs and a washing line. (PSED, CL, UW, EAD)
Put a set of giant balance scales next to the wooden blocks. (M, UW)
Celebrate the Queen’s birthday with a garden party. (PSED, UW)
Make salt crystal sun catchers using epsom salts and plastic yoghurt pot lids. (CL, UW)
Create rainbows with a fine water spray in the sunshine. (CL, UW)
It’s National Picnic Week. Prepare and enjoy a teddy bears’ picnic. (PSED, PD)
Leave messages in plastic bottles in the water tray. (L, EAD)
Set up small world scenes in the flower beds and amongst the shrubbery. (CL, EAD)
Fill shallow tubs with crushed chalks mixed with water and provide paint brushes for creating wall art.
(PD, EAD)
Hang a large thermometer in the sun and another in the shade at child eye level. (M, UW)
Leave a trail of pictorial/written clues that lead to some pirate treasure. (PSED, CL, L, EAD)
Look for the moon in a blue sky on a bright, clear day. (UW)
Get dad (and mum!) down to the park and climb some trees. (PSED, PD)
Dab snail shells with nail varnish, move them away from the vegetable garden and watch for their
return. (UW)
Go on a minibeast hunt and photograph your finds with digital cameras. (CL, L, UW)
Paint pebbles with acrylic paints to make minibeasts. (PD, UW, EAD)
Hang wooden bangles in shrubs and bushes and wait for spiders to spin webs across them. (UW)
Put up a sunbrella and lay out a picnic blanket and cushions with some favourite picture books. (L)
Throw water bombs at numbered targets. (PD, M)
It's the start of Wimbledon. Put up a net and have a game of tennis. (PSED, PD)
Make the most out of the rain by exploring the properties of mud. (PD, UW)
Make sun-catchers with epsom salts, food colouring and yoghurt pot lids. (UW, EAD)
Experiment with bubble blowing to find out the best way to blow big bubbles and lots of tiny bubbles.
(PSED, CL, PD, UW)
Bounce different types of ball to see which ones bounce the highest. (PD, UW)
Draw out a traditional hopscotch and give the children some chalk so they can make up their own
versions. (PSED, PD, L)
Roll out large sheets of paper and create pictures with water guns filled with poster paint. (PD, EAD)
Turn molehills into castles. (CL, UW, EAD)
Harvest strawberries and raspberries from your container garden and blend them with bananas to make
fruit smoothies. (PD, UW)
Freeze cubes of poster paint and slide them around in a shallow tray on sheets of white paper. (UW,
EAD)
Create some wild art. (PSED, PD, CL, UW, EAD)
Lay thin slices of vegetables to dry out in the sun. (UW)
Set up a sensory barefoot trail with bark, soil, sand and crushed ice. (CL, PD, UW)
Experiment with sunprint paper. (UW, EAD)
Stand in funny positions and have a partner draw around your shadow. (PD, UW, EAD)
Use junk to build boats that float. (PD, UW, EAD)
Go on a scent hunt and seek out natural objects with strong smells. (CL, UW)
Learn how to skip with a rope. (PD)
Join in with the Big Butterfly Count. (PSED, M, UW) www.bigbutterflycount.org
Set up a paleontological dig in the sand pit or tray. (PD, UW, EAD)
Use the giant hollow blocks to build a pirate ship. (PSED, CL, PD, UW, EAD)
Turn the water tray into a rock pool. (CL, UW, EAD)
Harvest some seeds from a sunflower and plant them. (UW)
Make summer flower tiaras using alice bands, thin green garden wire and fresh flowers and leaves. (PD,
EAD)
Set up a role play car wash. (PSED, CL, UW, EAD)
Stick small shells onto wooden number shapes to create tactile numerals. (PD, EAD)
Use crayons to make rubbings of different outdoor surfaces. (PD, UW, EAD)
Dry and press flowers and use them to make artworks. (PD, UW, EAD)
Harvest vegetables from your container garden and make soup. (PD, UW)
Make a sundial. (PD, UW, EAD)
Make salt crystal sun catchers using epsom salts and plastic yoghurt pot lids. (CL, UW)
Melody Lowe
2019
59. Make volcanoes out of clay, fill them with baking soda and red powder paint, pour in vinegar and watch
them erupt. (PD, UW)
60. Build a wormery then dig up some worms to live in it. (PD, UW)
61. Bury some pirate treasure in the sand pit/tray and use magnets or metal detectors to find it. (UW, EAD)
62. Tie long multicoloured strips of fabric to railings for weaving with. (PD, M, EAD)
63. Hang pots and pans from railings, fences and walls and provide wooden spoons to make music. (PD,
CL, UW, EAD)
64. Set out lengths of plastic guttering, pipes, hurdle stands and jugs to build a waterway. (PSED, PD, UW)
65. Set up a role play summer fair with a coconut shy, hook the duck, ring toss and food and drink stalls.
(PSED, PD, CL, L, M, UW, EAD)
66. Celebrate Rio 2016. Hold a mini olympics. (PSED, PD, UW)
67. Write numbers on rubber ducks and race them down a stream. (PSED, PD, M, UW)
68. Set up an obstacle course with things to walk along, climb over, move around and crawl under and
through. (PD, M)
69. Find out how many hops, skips and star jumps you can do in 30 seconds. (PD, M)
70. Set up ramps of different gradients and made of different materials and test them with toy cars. (PSED,
CL, UW)
71. Go on a summer sounds listening walk. (PSED, CL, UW)
72. Set up a role play campsite. (PSED, CL, UW, EAD)
73. Draw around puddles with chalk and revisit them, observing how they evaporate in the sun. (PD, M,
UW)
74. Line the water tray with a foil blanket and drop coloured water beads or large gemstones in the water.
(CL, UW, EAD)
75. Put a cuddly toy somewhere high up with a sign around its neck saying, ‘Help!’ (PSED, CL, UW, EAD)
76. Collect objects from around the outdoor area and lay them out to create a natural summer colour chart.
(CL, UW, EAD)
77. Share the mantra slip on a hat, slap on a t-shirt, slop on suncream, slurp some water. (PSED, PD, UW)
78. Draw pictures and practise name writing with sticks in damp sand. (PD, L)
79. Provide buckets of water and large paint brushes to paint the walls. (PD)
80. Pour poster paints into shallow trays, roll out large sheets of paper and make footprint pictures. (PD,
EAD)
81. Throw large wet sponges at numbered targets on the floor. (PD, M)
82. Hang mirrored letters from tree branches. (L)
83. Make a home made sprinkler with a hosepipe and plastic bottle pierced with holes and get the paddling
pool out! (PD, UW)
84. Make letter shapes out of sticks and twigs. (L)
85. Play Capture the Jolly Roger Flag. (PSED, PD, CL)
86. Build a den for a mouse out of twigs, grass, moss and flowers. (PSED, CL, PD, UW)
87. Freeze coloured water in jelly moulds and watch the ice melt in the sun. (CL, UW)
88. Go pond dipping. (CL, UW)
89. Make daisy chains; count the flowers/petals, make them longer/shorter, intersperse other small flowers
to create patterns. (PD, M, UW, EAD)
90. Set up a game of croquet on the grass and learn how to play. (PD, CL, UW)
Melody Lowe
2019