5 family activities you can enjoy at home this summer

With six weeks of fun to fill, we’re here with a list of inexpensive activities to see you through and avoid the dreaded wails of ‘I’m bored’, that will probably crop up around day 6.

Put a pause on the early school runs and packed lunches and instead enjoy the quality time you have together while it’s here. Here’s how:

• Make homemade bird feeders

Encourage the little ones to get outside and give a helping hand to nature by assisting our feathered friends. You can use household materials such as recycled cereal boxes, plastic bottles or even Lego!

Simply fill with pinecones, fruit and grain, stale bread or the crust slices that no one ever eats. Hang it from a tree, garden fence or water feature and watch the birds come to you!

• Get baking

What better way to fill those rainy afternoons – because let’s face it, there will be a few – than with some family baking. Head to BBC good food website to discover a variety of recipes you can make as a family.

• Make binoculars and go on a nature hunt

All our developments are designed to help nature flourish, so why not make the most of the beautiful surroundings and mother nature with a pair of home-made binoculars to go exploring with? Make a pair with either Pringle cans or toilet rolls, a stapler and a piece of string.

For some extra fun, you can even paint them – just be sure to lay down some old sheets or a towel first!

• Build a fort

Another rainy-day activity for the gloomier afternoons. Push your sofas or beds close together and drape them with blankets or sheets to create a cool fort. Brighten things up with a night light and grab a home-made snack, play a game or watch a film in your newly built fort.

• Upcycle jars to create pretty pencil holders or fun flower vases

All you need for hours of fun is an old glass jar and a pack of sharpies. Before colouring them in, ensure your jar is washed with hot soapy water and thoroughly dried to remove any soap suds that will prevent the ink from sticking.

Once the masterpiece has been designed, place it on a window ledge in the sunshine to allow it to dry. When finished, you can fill it with whatever you like – from stationery and flowers to inspirational affirmations that you can withdraw from daily.