1. Catch a fairy and let it go…

B’s always called these fairies (inspired by the Tinkerbell film). If you see one catch it, tell it your wish, and then find a breeze to blow it away home on. Keep an eye on it. It might crash and need rescuing.

2. Paint a stone

Collect some stones from the beach (or elsewhere if you’re not near a beach). Decorate in any way you like (sharpies are good). Then either return to the beach, take home or, if you have lots, set up your own art gallery on a nearby rock for people to admire/help themselves too as they go by.

3. Have a go at grass whistling

Endless fun if you’re near any grass. Just pick a bit, hold it between your thumbs and blow and see what sound comes out. Check out this video for a how to.

I’ve heard every bit of grass makes a different sound. How many different ones can you find?

4. Play with a big log

It’s amazing how many places you can find a big log. In parks yes, but also just randomly in sidings and overgrown areas as well as beaches.

Can you walk along it? Does it rock. Can you make it rock? Are there more? Can you build a den?

5. Be a nature detective

Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and grab a magnifying glass (neither compulsory) and see what you can track.

If you’re on the beach or near some mud can you spot any unusual footprints? Where do they go? What about unusual poo?

Keep your eye out for holes in hedges and disturbed rubbish. Can you work out what’s made it?

6. Dig yourself into the sand

Or dig someone else in! What are parents for! How deep can you go?

I thought B had grown out of this one but last summer she and a friend worked out how to dig their legs in so they could lean at weird angles. Can you find any other way to do it?

7. Make a shadow theatre

A great one for camping this but do-able anywhere with a torch and some imagination.

What will you use as puppets? Your hands are good, or you could make and cut some out of cardboard and stick them on sticks? Can you find anything that makes a good stick puppet? An unusual stick or a leaf? What makes the best shadow?

8. Find a secret place

Secret places are the best place to play. You can’t find one everywhere but they can be anywhere. Our favourites last year were inside the canopy of a big conifer tree and down by a lakeside. You never know when you’ll come across one so you have to keep your eyes out.

When you find one, can you make a den inside? Could you live there? Where would you sleep? Where’s the doorway going to be? Who else will you let in. If it’s more open, what can you see? Can you be very quiet and see whether any interesting creatures come your way?

9. Chalk your favourite game

Who needs to buy snakes and ladders, draughts or chess when you can make your own? Or you could just make up your own game from scratch. All you need is chalk and a bit of space.

What can you use as counters? Is there a good leaf about? Or a flower? A stone or a shell maybe?

10. Make perfume

Find things that smell nice. Pick them and then work out what sort of perfume you will make.

You might want to grind them down a bit? or add some food colour? or some glitter? Mess no object.

11. Look at the stars

The darker the area the better but you can see them anywhere. Avoid full moon nights for the best view. With it getting dark later, the trick is to be awake at the right time.

Can you spot the north star? Or Sirius, the brightest star? Are there any satellites moving slowly across the sky? Can you see a shooting star?

You can spot the constellations … or just make up your own.

12. Make a sundial

It’s surprisingly easy to make a sundial. We made this one out of a plant pot, stones and a stick but you can do it with anything that makes a pointy shadow.

Put it and mark the shadow with a stone. Then go back a few hours later and see where it’s moved too. You can check it every hour and mark the spots or just pop back when you feel like it.

Check if the shadow gets shorter or longer too. Can you leave it for a few months later to see if it changes? (Nb. we did not manage this – or rather we left it but everything got moved).

13. Race snails

A brilliant game for damp afternoons. Draw a course with chalk and then go snail-hunting. Find something they’ll like to eat at one end, and then put the snails at the other. Take bets or pick your favourite and off they go…

Will they keep to their lanes? Will they find the food? Will the quickest win or will it get distracted half way and let a slower but more focused snail through.

14. Pick flowers

There are places you can go specifically to pick flowers or you can just look out for those around you. Learn the ones you can always pick (daisies, dandelions) and those that belong in people’s gardens.

Avoid any out in the wild that look rare and you don’t know what they are. If there’s lots and lots you’re generally ok. Then when you get them home you can press them, put them in a vase or give to someone as a present.

15. Play pooh sticks

Playable anywhere there’s flowing water and a bridge.

Find a stick, or a leaf, or a flower (anything that’s not going to hurt the water). Line up and throw them in on the side the water is flowing towards.

Then run over the other side and see whose comes out first. Then repeat.

Can you work out where the quickest bit of the water flow is? Is there anywhere where it catches? Watch, learn and hone your strategy.

16. Skim stones

My mum is the best at this in our family. She can do 7 easily, even at 85. B can do 2 or 3. I’m rubbish.

I understand you need a flat stone and to throw it sideways so it bounces on the water. I just can’t get the knack.

17. Walk on the shadows

Can you get all the way home just walking on the shadows? You can get someone to lend you theirs for tricky bits.

Easier in the late afternoon.

18. Tell cloud stories

What can you see in the clouds? Are there any stories to be told?

Is there a cloud that looks like something else? What’s it doing? Does it have any friends? Where is it going?

19. Find an insect pet

Keep an eye out and you might find an insect in need of rescuing. Will you find a nice home for it or make one yourself?

What will it want to eat? What else will it need? What will you call it?

I’d advise keeping it for 24 hours at most. After that they tend not to do well and B forgets they’re there.

20. Pick blackberries

You have to wait till the second half of July but it’s worth it. I always think the best ones are the first. Then they get less juicy as the autumn arrives. I might be wrong.

What will you make with them?

I’m pretty sure you can find them almost anywhere. Even the most urban area will have a secret corner somewhere, though those might need more washing.

22. Play with the tide

A great game for anywhere the tides coming in, this photo was from the Thames in Central London so you don’t even need the sea.

Stand just behind the high tide line and see how long it takes for the waves to reach you. You might have to run back quickly to get away if you’ve got the nice shoes on! Draw something in the sand and see if you can finish it before the waves wash it away. Can you measure how fast it’s coming in? Can you make a moat? Or build something in it’s way for it to go round?

23. Feed a bird

So many birds, so little time. Can you find a pigeon or a seagull or something else hungry? What will be good for them to eat?

Our favourite way is to go to the end of our local pier and throw food into the sea. The seagulls snatch it on the way down.

Try and avoid doing it in places where the birds are annoying people.

24. Build a sandcastle

If it’s summer it has to be done. You don’t have to use a bucket and spade either. It’s amazing what different things you can use (though they’ll all be covered in sand afterwards).

Will you do a really big one? Or a very small one? Can you find things to decorate it with? How about building it in the way of the incoming tide and seeing what happens?

If you can’t get to the sea there should be somewhere with a sandpit closer.

25. Climb a tree

A classic to end on. It took me SO long to work out that the secret to this, unless you’re exceptionally athletic, is to find the right tree.

If you don’t know a good climbing one look further afield. There may be one where you least suspect it. Conifers tend to be good with lots of low branches but there are more options out there than you might suspect.

Can you find one you can sit in? Or bounce on? Or walk along? It’s not all about going up.

1. Go crab fishing

It’s all about finding the right place. You want somewhere with lots of crabs and somewhere high to try and catch them from. You can normally tell where by other people doing it already.

You’ll need to buy a net, a bucket and some bait (bacon seems to work well for some reason). Then lower it down with the bait in it, wait a few minutes, pull it up and see if you’ve got anything.

Keep your crabs in the bucket and then release them all at the end and see which one gets back to the water quickest.

2. Fly a kite

Not an expensive activity but you have to stump up for a kite to start with. Once you have one, it’s free every time.

We’ve found the cheapest aren’t always the best. We sourced our latest with a bit more care than earlier ones and found it was a lot easier to fly.

The trick is to get a day which is very windy but not scarily windy. Stand with your back to the wind and make sure there’s two of you to get it going. Check out the windy play blog for more details.

3. Go on a boat

So many options and types to choose from but there’s something great about feeling the water beneath you.

The best way we’ve found is to get hold of a little boat, paddleboard or canoe you can muck about on. It gives you a lot more options if you’re by the sea.

4. Go for a ride

A pony or a donkey, there’s nothing more likely to make you appreciate an animals point of view than sitting on it’s back.

It can be hard to find cheap options for this but beaches and farm parks will often have a pony or donkey ride on offer.

5. Visit a maize maze

This is one of my favourites. They can be hard to find but if you’re lucky to come across one you’re in for a treat.

Can you make it to the end? Will you go together (best for little ones) or separately? I took B and a friend and they had the best time trying to get through before I could.

6. Find an animal to feed

Nothing beats a farm park for getting kids interacting with animals. The best ones, in my opinion, are those which offer opportunities to feed.

Goats are particularly entertaining. Cows very sloppy! Guinea pigs, adorable.