Tips to keep children cool this summer (non electric)

[bluenameblue]

Especially with the rising cost of electricity I can't really afford to buy a fan and there run it all day.

, I keep bottles of water in the freezer (it's a one up one down fridge freezer so not massive but I do empty it up for this reason. No unnecessary boxes or extras of anything) and I keep big ice cream tubs of water with little toys frozen I to them for them to chip out.
or I just freeze a few take away boxes of water for them to play with.

this is the first summer my children have a garden to play in, I used to have to supervise them on the balcony last year so I'm ready for all of the water fun and garden games. How do you keep shaded? The gardens not very shaded most of the day and I imagine the pop up tent would get roasting.

What is everyone else doing?
in doors we have wall to wall windows in the living room so it's it's getting SO hot but we can't afford curtains yet so I'm just hanging up sheets. Good enough for now I suppose.

Anyone got any good tips?

[bluenameblue]

I suppose I'm not just worried about children, it's everyone really. I know my sister puts damp towels down for her pets.

She puts frozen bottles of water down too but they don't seem to bother with it (unlike me I pop a frozen water bottle in every bed like a hot water bottle in winter)

[TrogLaDyte]

Shade. That's the most important. If you've large windows you need to make sure the sun doesn't hit them. Open all windows and air the place overnight. Close it up as soon as the air outside heats up. Don't open until the evening.
Large parasol, sun sail. Or even sheets pegged up everywhere, though I prefer something thicker that says it's UV safe.

[Sunshineandrainbow]

I have heard the foil sheets runners use are good to put up at windows to deflect heat.