Summer Guide: family activity ideas
Pick Your Own
Summer is the time for fresh summer fruits and a multitude of flowers in the northern hemisphere. Pick Your Own or PYO is usually open from June until September at most fruit farms. Ripe for picking during the summer are new-season strawberries and early gooseberries, raspberries and blackberries. Pack a picnic and spend your time outdoors with the whole family. Hopefully, at the end of the day, you will not have eaten too much fruit and will have some you can bring home with you!
Visit open-air theatres and movies
Summer in the northern hemisphere is a time when movies and concerts move outdoors. Look online for family-friendly screenings and children’s theatre activities taking place at your local parks and enjoy what is usually an indoor activity in the outdoors, where your children can run around and enjoy the warmer summer weather.
Head to the beach or river
Summer is the time the northern hemispheres beaches come alive. In many countries like Spain and Italy, the country almost shuts down over summer as everyone leaves the sweltering city behind and flocks to the beaches, where they can enjoy a cool summer breeze coming off the ocean.
Picnic at home and away
Picnics are what summer is all about and younger children are not fussy, they are happy to picnic in their own backyard. Head to your local park or river and just plop down and enjoy the open air together.
Go to a local market or country fair
Summer is the season when local markets and fairs pop up all around you. Markets vary from selling the local summer fruit to travelling fairs when you can all enjoy being children again and eat candyfloss, enjoy funfair rides and have a fantastic summer time together.
Take a summer road trip
Summer is a great time for exploring the local countryside or even further afield. Travelling by car in summer is a lot easier as you can take advantage of the local farm stalls and outdoors for quick picnic stops or to stretch your legs before you get back into the car to head to your next destination.
Make a meal together
Children have a long holiday break in the summer in the northern hemisphere, which means the pressure of school is off, homework is over and you can enjoy the long summer evenings together. A meal that everyone enjoys is pizza – and to ensure everyone gets involved, here is a fun family pizza you can all make together:
Fun Family Pizza Recipe:
- 500g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons of dried active baking yeast
- 1 pinch salt
- 600 ml water
- 2 tablespoon of olive oil
- Passata
- Mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated
- Ham, mushrooms, peppers, olives or whatever you prefer
- Whisk together the flour, yeast and salt. Stir in the water and olive oil, adding more flour a little at a time if the dough is too sticky. Form the dough into a ball, cover and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200 C / Gas 6. Spread the dough onto a generously floured baking tray.
- Spread the passata over the pizza base, layer on the mozzarella cheese and add other ingredients as desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the pizza base is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.