To ask for your happy childhood ideas?

[ApplesAndPearsStairs]

Please can you share with me some of the happiest parts of your childhood? My children are 3 and 5 and I want to make them as happy as possible.

I had a very happy childhood myself, despite my parents' divorce and being an only child. But I think I'm a happy, positive person. Also I don't remember getting into much trouble at home because I was a good, easy child who knew how to stay in my Mum's good books!

Happy memories for me include:

• going to the playground
• tagging along with my Dad going to hardware shops
• having medium boiled eggs at the table as a family
• having friends over for playdates and dressing up
• making clothes for my old bear on my neighbour's sewing machine
• doing woodwork with my Dad, making a chair, deckchair and table for my bear
• long baths
• reading in the bath
• splashing in the sea at Woolacombe
• playing with my cats
• having my own flower bed at our allotment

And then as an older child from 12+:

• going to the cinema with my Dad every Sunday
• going to art galleries, again with my Dad
• eating my favourite dinners: fish stew, chilli con carne, tarragon chicken
• reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles for the first time
• ice cream

Please let me know your happy childhood memories so I can get some ideas for my own children! Thanks.

Burying a time capsule was another good one, that's probably still there.
When my dad was decorating we drew round ourselves and filled it in before the new paper went up.

Find a big green hill. Roll down it with them over and over again. One of my happiest memories and it cost nothing xx

Caravan holidays - I'm determined to take a trailer test or buy a camper to go away on the weekends like I did as a child!

Going into the forest and building a den with my brother and cousins.

Piling all the duvets, cushions and sheets into the living room and watching a film all snuggled up

Making biscuits and cakes with my dad.

Camping in the garden (actual tent) or in the house (sheet over a clothes horse) overnight.

Paddling in the river, pretending to be explorers in the amazon.

Crab fishing at the quay or beach, paddling in the sea and building sandcastles/stonecastles.

Playing board games and card games with my grandparents.

Going to do the Friday big shop then being allowed to eat micro chips in front of the tv.
Watching Saturday night telly like Noel’s house party and blind date sharing a bag of chocolates.
Making dens using dining chairs and big blankets.
Sitting outside in the garden on a blanket reading for hours on end.
Caravan holidays.
Long summer days out with the children from the village and only coming back when it was dark.
Feeling very safe and loved when I was ill, duvet on the sofa with a magazine and Lucozade.
My mum was really skint when we were kids but we never knew it. We didn’t have all the latest toys or gadgets but we were happy and secure.
My mum’s homemade cakes and the smell of her homemade rice pudding filling the house.
Not being taken to loads of after school activities, just spending time together.
Loads more memories, too many to put down here!

Playing board games with my parents and siblings.
Playing outside all day with the local neighbourhood kids.
Reading in the bath.
Reading in my room.
Hot buttered toast after school, literally dripping in butter.

Camping in the back garden, walks in the country, walks on the beach, my riding lessons, reading everything Enid blyton had ever written, playing with my dog, having lots of pets, carebears and smurfs. Independence of waking to friends house 10 doors down.

The national trust do a great list of things to do before you’re 11 3/4. Quite a few are on this thread if your looking for inspiration

Oh also go to a bridge with a train track underneath and wave at the driver. They used to give me a beep 😊

I used to love the long summer school holidays,playing in my back garden,i would get 2 blankets lie one on the ground put the old fashioned wooden clothes airer upside down then put a blanket on top,have crisps and pop,then settle down with enid blyton books.I had 2 guinea pigs.benji and sooty.benji would allow you to cuddle him ,i would tell him all my secrets! I would swing for ages and look upside at the houses.

I used to love going mushroom picking (my grandad knew which ones we could eat)
Then we all went back to my grand parents to cook up and eat them. Also chestnut roasting!!

Baking
Camping
Going to museums
Learning about nature
Playing games as a family

Camping .... so many of my memories revolve around us camping for holidays

Playing in the snow

Anything outdoors. Especially at night, or in the winter, or any time/place you wouldn't normally be out. The farther from civilisation, the better. Slightly scary is good.

Doings things which were a little dangerous, which maybe other parents wouldn't have let their kids do - so that meant I was specially privileged and more trusted. Being the one to start the fire at a very early age, for example. Driving a speedboat. Driving the car round a field, even near the trees. Climbing a very tall tree. Using power tools.

Being entrusted with meaningful work around the house, things we could be proud of. My dsis used to do all the routine maintenance on the family car from the age of 14 - oil changes, replacing tyres and spark plugs. We both prepared the first draft of our parents' tax returns. Putting up shelves, upgrading the family computer, laying carpet, having a go at repairing the washing machine. Every time you lie in the bath and look at the tiling that you did, you feel competent.

Road trips by car which we planned as we went along. Likewise getting on several buses or trains with no particular plan, and hoping we could get home before the last bus.

Yes to the book recommendations Simplicity Parenting, great book!!

Also another one I would recommend is Heaven on Earth. It’s Waldorf/Steiner in principle (as is simplicity parenting) but there is no anthroposophy nonsense in it and you wouldn’t actually know it was a Steiner book if not told - it’s basically just full of ideas for how to give your child a carefree, simple childhood and lots of ideas for encouraging imaginative and sensory play

my dad used to finish early on a Friday and he'd pick email up from school to go swimming - we'd do lengths together and play diving games.

-My dad used to let me use his hammer/saw/screw driver whenever he was doing DIY.

• Playing Chess/draughts with grandad/uncles/dad.

• having an elderly next door neighbour that I'd go over most days to play cards/drink lemonade/eat chocolate with.

• long bike rides in the summer with my dad/older brothers.

• sneaking in the woods with friends/playing in fields (Theresa May style).

• Roasting Marshmallows after the BBQ.

• Going on Brownie Pack holidays/camping with the Guides.

• Going to Pets At Home (then Animal City?) After shopping with my mum.

-picking and eating fruit/veg straight from the garden with my grandparents.

-long car rides with my dad as I'd ask him a ln open question i.e. who were the Vikings/romans/what was the fire of London like and we'd discuss it all the way home.

-watching the 6pm news with my parents over dinner and we'd discuss/debate (very outnumbered style) ever night.

• My dad would never say no without thinking of a valid reason why I couldn't do anything and he'd try to make it a yes (I remember asking if I could sledge down the stairs on a kitchen tray when mum was out and he said only if I wore a helmet and he was downstairs ready to catch me!)

• I was never (still not) found of my mum but that's because she never gave me time whereas my dad did - looking back she placed too much importance on ironed clothes and keeping up appearances.

Actually, I remember a few times I'd get ready for school and mum would say that she was keeping me off to go to London/museums/day trips which were one of my foundest memories