Five Things To Do With Your Family This Weekend

DO New Issue
Dive into this month’s issue! Linger over our holiday supplement featuring the best green places to stay in the UK, Europe and beyond with favourite days out and places to explore and take time out to browse our brand new mindful parenting section. Make this year your best ever, ideas for creating family rituals and discover eleven ways to bring creativity into your home. All this plus surefire methods to encourage reluctant eaters, how raise an activist and rewild your child! You can get a copy delivered direct to your door here, or subscribe for a free gift and 25% off the cover price here.

EVENT, DO and RECIPE Orchard Revels
Ward off evil spirits, worms and maggots, and encourage the ‘good’ robin at a wassail. Traditionally held in orchards on Old Twelfth Night (January 17), ceremonies involve singing traditional songs, making lots of noise to scare off ghoulies, and hanging a cider-soaked piece of toast on a tree. Find a National Trust event near you here – we love the idea of singing, children’s activities and storytelling by the fire at Glastonbury Tor this Saturday. Or bring something noisy to the fun event at Frieze Hill Community Orchard in Taunton or at a basketful of events across the south west. Alternatively, visit your nearest apple tree, and hold your own noisy, magical ceremony while drinking a traditional wassail cup. Try these recipes for traditional and alcohol-free versions.

DO and MAKE Muddy Funsters
Is it just us, or does it feel as if this winter has been one solid rainy day? Make lemonade out of lemons, pull on some warm waterproof clothes and revel in some muddy, wet play. There are fifty wonderful ideas here – search for damp-loving animals, build nature boats, take a tree shower, or, for the truly brave, make mud angels. Artist Henry Neubig uses different kinds of mud to paint, why not grab some pots and brushes and try his methods? Or make your own mud bricks and build little houses.

EVENT, LEARN and RECIPE Holy Snacks

World Religion Day is a chance to reflect on different forms of worship around the globe and this year falls on Sunday. Find out more about the day here (you’ll also find some excellent debating points and lesson ideas there), and find lesson plans and activities related to the day here for primary- and secondary-aged students. Why not use the day as an excuse to try out some new, religion-themed recipes? These ideas for eating like a Buddhist monk not only sound delicious, but are also an informative walkthrough of Japanese ingredients, try some Jewish recipes (the vegan Eggplant casserole Passover recipe is killer), try a Diwali-evoking vegetarian curry feast or a Christian Easter Simnel cake

EVENT Shine On
Make the most of the dark nights with a family trip to the free, dazzling show at Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights. The exhibits combine spectacle with thought-provoking art, and an evening wrapped up in scarves and hats, wandering around is a joy.Touch clouds of illuminated foam, accompanied by thundery sounds, walk around a gigantic hourglass made from biodegradable materials, gasp at 7,344 recycled milk bottles, used as a giant, low-res video screen, trigger your own, personalised lightshow, or create your own unique light painting. Until January 25, free.

What we’ve been reading this week:

20 things to look out for in 2020
“2019 was a big year (Politics! Climate change! Rebekah Vardy!) and 2020 isn’t going to go quietly either - there’s an awful lot happening. Fortunately, much of it will be positive. It’s early days right now, clearly, but here are 20 things you can look forward to over the coming 12 months - and not just the fact that we’ll be living under a nice, round number on our calendar.” Read on here