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Rediscover the importance of play, as the nation marks Playday 2022 on August 3rd and celebrates children’s right to engage in play. Ideal if you’re looking for activities to keep the kids entertained over the summer holidays but, remember, it’s not only children who benefit from carving out a bit of playtime. We have some great ideas for garden play for the whole family or even just the grownups.
Garden games
Games are great for structured play and can work with just a few players or bigger teams. Take your pick from classics, like cricket, croquet, quoits, Jenga, lawn darts, rounders, or badminton. Or why not get creative and make up your own games with your own rules?
Create obstacle courses and see who can complete them the fastest, play noughts and crosses using objects from nature or by knocking up your own handmade version, making use of cardboard, old cork tiles, string or any scraps of wood you have lying around.
Use sprayable chalk paint to mark out positions and lines on the grass for your games. Coloured chalk sprays can also come in handy if you want to play lawn Twister.
Create some artwork
Craft activities and getting arty are wonderful ways to play. Take the easel or blackboard outdoors and let children go to town using their favourite medium without fear of what paint spray, ground-up crayons or chalk dust can do to your interiors. Alternatively, lay big sheets of paper on the ground ready for finger painting or colourful collages. Be sure to use water-based paint and glue, so you can simply hose down the patio or grass once they’re done.
And don’t think this type of activity is just for little ones! Join in with the creative chaos and you’ll end up making special memories, as well as something special to hang on the wall.
Limited floor space? Set up a craft station on the table with cups of pens, pre-cut pieces of coloured paper, scraps of material, lollipop sticks, googly eyes, piles of stencils; whatever gets their creative juices flowing. If you’re after a hardwearing tabletop that won’t take a battering during these pursuits, look no further than LifestyleGarden’s DuraBoard tables, which boast a multi-layered coating to create a surface that is highly durable and resistant to UV and stains; meaning it will stay looking pristine for longer. Completely maintenance free, tabletops made with DuraBoard – see Samoa, Morella, Aruba and Solana collections – just need a wipe with soap and water to remove any dirt.
Encourage your friends’ inner artists by hosting a fun painting session in your outdoor space. Open a bottle of something, bring out the snacks, and away you go. Take inspiration from the scenery around you, a favourite photograph, a still life set up, or even another famous painting. Up the ante at your painting party by offering playful prizes, whether that’s for ‘best painting’, ‘most creative composition’, ‘most abstract’, or ‘least likely to give up their day job to become a famous artist’. For a more collaborative effort, why not have just one canvas and each person takes it in turns to add to the masterpiece?
Messy play
Don’t be afraid to get messy or soaked on Playday. Let your inhibitions go and you’ll all have much more fun.
- Get wet – break out the water pistols, hose or even use old sponges to make water bombs for a good old-fashioned water fight. This can be enjoyable for all ages and is a great way to keep cool.
- Get muddy – create a mud kitchen with a few pots and pans, some water and a muddy corner of the garden, then leave the little ones and their imagination to it. If all that mud is too much to bear or you are short on space, then why not create a more contained version and make it edible with this chocolate pudding mud sensory play idea.
- Get sandy – if you have a sandpit, sandtable or big plastic tray, fill it with sand and let the kids get digging, imagine their own construction site, dinosaur world or make patterns and sandcastles. Believe it or not, sand play is actually considered incredibly therapeutic and is used to help adults and children with a range of issues, so you’re never too old to indulge. For more mindful sand play, use stone, buttons, shells and beads to lay out a Mandala or even create your own zen garden. This can be a lone endeavour or even something entertaining to do with friends.
- Get stuff out – you don’t have to end up covered in sand, paint or water for it to be messy play. Give kids a pile of wooden train track or Lego blocks and let them create a masterpiece, ignoring the urge to tidy as they go. Kids will revel in the chaos of it all and it encourages independent play.
Quick-drying, stain resistant Olefin® cushions and maintenance-free materials used on LifestyleGarden®’s furniture collections, mean any water or messy stuff that goes flying can easily be mopped up or wiped off, with no harm done. Your clothes might tell a different story, so definitely dress for the occasion!
Come together
Time on your own can be nice but it’s much more enjoyable to play with others. Come together with friends, neighbours, family or your local community for informal or planned activities. Organise your own event you want to share with others or attend an official Playday event in your local area. Search events near you here.
