I cannot believe the summer solstice is upon us already! Spring has flown by this year! As we welcome the longer and warmer days, now is the perfect time to get out as a family and explore. Whether this is your first summer as a family or you want to try something new this year, our top summer activities are a great place to start when planning your sunny adventures!

Explore Somewhere New!

Exploring new places is one of our favourite things to do as a family. Nothing quite beats the thrill of a new adventure. Obviously, you can explore nature all year round and every season has its special perks. However, there is something to be said for the warm days and lack of rain, you no longer have to worry about packing a million layers or beating the imminent rainclouds. You can simply relax and enjoy the day.

There are so many places to explore, many of which are free and will have routes for all abilities. We love discovering new nature reserves and walking routes! The Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust, in particular, offer many different natural sites that are perfect for families, many boasting picnic areas, baby changing facilities and affordable parking.

Or perhaps you could venture somewhere further afield and enjoy a summer holiday? The possibilities really are endless and you will make some great memories along the way! Our nature hunt packs are brilliant for taking on your new adventures, so why not pick up your own pack to take with you?

Head To Your Nearest Beach!

Beach trips are certainly one of our favourite activities in the summer, due to the UK weather making it unsuitable for the most part of the year. There is nothing quite like a lazy day spent by the sea, exploring rock pools, eating ice cream and building sand castles…..

However, one trick we have learnt, is to avoid the typical tourist beaches and instead head for the more natural and less crowded beaches. If entertainment stands, food trucks and shops are what you want then by all means head to your local seafront. But, if you want a more relaxed day with lots of space and don’t mind limited facilities then natural beaches are the way forward!

We discovered Walberswick beach this year, a quiet secluded beach on the Suffolk coast, and it was lovely to have the beach to ourselves so that the girls could explore to their hearts content without intruding on anyone else space. There was also an abundance of wildlife due to the lack of tourists, making it a perfect learning environment for the girls, not to mention the fun we had crabbing! Whilst we do like the occasional visit to a typical tourist beach, we highly recommend finding your local natural beach and giving it a go this summer, we promise you wont regret it!

Wild Swimming!

This is one activity that is definitely on our wish list for the summer! Having once enjoyed a lovely afternoon swimming in a Scottish highland stream, I am keen to explore this again with my own family. We are very fortunate to have a few locations for wild swimming nearby, so it is definitely worth having a search and see what is available near you!

Just make sure that the locations are safe, have no current warnings for dangerous algae and some surf shoes are a fantastic idea for keeping little feet safe in the wild waters.

There is nothing quite like swimming in a river amidst the trees during the hot summer days, you get to skip the crowded pools and benefit from some nature time, its a win win!

Have A Picnic

Picnics are fantastic all year round, however nothing quite beats a warm summer day, some lovely food and good company. Another bonus is that you can take your picnic anywhere. Be it to your local woodland, the beach, your garden, you name it, you can picnic everywhere.

We have enjoyed lots of wonderful picnics this year and we have so many more wonderful picnics planned for the rest of the summer. Taking a picnic certainly makes days out more affordable and you have the flexibility to cater to everyone’s tastes without worrying about what food is available. It is also a much more casual way of eating out that doesn’t require your wild ones to be strapped into a chair in a restaurant, they are free to come and go as they please and everyone gets to relax!

Keep A Nature Journal

For those families who educate at home, keeping a nature journal is a fantastic way of documenting your adventures and discoveries over the summer. Obviously nature journals are a brilliant tool for all families, not just those who home educate, and can be used all year round to explore the seasons, however, with most families starting to get out more in the warmer weather, summer is the perfect time to start one!

There are lots of fantastic prompts out there for nature journaling, but the best option is to just go with the flow. Some children may love writing about their adventures, for younger children why not collect special finds from their trips and then stick them down in the journal? Or even perhaps draw what you discover together? Why not take one of our mini beast hunts out and see what you can find?

The options are limitless, and this is definitely an activity we will be exploring next year with our girls!

Whatever your preference, there are so many activities to enjoy as a family during the summer. Getting out and exploring the local area is a fantastic way to make new memories and spend even more time in nature, but for those days where exploring is not an option, then a picnic at home or enjoying some gardening time is just as fun! Why not go ahead and start your own wildlife garden? Or give your garden a sensory revamp?

Although this year has passed by way too fast, we cannot wait to start our summer adventures! What are your favourite places to explore? Leave a comment down below. Don’t forget to follow us over on Instagram to keep up to date with our latest adventures!

Don’t forget to follow our adventures on Instagram & Facebook!

Written by Amy Kingston.