Outdoors and indoors...
Catch Quoits
A game that is very easy to make and a lot of fun to play.
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Gridlock
Jane: After being rained off the beach for the nth time this drippingly awful week, we decided to play Gridlock, a paper and pencil game for two I found in an old 1960s' activities book. It's actually quite tricky to play - the idea is to 'draw' your way from 'home' (the cross in the top left hand corner of the grid) to your destination square (the bottom right hand corner of the grid) without being forced out of the grid by your opponent.
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Continental Drift
Jane: It's been raining on and off for days here, and after two trips to the cinema to see Mamma Mia! and Kung Fu Panda (both very cheering), we wanted to play some indoor games instead. As it's the summers hols and we didn't want to stretch our brains too much, we decided to play a game which involves a bit of thinking and a lot of colouring in, called Continental Drift. It's good for all ages – little ones really enjoy the colouring in – and for two or more players.
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Rippingly Good Space Hopping
Tamsin: The kids and I spotted the brightly coloured balls at a summer social event, lined up on a race track. We jumped on them and suddenly the competitive streak came out in me – I was going to cross the finishing line first on my space hopper. I had never owned one as a kid, never really tried them out before - but my time had come.
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What's This?
Tamsin: The weather has been awful today - wet, windy and cold - but the month is July so I thought I would write about a much sunnier day that we had on the beach. The game began when Mike hunched himself over and said 'Look! A crab.' Always excited to see this crustacean, I began scanning the sand, but saw nothing. 'No,' exclaimed Mike, 'my shadow.'
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Darn 'n' Dash
A card game that's been a great hit with the kids on holiday. It's a bit like whist except you bid for tricks on each round and get a higher score if you fulfil your score exactly.
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Hanging Spoons
Jane: We were sitting round at dinner the other night when Maudie hung a dessertspoon from her nose – a very funny sight. It was quite a large, heavy spoon, the bowl fixed to the end of her nose with the handle dangling down, and it stayed there for a good 15 seconds before it fell off. So immediately everyone started trying to hang spoons off their noses.
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DIY Kites
Jane: Forget about buying expensive kites – today with the help of Alex, who’s been making kites since he was a kid, we learnt how to make an excellent kite from scratch using a bit of paper, some cotton, a couple of wooden kebab sticks and a few old plastic bags. It is pretty easy. First the kids cut out a small rectangular bit of paper each, and drew a design of their choice on each one.
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Sweetie Treasure Chase
A good outdoor game to play in woodland as evening is falling.
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Hare and Hounds
This is great fun if you’re in the wilds but just as good in urban areas, where you can lay trails through a park or round local streets.
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Up Jenkins!
A good-value traditional game which provokes sheer laugh-out-loud hilarity.
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Speed Scrabble
Jane: This is a brilliant, quick and portable version of Scrabble which doesn't use the board or any clever long words, so you can play it anywhere, any time and with anyone (over about six). In fact, it's so quick and unobstrusive that we recently managed a game while waiting for our main course in Pizza Express.
All you need is to clear the decks and lay out a set of Scrabble or Snatch tiles in the middle of the table. Each person takes 15 letters and, as quickly as they can, forms their own set of interlocking words crossword-style as in Scrabble. (You are allowed two-lettered words, which makes it easier for younger kids.) The first person to organise all 15 letters into interlocking words shouts 'Time'. Then everyone stops and picks up a letter. Then the first person to fit all 16 letters shouts 'Time' and you all pick up another letter - and so on until all the letters in the middle are used up.
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Underwater Magic
Jane: My last memory of using an underwater camera was 20 years ago in Florida. It was my brother’s (he lived there) and it was big and clunky and, even in those crisp blue waters, the images were mostly of murky blotches of wetsuit with the occasional blurred parrot fish floating by, due to slow shutter speeds, or something like that.
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Fairy Fair
It was an enchanting start to the holidays when I took my nieces aged three and five to a Fairy Fair in woods nearby. They were given wings to help them fly around, fairy cakes to keep them magically energised and lots of elfin fun. The first thing we did was to make the fairies each a wand.
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Tom Thumb Garden
One to keep under tens occupied for hours. All you need to start is a baking tray lined with silver foil.
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Fruity Art
You can make fantastic animals out of summer fruits and vegetables. Think of an animal, then the fruit or veg that most resembles it (ie fluffy lamb = cauliflower), then start creating.
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Matchbox Miniatures
A good way to stop children getting bored and moany on walks is to give each of them a small matchbox before you start.
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Poppy People
These are brilliant for sailing in leaf boats or just playing with in the garden!
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Duck Races
Pooh sticks with ducks! We've been training up those fantastically coloured plastic bath ducks to championship speed for a couple of seasons now (it's all in the diet)... Pack them in your rucksuck so you can have a race on walks.
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Leaf Boats
This is the simplest boat of all to make. All you need are some big leaves and a long bit of grass or straw.
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Fizzy Drink Splutter
This is marvellously messy so best done outdoors.
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One-Metre Safari
This started off as light entertainment: how many things could the kids see in a metre of earth? But then we got our magnifying glasses out and it got interesting. Looking closely, intensely, at a small plot of land is like discovering a new planet. Mindblowing!
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Fairy, Elf and Sylvanian Houses
Adults love striding out on walks, getting to the next sight or interesting spot. But kids like a different kind of pace, they need to be engaged by things to see and do along the way.
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Bubble Gum Competition
A daft way to spend 10 minutes that brings back fond bubble-gum blowing memories for many adults too…
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Build a Tea Kitchen
This is fun if you have a sloping grassy bank nearby. Digging the turf is quite hard work but at the end of it you can make a secret cup of tea or hot drink ...
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Whittle a Toasting Fork
Kids enjoy whittling on a piece of wood, and even little ones can have a go (provided you show them how and stay close). All you need is a penknife and a shortish (50cm or so) stick of wood.
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Cream Chase and Shoot
This is fantastic for hot days when things are getting a bit dull and everyone needs livening up.
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Sprouting Bubbles
This is a good paper and pencil game for older children who like problem solving. Two or three people can play at once.
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Milkmaid's Butter-Making
Making butter by hand is a good reminder of how people used to do things in times past but it’s a bit of slog – the jam-jar method can take up to 30 minutes’ hard shaking. It’s fun if you make it together, with each family member taking turns to shake and find their own technique. Alternatively, it takes just five minutes in a hand mixer or food processor.
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Flying Bubbles
It's quite magical watching a big bubble dance upwards in the sky, waiting to see how far it'll rise before it finally pops and showers the air with rainbow-coloured droplets.
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Giant Bubbles
Giant bubbles are extraordinary: ten seconds of rainbow beauty and almost supernatural wonder at the end of a wand.
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Make a Giant Bubble Wand
You can buy giant bubble wands but homemade ones produce bigger bubbles and are easy (and cheap) to make. You'll need to visit your local hardware shop to buy doweling and other bits and bobs.
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XXXtra Strong Bubble Mix
We've tried and tested many bubble mixes over the years and can categorically say this makes the best and biggest bubbles. Make the mix the night before your want to use it - it only takes ten minutes.
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Whittle a Walking Stick
Whittling on a piece of wood with a penknife is a great pleasure for adults and kids. Walking sticks are easy for beginners to whittle and make fantastic personalised gifts for family and friends.
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Bubble Walk
Go on a walk to search out some naturally occurring bubbles. Depending where you live you may find bubbles in the waves at the sea, in waterfalls, weirs, mill runs, spas, locks or streams.
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