Five Things To Do With Your Family This Weekend

EVENT, DO RANDOM ACTS OF WILDNESS

Want to go wild with your family? Spend a month immersing yourselves in nature with the Wildlife Trust’s month of challenges. 30 Days Wild is now in its seventh year, last year thousands upon thousands of people signed up to take on daily ‘random acts of wildness’ that might include ‘eating a wild lunch’, ‘tuning in by switching off’ and ‘tickling toes in the grass’. The Wildlife Trusts annual 30 Days Wild event runs throughout June, a challenge to commit a ‘Random Act of Wildness’ every day for a month. Get a free 30 Days Wild pack here and be inspired!

DO AND MAKE SCIENCE FUN

For many families, this is half-term. Why not fill your holidays with fun projects? These ideas are half-DIY toy, half art, with a hefty dash of science. Why not try making your own cardboard building discs? These remind us of the classic 70s toy, Octons. Customise them to suit your family. A little more complex, these magnetic shapes stack together to make towers and structures. Create your own city! Or go super lo-fi with your pre-schoolers, and make mud bricks – which recipe will hold together most effectively, and what will you build? Older kids will love basic engineering experiments – using marshmallows and toothpicks is a classic project, but you’ll find some new twists on the concept here. Find more clever sculpture ideas and inspiration here


FORAGE AND RECIPE LIME UP

Late May brings more natural bounty to forage. The young, heart-shaped leaves of the lime or linden tree are sweet, and taste even sweeter when the leaf is covered in honey dew from aphids. The green leaves have been used as a herbal remedy for thousands of years; they were believed to cure boils, regulate menstrual cycles and dissolve blood clots. The flowers and leaves of the tree make soothing herbal teas and cordials, or they can be added raw to sandwiches and salads. Alternatively, try making refreshing Lime Flower and Himalayan Balsam Vitamin Water or sweet Fragrant Linden Blossom Sun Cake.


EVENT READING FESTIVAL

Bookworms alert! The Hay Festival is one of the biggest literary events of the year. This year, some events will be livestreamed, which means families from across the country can enjoy the very best in talks, workshops and sing-alongs. There are some huge flagship events, including Cressida Cowell on creativity and magic, Jacqueline Wilson on writing a new Faraway Tree story, Dom Conlon leading a journey through the natural world on a giant map, Lenny Henry chatting about his new YA book, The Boy With Wings, and the wonderful Dr Ranj helping you discover how to train your brain and get better at stuff you find difficult. Plus lots more!

EVENT COOKIE MONSTERS

We don’t need an excuse to crack open the cookies, but Sunday is National Biscuit Day, a celebration of all things crunchy. Did you know the fig roll was invented as a health food? Or that biscuits are why Liverpudlians are called scousers? Find out more incredible biscuit facts here. Why not spend some time in your kitchen making your own? Our recipe for child-baker-friendly cheese and chive biscuits is here or find our super-simple heart biscuits here. Or perhaps try some of the more, um, experimental recipes here? Choose from ultra-violet lavender and plum juice cookies to asparagus or even garlic biscuits!

WHAT WE’RE READING These philosophers could help us rediscover our place among other animals: “Children think that pigs are as deserving of kindness as dogs and cats, and as readily condemn cruelty to hamsters as cruelty to other children, a recent study has shown. The moral hierarchy of animals – with humans at the top, followed by pets, farm animals and pests – that governs much of adult thinking is not, it seems, an innate one.

Read more here