The summer solstice, otherwise known as midsummer, marks both the longest day and the shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and is well known as the official start of summer.
Hooray for summertime! Finally, warm sunshine and longer days to linger outside. Summer is the season of easygoing and laid-back living. In the fun-loving spirit of this favorite time of year, we have gathered some simple and delightful activities to enjoy in the outdoors, and listed some places in Geneva that have recently reopened for the summer months. Let’s play, get creative and make this an unforgettable summer.
Summer Outdoor Activities
Fairy Garden
Children love fairy gardens, they are magical and great for imaginative play.
They are surprisingly easy to make and don’t have to cost a fortune. They can vary in sizes, shapes and look however your child dreams.
You will need:
Potting mix
A container with drainage holes
Plants, twigs, and/or flowers
Small stones, gravel, pebbles, glass marbles
Mini garden decorations such as a fairy house, mini table and chairs, and a fence
Decide your theme first. Are you going with English cottage, a forest backdrop, or a tree house? Pick whatever theme matches your existing garden or your imagination.
Whatever style you choose will help decide which accessories and plants to fill your garden with after it’s created. The accessories are so easy to make, you can make a wishing well using jam jars, fairy benches out of lolly sticks or toadstools out of painted pebbles.
Bug Hotel
Safe hideaways can be hard for wildlife to find in some gardens, and what better use for all your garden waste and odds and ends?
Your bug hotel could shelter anything from hedgehogs to toads, solitary bees to bumblebees, and ladybirds to woodlice. You can build your bug hotel from all sorts of things, we have a super simple way of making a bug hotel simply using a plastic bottle.
You will need:
A large plastic bottle
sticks,
pine cones,
bark
anything else you can find – bamboo with it’s holes is great too!
Cut the bottle down to size and arrange your materials. Check what materials you have and arrange by size and texture and decide on the bug hotel location and add string or
twine if hanging. (If you plan to hang your bug hotel, loop some garden twine round and then start layering your bug hotel.)
You build one hotel for the ground and one for hanging from a tree to see if they attract different creatures. Make sure the bug hotel is nice and cozy, stuff it to make it nice and firm.
Nature Dress Stencil
So easy to make and such a fun and magical activity. The Nature Dress Stencil only involves a piece of cardboard and a photo of your child.
Take your stencil on a walk and discover all the colours, textures, shadows, lights and different materials to be found. You can share adjectives to describe what they see, smell and feel. This stencil is so easy to make and it's a lovely way to learn about nature, leaves and flowers. You could try this idea inside the house, the garden, park or beach.
Treasure Hunt
Setting up a Treasure Hunt is a really fun activity. Set up clues or challenges to lead the
child/children to the buried treasure.
For example, ‘10 side steps to the next clue.’
‘6 hops to your left.’
‘Go upstairs and turn into the second room.’
This is a fun and active game that uses positional language as well as counting and different body movements. You could also encourage the child to write their own clues for you!
Places to Visit in Geneva
When it comes to family days out in Geneva there are more and more kid-friendly attractions and activities that are opening for the summer months.
Geneve Plage
With summer holiday plans melting away fast, it’s a relief to know that Geneve Plage reopened on the 8th of June. Geneve Plage is a popular hangout for locals and tourists alike, offering 2 hectares of green space along the lakeside, different sized pools and a variety of water activities. So, grab your towel and swimming costumes and have lots of family fun at the lake.
The Conservatories and Botanical Gardens of the City of Geneva
If your youngster is a budding Indiana Jones or Dora the Explorer, they’ll love the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Garden houses magnificent collections of living plants and is the ideal setting for relaxing, walking and discovering new sites.
The Natural History Museum of Geneva
Unfortunately summer can have it’s rainy days, so when the sun isn’t shining a visit to the Natural History Museum in Geneva is a wonderful and interesting day out. The Museum is the largest natural history museum in Switzerland and its collections spread over four floors! The collections include the fascinating world of animals and minerals, including a two headed tortoise named Janus!
For more activities to make this a summer to remember see our previous posts: