By Kate Hodges
18th July 2019
DO Green Fingers
School’s out for many kids this week! Why not try some long-form projects in your garden or nearby woods over the summer? We love the idea of creating a wild outdoor room to spend lazy days in this summer, or making a bender or shelter in which to spend summer afternoons hiding, reading and eating berries. Smaller kids will love creating their own herb garden and picking bits for their tea or perhaps you could get witchy together and start your own medicinal herb garden
If you have access to a larger or communal garden, try making a clay pizza oven, but you don’t have outside space, try making your own cactus garden or roll up some seed bombs and start brightening up your neighbourhood with some guerrilla gardening
EVENT Agri-Cultured
A chance for kids in London to experience the sounds, sights and smells of the country, this weekend’s free Lambeth Country Show in London is a clever blend of urban grit and rural bliss. Expect sets from bands big and small (we like the family-friendly village stage), plus beekeeping, falconry, and sheepdog exhibitions. Take part in yoga and ukulele classes, samba crafts or Dulwich Picture Gallery’s Old Master Mash Up! Don’t miss the wonderful produce competitions – the vegetable art contest has to be seen to be believed! Full line up here
EVENT Top of the Docks
The Bristol Harbour Festival celebrates the city’s maritime past and present with a stunning line-up of music, dance, and family-friendly offerings, plus of course, water-based fun on the quayside. Circus Bijou take over Queen Square, with spectacular aerial shows, comedy, acrobatics, and workshops for children. There are high-octane rowing races at in the Harbour, music in every nook and cranny of the city, while Millennium Square hosts Bristol Dances, with showcases of the best Bristol talent and where aspiring hoofers can try tap, jive, street, Bollywood, tango and more!
RECIPE Jammy Dodges
Summer brings an abundance of fresh fruits to our gardens and grocers’ shelves. Why not use the glut to make some light, pectin-free jams? BBC Good Food’s strawberry recipe is so, so simple and quick, and results in a sticky, fruity preserve to liven up toasts, teacakes and yoghurts, while Suburban Simplicity’s mixed berry recipe has minimum sugar and maximum taste. Discover more about pectin-free jam-making here
EVENT Sail on Sailor
The sweet Red Sails festival is held in the beautiful coastal resort of Portstewart in Northern Ireland. As well as circus shows, street theatre and puppet shows, there’s a varied live music programme and spectacular fireworks display. Even more of a spectacle is the town’s achingly beautiful, dune beach – Portstewart Strand – that was used as a filming location for Game of Thrones. Perfect to escape to if the fun gets too hectic. From Monday July 22.
