Keep it local - Summer holiday activity ideas

We carefully choose our locations in well-connected neighbourhoods so residents can walk, cycle or use public transport to reach local green space and amenities.

How can I entertain my kids at home in the summer?

1. Cooking or baking are a fun way of helping children develop life skills. Measuring ingredients is great for maths. Plus, if they’ve made something themselves, they’re more likely to try new foods.
2. Crafts aren’t just rainy-day activities, they can be enjoyed inside the home or out in the garden. For example, if your children love bubbles, try adding different colour food colouring to the bubble mix and blowing the bubbles onto paper with the wands. If you want to avoid getting bubbles on your painted walls, take your art supplies outside. You can even hang paintings on the washing line to dry – just make sure to to clean the pegs afterwards before you hang your laundry out!
3. Turn your garden into a pool to help cool down on hot days. From small plastic toddler pools to inflatables or metal framed options with pumps, the size of your garden or the age of your children will determine what’s best for your space.
4. Garden games can bring the generations together. Parents or grandparents will love reliving their youth by teaching children classics such as hopscotch or for some friendly rivalry you could have a penalty shoot-out with jumpers for goalposts. Read our guide to outdoor garden games this summer.

What can families do in the summer holidays?

1. Create a home kitchen garden by planting herbs, fruit and veg that can be used in your kitchen. Think about what your family likes to eat and grow your own. Herb gardens tend to be low maintenance and don’t take up a lot of space. Lots of crops can be grown in pots or buckets, while strawberries look lovely tumbling from hanging baskets. You could even make holes in old wellies to reuse them as planters.
2. Immerse yourself in nature, either in your garden or further afield. We’ve put together a handy guide to creating a wildlife garden. Many Redrow developments include nature trails or ponds. For more inspiration of where to explore, search online for ‘nature walks near me’ or ‘pond dipping near me’ and see what comes up.
3. Get on your bike and have wheely good fun by going on a family bike ride. Many of our developments feature designated cycle paths which link into the local area. Wherever you live type ‘family friendly bike trails near me’ into a search engine and explore the results. Organisations like the National Trust, Cycling UK and Sustrans carry information about child-friendly cycle routes on their websites. Sustrans are custodians of the National Cycle Network, a UK-wide network of signed paths and routes for walking, cycling and wheeling.
4. Try something new this summer, revisit an activity you tried on holiday or rekindle a much-loved but long-lapsed hobby. From geocaching to pottery painting, horse riding to stargazing, segway riding to trampolining, go karting to archery there are plenty of local opportunities for family fun to fill your summer holidays. You could always take it turns to choose the activity. Kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) have become very popular and many local lakes now offer kayaks and SUPs for hire. Or perhaps you’d prefer to get yourself completely soaking wet with a spot of wild swimming or cold water therapy? Again, there are lots of organised activities on offer in various places. The Outdoor Swimming Society has a list of local swim groups across the UK on its website. We like to create walkable neighbourhoods, with footpath links to surrounding parks and amenities, so if you live on a Redrow development you should be able to find lots of local fun on foot.

What can I do in the summer holiday at home?

1. Have a picnic in the garden, in the local park or on the beach. If it’s raining you could even have a carpet picnic in the living room.
2. Camping out in the garden is a great way to see if you and your family really are suited to the great outdoors. You’ll have the advantage of access to good bathroom facilities and if it’s too cold you can simply go inside and climb into bed.
3. Host a “meet the neighbours” garden party or barbecue. Or if you’ve already met your neighbours, you could host a Wimbledon themed event (starting on July 3) or one to coincide with FIFA’s Women’s World Cup (launching on July 20) and encourage guests to dress up and to host a friendly sporting competition.
4. Remember to make time for rest and relaxation. You don’t have to ALWAYS be doing something. Relax in the garden as you soak up the sun. Make it an extension of your living space and create a comfortable space you can settle down with a good book.

What to do in the summer close to home?

Taking time to volunteer in your community is a great way to fill some of those longer summer days and nights. If you’ve moved to a new area, organised volunteering can help you integrate into the community and meet new people. As a family you could volunteer informally and go litter picking in your neighbourhood. Find out more about the benefits of volunteering in the community here.

1. Explore the area on foot or by bike and hunt out hidden gems in the neighbourhood, perhaps a beauty spot that’s tucked away or a new café serving artisan cakes.
2. Act like a tourist and take photos of you and your family at local landmarks. Visit the places that are on a visitors’ must-see list when in your area and look up your local town’s tourism guide.
3. Spend the day at the park. Feed the ducks or squirrels or build a den. Play ball games, hide and seek or tag. Enjoy an ice cream or a picnic.

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If you have a child starting a new school in September, make sure you read our guide on tips for starting a new school to help them settle in.