100+ Free Things To Do This Summer

With the long weeks of summer holidays stretching ahead, many parents will be worrying about how to make ends meet, what with the constant demands for snacks, drinks and entertainment.  But remember your own childhood summers?  I bet most of your memories revolve around free activities, not big days out and expensive holidays.  So just how can you keep the little darlings busy and interested whilst also keeping an eye on the purse strings?  Here are 105 free* things to do this summer.

Silent Sunday

Our Unschooled Week #18

This week has just flown by with a visit from the girls beloved Godfather and lots of fun activities.  We started the week looking at classic and vintage cars in the local park.  There were all sorts there from real vintage rust buckets (literally) to 1970s and '80s classics like a shiny Ford Cortina and even a Back to the Future DeLorean.

Summer Holiday Essentials: Home or Away, Part 2

Following on from the first part of our holiday essentials guide, here are all the other things you need this summer, whether you are staying at home or are off on your travels.  Happy holidays!

Recipe: Buckwheat with Leeks, Mushrooms and Broccoli

Buckwheat is not very popular here, but a staple in Russia and other parts of the world such as northern India.  Known in Russia as kasha, it is simply cooked with water and a little salt and served three times a day in poorer families.  A nutritional powerhouse it contains essential amino acids, potassium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B6, iron, folic acid and calcium and is said to help reduce high blood pressure.  We love it and often serve it plain as a side to other dishes such as roasted veg or ratatouille, or as here with cooked veggies mixed in.  Give it a go!

Summer Holiday Essentials: Home or Away, Part 1

Whether you're hopping on a plane, packing the car to the hilt for camping, staying in a cottage, or simply staying at home this summer, here are all the essentials you need for summer living.  Whether the sun shines or you have cloudy days, we have the entertainment and the homewares you'll need, some packing hacks, health products, skincare and much more.

Book Review: Give Me the Child

In these more enlightened times, and despite being more socially acceptable and better recognised, mental illness has a habit of sticking to a person, long after the episode has ended.  The cloying scent of dubious mental health surrounds people, particularly women, and becomes an easy 'explanation' for anything else that may go wrong, or any actions that others might not like. So finds the protagonist of Give Me the Child.