By Kate Hodges
05th July 2018
EVENT Out Standing In Your Field
A simple wander through a summer meadow, insects buzzing, butterflies flitting, grass underfoot is a pleasure every child should indulge in. Use this Saturday’s National Meadows Day as a nudge to get you over the fence and into the long grass. Events countrywide include glow-worm spotting walks, tai-chi classes, bee festivals, truffle making and butterfly and wildflower safaris. Find a celebration near you here.
MAKE Sensory Summer
Make the most of the hot weather and build your own interactive garden play area. We love these ideas for music walls; chiming bamboos, colanders to thwack, cutlery to rattle and tubes to thump. Create your own backyard symphony! Alternatively, an outdoor chalkboard brings art outside – one day it could be a menu board for your family cafe, the next a mural! Alternatively, take inspiration from this sandpit created from an old boat, while these ideas for living dens are just magical!
MAKE, LEARN and EVENT Freeze Company
Tongue-tantalising food alchemists Bompas and Parr present a new show – Scoop – which celebrates everyone’s favourite pudding-in-a-cone, the ice-cream. No ordinary museum exhibit, expect total sensory immersion: eat glow-in-the-dark ice cream, understand the neuroscience behind it, and explore the dark side of desserts. The exhibition will shine a light on the story of Edwardian ice queen Agnes B Marshall - read about her extraordinary life here. Why not use the exhibition as a prompt to learn more about the science behind creating the frozen treat – read more here, and try making your own. For a treat straight out of the Hogwarts kitchens, try making no-freeze ice-cream in a bag!
RECIPE Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Cook
Cherries are at their best right now; juicy, red and ripe. Try them in a goats cheese and pistachio salad, or with quinoa and fennel. These peach and cherry ice lollies are refreshing and look spectacular, while cherries and coconut combine to make a sweet, creamy fool. Or mark Independence Day a little late with a traditional, all-American cherry pie.
EVENT Big Day Out
Lewisham’s massive, free People’s Day festival in Mountsfield Park this Saturday is one of south east London’s biggest yearly events. There are four arenas stacked with local talent, kids games and sports taster classes, a big top with aerial performances, BMX and motorbike displays, a vintage kids’ disco and deaf rave, all headlined by Mercury Prize-nominated Eska! The Green Area is a chilled place for families to hang, watch street artists, help build giant sculptures, and create clay vessels in which to collect your thoughts.
