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We think that National Day of Play should be run by those who know playtime better than anyone…kids of course! So first things first, ask your little adventurers how they would like to spend the day. A lot of fun can be conjured up when you let them use their imagination. However, if your looking to surprise them, or perhaps you’re in need of some suggestions to get the ball rolling, here are our top 5 suggestions that you can incorporate into your celebrations:
1. Get creative with paint
This National Day of Play we recommend skipping the professional face painter and instead opt for your little ones taking charge. Whether it’s with fingers or brushes, on faces or hands, painting is is a brilliant and low-cost way to spark creativity. Some ways we suggest your littles use paint are:
- Painting each others faces
- Create new artwork for their bedroom
- T-shirt painting
Now we can’t promise it’s not going to get a bit messy, but that’s all part of the fun right?
2. Take to the outdoors
There is so much to explore in the great outdoors. Here at Dalkeith Country Park we have six waymarked trails that will allow your littles to discover nature, wildlife and the simple joys of outdoor play.
Choose your trail and use our Wildlife & Nature guide to spot some fascinating creatures while you’re here.
Use our handy Bird Watchers Guide – created by our very own Park Rangers – to spot and identify as many feathered friends as you can?
3. Paint, build, ready, set, go!
Put the household left overs to good use! There’s so much you can do with a toilet paper roll and a little bit of paint.
Let them create their very own race cars, telescope, walkie talkies and so much more. You still have time to start collecting all of the essentials for this fun task. Here’s what we suggest you collect:
- Toilet paper rolls
- Bottle caps
- Tooth picks (we do recommend using new ones!)
- String (if you’re opting for walkie talkies)
- Your left over paint from activity one
4. Get the green fingers going
Planting up tubs with pretty flowers is a lovely thing to do with kids on a sunny day. Let them dig in the fresh compost, smell the blooms and pick their favourite colour combinations.
Perhaps you have little ones that don’t particularly enjoy vegetables? A great way to get around this is to let them start growing their own vegetables! Let them choose their seeds, plant them up and watch as they grow big and strong. Their sure to tuck into their own home-grown produce!
5. Treat them to the ultimate Playday
What’s the ultimate way to celebrate National Day of Play you ask? It has to be a trip to the Fort Douglas adventure playground of course! Fort Douglas isn’t like any other playground, here we put adventure and fun first to make sure epic days are had by all.
Clamber over wonky wooden bridges, tyre walls and the climbing net before heading into the treetops in Skymaze. Don’t forget to challenge friends to a three-way zip line race!