School’s out, the sun’s (sometimes!) shining and the summer holidays have arrived in Lancashire! But you don’t need expensive day trips or long car journeys to make unforgettable family memories. Sometimes, the best adventures are right at home — in your garden, kitchen or even your living room.
Here’s a roundup of affordable, creative and fun activities for families to enjoy together this summer without stepping far from the front door.
Small Scale Gardening Projects
Enjoy planting and growing together.
1. Cress Heads
Grab empty eggshells or yoghurt pots, draw funny faces on them and grow cress from cotton wool and seeds. Kids love watching it grow — and you can eat it too!
2. Grow Your Own Salad Pots
Use old containers or plant pots to grow lettuce, radishes or herbs. Most local garden centres or supermarkets (like Booths or Aldi) sell affordable seeds.
3. Mini Bug Hotel
Use twigs, pinecones, toilet roll tubes and old plant pots to build a bug hotel. Pop it in a quiet corner of your garden or balcony and check daily for visitors.
Easy Baking Together
Turn a rainy afternoon into a sweet success with simple bakes the kids can help with.
4. Lancashire Butter Biscuits
Just butter, sugar and flour then mix, roll, cut and bake. Let the kids decorate with icing or sprinkles for extra fun.
Ingredients (makes approx. 20 biscuits):
Butter (unsalted) – 150g (softened)
Caster sugar – 75g
Plain flour – 225g
5. DIY Mini Pizzas
Use pitta breads, wraps or English muffins as bases. Let everyone build their own using bits from the fridge.
6. Chocolate Cornflake Cakes
Quick, no oven needed and always a hit. Bonus points for adding marshmallows or raisins.
Ingredients (makes about 12 cakes):
Cornflakes – 100g
Milk chocolate – 200g
Butter – 50g
Golden syrup – 2 tbsp
Optional Add-ins:
Mini marshmallows – 50g
Raisins or sultanas – 50g
Quick and Easy Crafts
You probably already have what you need at home to get crafty.
7. Recycled Crafts Challenge
Give kids clean recycling (boxes, tubs, toilet rolls) and challenge them to make:
Set a timer and make it a family competition!
8. Painted Stones
Collect a few smooth stones and decorate with paint or marker pens. Use them as garden labels, doorstops or gift them to neighbours.
9. Paper Plate Faces
Draw silly or themed faces using paper plates and scrap paper. Great for little ones – and can double as a puppet show afterwards.
Extra Tip: Create a Summer Box
Keep a small box of go to summer supplies (paints, glue sticks, seeds, cupcake cases, etc.) for whenever boredom hits. It makes spontaneous fun easy and keeps things budget-friendly.
