Summer is racing by at a slightly ridiculous speed. The clocks going back on 25 October might still sound a long way off, but we all know it’ll be here before we know it. Sunset is already creeping earlier, so now’s the time to make the most of those lighter evenings while we still can.
Especially if you have kids, doing something nice together as a family after a day in the classroom is a lovely way to squeeze a little more out of the day. As the evenings gradually draw in, these simple moments together create memories they’ll look back on fondly for years to come.
There are many things that you can do either in your own home and garden or fairly close by to enjoy the lighter warmer evenings for as long as they last. The good news is that they don’t have to cost a lot of money or take much organisation, so you can be pretty spontaneous depending on the time you have available and, of course, the good old British weather!
Here are five ideas to help get you started:
A great time of day to take a summer walk is in the early evening. This gives you plenty of time when it’s light enough to explore, but you will also hopefully still be out to see the sun setting.
If the children need a bit of additional stimulation, you could combine the walk with a mini treasure hunt, with either clues or things to find in the area you are walking. Or you could go one step further and have a go at geocaching, where you use either a Geocaching app or a GPS device to navigate to hidden containers called geocaches. Find out more on a geocaching website such as https://www.geocaching.com.
And don’t forget to take your phone or camera when you are out and about. Both family activities and gorgeous sunsets create many opportunities for wonderful photos, so don’t miss out!
Walking is great exercise, but if you want to do something more energetic, you have a wide choice of outdoor exercise options available. For starters, you could join with another family or some friend and head off to a local park or field for some outdoor games. You may be able to find an area that also has some outdoor gym equipment which could either add extra variety to the activities or create the stage for your own mini olympics.
If you prefer to stay at home, you could try creating various mini circuits in your garden. Activities can be tailored to the age and ability of the participants, but could include things such as throwing/catching, skipping, obstacles, hoopla, bowling and adventure golf. Even a cheeky game of cricket!
Or you could start a structured fitness programme as a family, for example the Couch25K running programme. The first few weeks involve fairly short periods of running so could easily be done in or around your garden or street before you need to think about venturing further afield.
Eating outside can be a fun experience for the whole family. So why not pack a picnic and either head out to your favourite local spot, or set up a picnic area in your own garden? Or keep it even simpler and just take outside what you would have eaten anyway, which brings all the benefits of a picnic without the planning.
If it’s a particularly warm lighter evening, you could always break out the BBQ if you have the space and environment to do so. Not only is this a great way to enjoy eating outside, you can also use up all those bits and pieces from your fridge rather than letting them go to waste.
And al fresco dining can be even more fun if you team up with family or friends to do it. It can even work better in the evening than in the heat of the day, and the kids will particularly enjoy it as something a bit different. As darkness descends, provide some glow in the dark items for them to entertain themselves with, and everyone will be happy.
Everyone loves a story. Storytelling is an ancient tradition in almost every culture. Stories not only entertain and inform, but also help to impart and reinforce cultural traditions and values.
So a lovely way to spend time outside is to gather together and share stories of all different kinds. These don’t have to be made up from scratch, but can be traditional or fictional stories that you have enjoyed, or even some happy reminiscing about family history and memories.
Many songs also tell stories, so if any of your number is musically inclined, perhaps they could strum a guitar or lead some singing.
Sharing stories and songs can be a wonderful way to bond together, especially as the light begins to fade, and will create memories to treasure for years to come. The time can be enhanced even further if you light a fire pit or chiminea. And don’t forget to get some photos of your loved ones bathed in the glow of the firelight and the experience.
As the light fades, and darkness falls, a wonderful activity for all the family is stargazing.
You might just want to wrap up in blankets, lie back and literally gaze at the stars. That in itself can be relaxing and therapeutic enough. And will hopefully lull the kids to sleep!
But you may also want to have a go at familiarising yourself with the constellations so that you have a better idea of what you are looking for. For example the website Astronomy Now has an interactive UK Sky Chart which enables you to enter the current date, time and location. It will then provide accurate information about the stars you may currently be able to see. There are also various stargazing apps available for both Android and IOS devices.
Perhaps your evening stargazing will launch a whole new avenue of interest for you and your family and one of your kids goes on to be a great astronomer later in life. But even if it’s simply a case of one evening just gazing up at the sky, it will definitely be a great night to remember.
We hope that the above ideas give you a bit of inspiration for things to do as a family during the remaining lighter evenings. They will certainly create happy memories which will last for years.
To preserve those memories even better, why not display some of your photos in your home? A good way to do this is by getting metal prints created from your photos. These can be displayed not only inside your home, but outside too. So you could have a gallery of metal prints in your garden telling the story of all the happy times you have spent there together this summer.
Creating metal prints is easy with the help of Print Your Memory. All you need to do is navigate to the Print Your Memory homepage then scroll down to the “unique shapes” section and choose the shape that you want. Once you’ve selected your size and uploaded your chosen image(s), we will create some wonderful metal prints for you and get them back to you within days, ready for you to start reliving your summer evenings all over again.
Enjoy the rest of summer, and remember to check back here soon for more lifestyle and photography tips from Print Your Memory.
