Stick & Bottle
This is harder than it looks! The idea is to get the stick into the bottle using only the loop of the string to twitch it into place. You can have speed races – line up a few bottles and everyone can have a go at the same time. A good game to play at summer garden fetes.
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Kites
Tamsin: I have had many contented moments holding a piece of string, with my eyes raised to the sky, watching a colourful kite dip and dive around. Kite flying is a traditional pastime in some countries over Easter and can be the focal point for a trip out over the holidays.
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Sweetie Treasure Chase
A good outdoor game to play in woodland as evening is falling.
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Apple Bobbing and Sweet Dunking
A double whammy of sticky messiness: children get their faces wet apple bobbing, then turn into white-faced banshees when they dip into a pile of flour to dig out their sweet treat.
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Balloons Within Balloons
Jane: In our downstairs loo, there’s a pile of Mal’s old secondhand books I’ve always ignored. But a while back when we were talking about old party activities we used to play, he pulled out one of these tattered tomes and handed it to me triumphantly. It was a 1960s book full of daft party games for adults and children - the sort you just know, no excuses, you're going to have to try out. So yesterday we had a go at Balloons within Balloons, a slightly more complicated version of balloon popping, with a group of Maudie's friends.
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Autumn Hide and Seek
The best pleasures are simple ones, and children from two and up will love hiding in piles of autumn leaves. You can play this in the woods or even in a municipal park before the leaf sweepers arrive…
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Conker Bowling
Collecting conkers is a bit addictive, and sometimes you’re left with piles of them – which is a good time to play ten-pin conker bowling…
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Tom Thumb Garden
One to keep under tens occupied for hours. All you need to start is a baking tray lined with silver foil.
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Baby BBQ
A miniature treat for evenings when the stars are twinkling and the moon is out.
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Poppy People
These are brilliant for sailing in leaf boats or just playing with in the garden!
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Mini-Cooked Breakfast
Kids of all ages find miniature things entrancing - especially miniature food. For maximum impact, serve on the biggest plates you have.
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French Cricket
This is an old family favourite and is incredibly fast fun. All you need is a cricket bat and tennis or beach ball.
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Fizzy Drink Splutter
This is marvellously messy so best done outdoors.
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One-Metre Safari
This started off as light entertainment: how many things could the kids see in a metre of earth? But then we got our magnifying glasses out and it got interesting. Looking closely, intensely, at a small plot of land is like discovering a new planet. Mindblowing!
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Bubble Gum Competition
A daft way to spend 10 minutes that brings back fond bubble-gum blowing memories for many adults too…
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Whittle a Toasting Fork
Kids enjoy whittling on a piece of wood, and even little ones can have a go (provided you show them how and stay close). All you need is a penknife and a shortish (50cm or so) stick of wood.
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Cream Chase and Shoot
This is fantastic for hot days when things are getting a bit dull and everyone needs livening up.
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Let Rip with the Hose
This is not very drought-friendly, but it's great fun on a sunny day if you're in an area where you can use a hose.
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Flying Bubbles
It's quite magical watching a big bubble dance upwards in the sky, waiting to see how far it'll rise before it finally pops and showers the air with rainbow-coloured droplets.
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Giant Bubbles
Giant bubbles are extraordinary: ten seconds of rainbow beauty and almost supernatural wonder at the end of a wand.
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XXXtra Strong Bubble Mix
We've tried and tested many bubble mixes over the years and can categorically say this makes the best and biggest bubbles. Make the mix the night before your want to use it - it only takes ten minutes.
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Geyser Gush
This is one to do outside or in the garden.
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