5 Fun Things To Do With Your Grandchildren!

It’s perfectly possible to spend quality, fun time with your grandchildren without it having to cost you a fortune along the way. The economic climate has got everybody counting their pennies and trying to trim costs, so here are five ideas for entertaining the youngest generation without breaking the bank.

1. Make a natural artist’s palette

Cut a large piece of cardboard into a rough shape of an artist’s palette, one for each child and another for yourself. Cut out thumb holes and cover the palette with double-sided sticky tape. Then head off out into the great outdoors with the objective of filling your palette with colors. Choose small bits of leaf, grass, bark, plants and anything you can find to create a rainbow of colors. Try keeping all the greens together and all the browns and so on to emphasize the huge range of shades and tones that nature has to offer.

2. Identify trees

Collect up as many different types of leaf as you can from your local park. Take them home with you and identify which tree each one comes from, then make a template of each leaf. You could color the shapes in if you’re feeling adventurous or perhaps the grandchildren can help you with that part. Now take the children and the templates back to the park and ask them to find leaves that match each design.

3. Hunt for hidden signs

When it comes to great days out UK destinations offer plenty of history in the form of stones, plaques, memorials and signage information boards. On your next trip out with the grandchildren, whether you are visiting an attraction, an historic house or even a local town, look out for signs. Photograph them, copy them or even stencil them. From foundation stones to historic information or even facts about local wildlife, this is a great fun way to learn much more about a place than most people take the time to discover.

4. Fill a shoebox

Remember the old challenge of finding as many things as you can to fit inside a matchbox? Try updating the game by providing a shoebox that you can all fill with information about your local area. Find souvenirs that relate to your locality and try painting or drawing local landmarks to display in the box.

5. Give the children a patch of garden

All children love to dig, plant and watch their efforts grow. Section off a small part of a flower bed or border, marking out a well-defined plot for each child and adding a sign that shows the child has ownership of this plot. Help with choosing plants, shrubs or vegetables and teach the children how to dig, weed and care for their seedlings. Take photographs of the plants growing so the children can track their progress and perhaps encourage the children to keep a record of what has been grown, when it was planted and how good the crop turned out to be.

Zoe is a British blogger and regularly contributing writer for travel and family blogs. She has written this post today on behalf of Knowsley Safari Park – click here for more info on this great day out.