With the start of the school summer holidays last week we can always rely on the British weather to take a turn for the worst. Dreams of lounging in the garden may be over for now and the thought of what to do with the kids for the next 6 weeks seems like a scary task!
As part of our Learning Curve programme at Mitsubishi Electric where we teach key stage 1 and 2 children about renewable technologies and the importance of energy conservation, we are always looking for activities to make the lessons fun and informative.
If you are looking for something to keep the kids busy this summer but want to give them some something educational at the same time why not try out some of these activities:
Build a bug hotel
We all know kids love digging around in the dirt when they are out in the garden so why don’t you turn it into an activity.
Our gardens can be home to a wide range of wildlife with an average garden holding over 2,000 different types of insect and animals. By making a bug hotel we can increase the number of beneficial insects in the garden which can include anything from solitary bees to ladybirds or if you make it big enough, hedgehogs or frogs.
As well as being beneficial for your garden it’s a great way to spend an afternoon scavenger hunting with the kids.
So what do you need to do to make your bug hotel?
- Find a level even surface to place your hotel, if you are going to build a couple of levels you don’t want it to topple over. Different animals like different conditions, some may like it cool or damp but others like the sun. See if you can find an area of your garden where it will get some sun but at other times it’s shaded.
- Go on a scavenger hunt to find the building materials. You could use old bricks, flower pots, pallets or pieces of wood. You will then want to find twigs, leaves and other garden materials to fill it.
- Be creative, all human hotels look different so why not design a fun hotel for your bugs. You can see lots of examples and ideas on Pinterest
Feed the birds
During our Learning Curve sessions, we teach the importance of the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. Reducing the amount of electricity or water by thinking about how we go about tasks at home like brushing our teeth; reusing carrier bags from the shops; and recycling plastic, using the recycling bins at home or the local shops.
Making a bird feeder will teach your young ones how they can reuse and recycle easily at home. I always use a plastic pot such as a yogurt pot but you could use glass jars, or other types of pots, be creative!
Full instructions can be found on our Learning curve website by clicking here but here is a brief overview:
- Take a used yogurt pot and cut a tiny hole in the base.
- Insert a piece of string through the hole and tie a knot inside so that you can hand the cup upside down on a tree.
- Put some bird seed and lard together in a bowl and get your little ones to mix it all together.
- Pack the bird seed mix into cup and pat down.
- Put the bird feeder into the fridge and allow to set for 24 hours.
- Hang your bird feeder from a tree or a bird feeder in your garden.
Use the sun to cook your food
I recently wrote an article on using the suns energy to cook your food. If the sun does decide to come back out, follow the instructions in this article to make your very own solar oven. It is a great, safe and fun activity to teach your kids about the power of solar energy as well as making some tasty snacks.
It would be great to see how you’ve got on with these activities at home. Tweet us you pictures to @meuk_les and your picture could be featured on our page.
Gemma Lakin is a Marketing Specialist at Mitsubishi Electric
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