Guest Blog from" Actually Mummy" ...Top ten list of low-cost activities

This week we have a Guest Blogger from Actually Mummy - http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/.

We love her Blog and she has kindly written for us at Education Recycle - she has written a top ten list of low-cost activities for the summer holidays, you must try them and let us know how you got on. Or feel free to post your own ideas!! We love to hear from you...So here it is Actually Mummy's take on an affordable summer...

My name is GG and this is my first ‘professional’ gig, writing a guest post for the genius Education Recycle blog. I have been challenged to come up with boredom-stoppers for the school holidays. Trouble is I have been given a small budget, so purchasing a Wii with surround sound for my bedroom is out of the question. Now Mummy is all for a bit of frugality, so I have enlisted her help in creating a Top Ten list of low-cost activities for families in the coming weeks; I guarantee there will be something here for any age – with a little imagination thrown in.

1.     Garden (or field) Camping:

My younger brother (the Bug) was given a tent for his birthday. Mummy is not really a camper, but remembers (just) the thrill of being allowed to overnight in the garden as an 11-year-old, complete with alarm clock and midnight snack. Being a bit more paranoid than Granddad in 1977, she wasn’t prepared to risk this with us, but we were allowed to fall ‘asleep’ in there. This adventure began mid-morning with pitching the tent (Mummy relied heavily on our help, ensuring that stage 1 of the process lasted until lunchtime!). An Enid Blyton-style lunch was delivered to our door after which we retired to the tent to flick through books and magazines. Then the camping games came out: boules, frisbee, football, bubbles, and foam cricket bats. What is it about a change of scenario that makes all these shed-dwellers appealing once more?

The Bug is obsessed with sticks (are there any 4-year-old boys that aren’t?) so after tea we gathered his collection from the porch and put together a tiny campfire. It lasted just long enough to toast 16 marshmallows, but not long enough to annoy the neighbours.

And so to bed. Mummy settled down with a book and a glass of wine by the back door, ostensibly so she could keep an eye on us, but I have since caught her sniggering with her friends over video clips of a giggling tent.

The icing on the cake was scurrying back into the tent for bacon sandwiches in the morning. So there you have it; the best 24 hours of (relatively) free fun anyone can have. (Tents from £9.99 at Millets or Wilkinson’s – or just make a den).

2.     Get on your Bike:

If you are on stabilisers, holidays are a great time to ditch them. I recently converted to 2 wheels by the ‘half an hour a day’ process, but each trip lasted a few hours, taking into account fruit-pastille-incentive stops and a celebratory circuit of the adventure playground. Cost: one family pack of fruit pastilles (unless you count the post-achievement osteopath session for Mummy!). Joy and sense of achievement: infinite. If you’re already an expert there are some great ways to fill a day on a bike. Take a picnic, try a new park, join a free mountain-biking group, or even start training for a charity ride. The more you do, the more fruit pastilles you can eat!

3.     Do a Nature Trail:

Mummy suggested a trip to the park the other day. ‘D’ohhhh!’, we exclaimed, as she dragged us away from Moshi Monsters. School holidays last ages, and there’s only so many roundabouts I can take before apathy sets in. But it turned out that instead of heading for the swings we were to scour nature for ‘treasure’. With a bit of grouching we complied, but it wasn’t long before we were hooked, running in all directions, competing for the best trophy. Do you know how many different holly leaves you can find in the average park? Time flew, and as other visitors began to leave, Mummy had to prevent the addition of more stash to her overflowing carrier bag, and forcibly drag us off the new climbing tree we had discovered.

Back home, we created a collage with the proceeds of our excursion; it was quickly visited by a handful of bugs, which gave us an idea for another day: making a Bug Hotel!

4.     Change 4 Life:

Change 4 Life is this really cool website where you can check out loads of fab games and activities that not only fill some time, but will actually make you healthy too. Healthy = Dull, right? Wrong! We signed up and got a wall chart with stickers for every challenge we complete. So far we’ve done the Bush tucker Trial (taste 5 new fruit or veg – not as bad as it sounds; I’d never tried toffee apples!) and a game of ‘Blob Tag’ – you should definitely do that one, it’s hilarious! Mummy likes it too, because it comes with vouchers for money off in Asda, although what she finds interesting about a supermarket eludes me.

5.     Create an Obstacle Course:

One of our favourite hobbies is setting up an obstacle course in the garden. Courtesy of Daddy’s crazy streak, almost anything can become a game. Here are some of the odd things we do:

·         Run 3 times round a broomstick (or cricket stump, depending on your height) with your forehead on the end (something Daddy apparently did at University, but I think there was beer involved and I’m not sure what degree he got). You end up dizzy for the next obstacle

·         Skip 10 times

·         3 pumps of an airbed pump

·         3 times round a tree stump with an egg and spoon

You get the picture. Make an action out of anything (safe) that you find in the shed (water transportation works especially well) and take it from there. The setting up and working out the rules is half the fun. If you have a crowd you can even go to the park and incorporate trees, hills, sandpits, whatever you see. Just make sure it is as silly as possible – I guarantee even your Mum will want to join in!

6.     Make a Boredom Jar:

This is brilliant! You need a jam jar, small box, or other container. You then spend a rainy afternoon thinking of everything you could do when you’re bored. Write each activity on a separate scrap of paper, fold it up and pop it in the jar. Then decorate the jar with care and precision because this is going to be your life-saver over the next few weeks. Any time you feel whiney, bickery, or otherwise stuck for something to do, give the jar a magic shake, pick out a paper, and just do whatever it says. As well as the standard puzzles, books, bored games and such, try to think of some bigger ideas. I am hoping to pull out ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ soon; the Bug can’t wait until we get ‘Make Slime’. Yuk – I might be reading a lot of books that day!

7.     Treasure Hunt:

I am soooo desperate to do this one! You will need a handful of treats: small sweets, medals, plastic animals, trading cards, whatever floats your boat. You will also need an adult to hide everything and create clues. We have usually found that clue frustration is minimised by engineering the frequent discovery of prizes, accompanied by the next clue. For the Bug, who is only little, we make picture clues; I obviously get harder clues because I am so clever (winks). If there are lots of older children you could take it in turns to lay short trails and make the clues. The magic about this one is that you can do it anywhere you like, depending on the weather.

8.     Pick Your Own:

This is one you may want to get onto right away. Last year we went too late and the fruit farm was closed. This resulted in a trip to Sainsbury’s to buy a lot of very expensive berries for making jam with; not a great solution but the alternative was a howling tantrum which Mummy was loathe to face. This year we got down there early and picked about 5 million strawberries (or at least that’s what it felt like when Mummy made us hull them for jam – slave driver)! Prices vary, but we spent just over £5 and made 5 good jars of jam, so not bad value (although they didn’t weigh the Bug!). Check out www.pickyourownfarms.org.uk/. Or if you know where to find them, blackberrying in the countryside is a very satisfying and completely free adventure!







9.     Make a Disco Playlist:

If you have iTunes and an MP3 player you can spend a very happy hour compiling your all-time favourite playlist for a disco. When we did this Daddy even taught me how to burn a CD; it’s not as scary as I thought, and there are no flames at all, so it really is quite safe. Or, you can create a free Spotify account and listen to your tunes on a computer. Then all you have to do is close the curtains, get your best party gear on and make some moves. Anything will do, from Noddy to Iron Maiden, so even your Dad can get involved! Personally I prefer Justin Bieber – much better dance moves!

10.  Log on to Red Ted Art:



This is a wonderful website full of crafty ideas. Right now they are featuring how to build a bridge, make beads from sand, and make a zoo out of loo rolls – how cool would that be?! Really inspiring ideas for when you’re completely at a loss and great giveaways too. Maggie, the owner, crafts with her 2 and a half-year-old every week, and also posts how-to’s for older children and anyone interested in making stuff. I am currently nagging Mummy to make me a Balloon Poodle!





So there you have it! Ten fab ideas for using up time, rather than money over the summer. Lots that kids can do by themselves, but I’m betting that once the fun starts, grown-ups won’t be able to resist either.



Please support our Guest Blogger from this week visit her site at http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/

Thanks and talk to you all next week



Emily Jones