Sadly, kids these days seem to enjoy spending a little bit too much time glued to their consoles. So, I was thrilled to get behind the latest campaign from Regatta called Kids’ Ultimate Green Space. I have always done my best to encourage my boys to head outdoors. I think it is so important to spend time in the sunshine. It really is great for the health and mental well being of our children. Being outdoors means they are also more likely to be active, running, climbing and jumping in muddy puddles!

I really love the creativity behind this campaign. Seeing what ideas children come up with for their own ultimate green space. I think my boys who are 12 and 14 would be most keen on E’s design as they too love a visit to a theme park! I am sure they would combine elements of their trips to different waterparks too so they could cool off on hot Summer days.

Unfortunately, we can’t magic up our ultimate green space, but we certainly have had lots of fun over the years trying different activities outdoors. I thought it might be useful to share a few below to inspire you to spend more time with your children in the fresh air!

Metal Detecting

Children love the thought of finding treasure. We haven’t found anything particularly valuable yet whilst metal detecting. However my youngest will still happily spend hours digging in the sand or soil because of the possibility he might one day strike it rich! It doesn’t cost much to get started. Metal detectors vary in price with beginner models being quite reasonable. Then its just a spade and a determination to keep going! You do have to be patient as the beeps more often than not end up being left behind tent pegs or bottle tops! Although, it’s so exciting for your child when they uncover their first coin, even if its just a two pence piece! I think watching Detectorists on BBC spurred us on to make it a hobby!

Geocaching

The geocaching activity has been a firm favourite of ours in the past. You can see the look of delight in the above photo of my youngest holding an ammo crate geocache he found. You don’t need to spend much at all on this activity. It costs £24.99 for a year premium membership to the geocache app, or you can just use the free options only. But we did find it better when we subscribed as we weren’t limited, more cache locations appeared which meant more fun finding!

Then it’s just the matter of carrying a pen to write in the logbooks plus a few little treasures to leave behind. It is a courtesy if you plan on taking something out of cache to leave something in return. My youngest was so pleased when he found a set of thimbles over a series of caches. He still has them stashed away somewhere as a lovely memory of his geocaching days.

Rock Painting

We are fortunate that where we live people regularly leave painted rocks for children to find. It’s a good way to coax your children outdoors. We also occasionally paint our own rocks too then hide them for other people to find. The acrylic paint pens can cost about £10 for a pack, then you just need to buy some clear spray varnish (£5) to seal in the colours so your creation will weather well. Once you have made enough painted rocks you can go on a big, long walk outdoors and hide them all!

Collecting Sea Glass

If you are lucky enough to have a beach close by searching for sea glass can be a fun free outdoor activity to try with your children. Afterwards you can get creative and make something special with it. Sea glass is so beautiful, its lovely seeing all the different colours you can stumble upon.

Bird Watching

My youngest was happy with his Nokular binoculars so he could do some bird watching in the garden. It is a nice calm outdoor activity your children can try. I like to encourage my children to connect with nature. Being outdoors in green spaces stops them feeling isolated and can give them a real boost to their spirits.

Hopefully some of these ideas will help you get your children away from their consoles and outside having fun and staying healthy!