30 raring2go.co.uk Raring2go! YOUNGER CHILDREN Let’s go outside with the under fives! Enjoy these fun and cheap ways to entertain the children for Summer: just suncream them up and get them out in the fresh air. Magic paint The simplest and easiest way to make a mess! Using as big a paintbrush as their little hands can carry, find a dry surface – a wall, a fence, a paved area, paper on the ground – and ask them to ‘paint’ using a bucket of water. If you’re brave, you could even add a splash of food colouring to the water. Just make sure you wash it all off afterwards. Or wait for the rain to wash it all away. Mud pies Clear away a patch of ground and give your toddler a watering can (or an old washing-up liquid bottle filled with water), a spade or even a large spoon and let them dig to their heart’s content. Add small containers or flowerpots as castles, flowers for flags etc. Or just mix in grass, leaves, twigs to get really messy! Just make sure none of this goes into their mouths. Minibeast hunt You can do this in a public park or wood as well as a private garden. Lift up rocks, look under leaves, paddle in shallow water or ponds to see what they can spy – snails, frogs, woodlice, worms, the list is endless! Older children can research what they find later. Don’t disturb the creatures’ habitat – and try not to admit to your kids if you have a phobia about insects!
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