I know in our hearts we all want our kids to have the perfect summer, running in fields, finding tadpoles in streams, giggling under the stars watching an evening outdoor movie – but I also know I have just described some wonderful scenes straight out the movies and the real truth is our daily lives are busy and even more so in the summer holidays between trying to work and the kids off school, breaking up arguments between siblings and buying baskets of snacks and crisps that they seem to eat at an alarming rate! But I do believe it is our duty as parents to give our kids the best we can, someone once said to me you only have 16 summer’s with your kids and that’s it, so use them wisely! I know sticking an ipad or endless hours of tic tok for the kids means we can get on with our daily lives but I am urging you to try something different and have suggested some of my favourite hints and tips to keep the kids off the screens and not at a huge cost either!

The garden is the perfect setting, doesn’t matter if you have a small patio yard or acres of lush green lands, we can still entertain the kids in the fresh air, if your reading this and live in a flat then there are plenty of parks and green outdoor areas so your not using that as an excuse!

The homemade Cube – yep we did this in Lockdown and it created hours of fun and everlasting memories, ITV’s tv series The Cube is super simple to copy for your garden and its super cheap to do so! Watch an old episode on catch up you the internet and with a quick scour around the house its easy to make your own garden version, our ideas included walking a straight line blindfolded, carrying a tray of plastic cups from one end of the garden to the other blindfolded (add water for extra fun!) and throw a pack of cards in the air and you have 10 seconds to find all 4 jacks! – so many cheap, quick and easy ideas and you all have 9 lives to complete your mission

Garden games – at Kids Happy House we have a lovey premium brand form the USA called Yard Games that offer some brilliant family fun garden games, made from solid wood and excellent quality that can be brought out year after year and appeal to all age groups, a family classic for me is the extra large connect 4, a modern family take on the old classic but by making it giant size means its super fun for all the family from granddad to grandson and all in between! Sticking with the giant theme we also offer our popular table top shuffleboard Giant Jenga, Putter pong, Ring Toss, Giant Dice and many more – all well-made and super fun garden games year after year.

Water fight – now lets be honest you are never to old for a classic water fight and children of all ages will love it, we try to keep ours organised by strategically placing plastic cups of water around the garden, each person gets 5 cups and you can hide them where ever you wish, plan it so your all wearing appropriate clothing and anything that mustn’t get wet has been put away!

Outdoor beauty parlour – for a little downtime we set up an outdoor beauty parlour, a bucket of warm water to soak your feet and get the kids to give them a good massage before applying their chosen colours of Piggy paint to your toes! Then on to the Mani in the sun, painting nails for kids is not only great for learning basic motor skills its also a lot of fun, even more so if you get granny and grandad to have their nails painted! All the time knowing that Piggy Paint is nontoxic, organic and vegan means your not using nasty chemicals on anyone’s skin!

Card games– most of us have a pack of cards so either stick with classics like patients, pontoon, snap or rummy or if you fancy a change then look for Nine2nothing, a great fun card game for all the family. Invented by a 7 year old, super easy to play, super addictive and for all the family, its great for little ones to help learn number counting and perfect for older ones to be competitive! Best of all about Nine 2 nothing is the One4One promise where for every pack sold they donate a pack to charity and have already given thousands of packs to Caudwell Children, Spread a smile, Rainbow trust and many more so when you buy one your helping other kids get a chance to play as well! - Take a seat on the grass and start a good old fashioned card game, no screens in sight and (hopefully with British weather) a little vitamin D on the face!