Active discussions

Help end medical misogyny. Sign our petition.

Help end medical misogyny.
Sign our petition.

Sign the petition

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

Original poster

i want to make a memory today - suggestion??

166 replies

Mimstar · 02/04/2013 10:48

Okay I want to do something spontaneous today. I want to do something with 4 year old DD which will make lovely memories, something unusual, something we don't normally do. Something a bit crazy.

Last time I felt like this, within an hour we has jumped on a train to the lake district and we boyght fresh bread and cheese and ate them by a lake, drawing everything we could see with our coloured pencils.

Unfortunately, its too cold to sit by a lake today ans I want to make a new memory :) needs to be cheaposh, budget of 30 quid!

Suggestions gratefully received!

OP posts:
MakesCakesWhenStressed · 02/04/2013 22:24

Love some of these ideas

Catmint · 02/04/2013 22:33

Buy mini versions of biscuits and iced gems. Make tiny sandwiches. Put apple juice in teaset teapot and have a proper bears picnic. Dd used to beg for this.

We also like going to exhibitions and having random competitions, I am stealing ugliest baby! Grin

Puddlelane · 02/04/2013 22:34

My battery will probably die typing this but I've asked this to go into classics, lots of great suggestions free, cheap and paid ones. Nice to reminisce and in light of the dull cold time we are having with some nasty threads on here. I have put my case forward.

Tomorrow I'm taking my eldest and youngest out with a bucket for treasure hunting- that's a great one!

Puddlelane · 02/04/2013 22:36

(Minus moo and her cellar!)

Catmint · 02/04/2013 22:39

When me and DP were courting and skint we went to our local botanical garden (free) with 2p. We started walking and had to toss coin for left or right at every junction. Toss again if there was a straight on. We were in fits of giggles with people obviously thinking we were very sad, especially doing the same loop multiple times but we also went to parts of the park not previously seen!

greengoose · 02/04/2013 22:42

Some random things we've done that are fun, (our boys have had a tough year, so we have tried to fit in lots of good things alongside the difficult memories over the months)...

Letter boxing on Darmoor, like geocaching only low tech!

The boys being 'chefs' once a week, and making a posh meal for me and DP.

Camping as much as possible.

Planting trees, and fruit bushes.

Lots of dressing up, and having 'concerts', and discos.

Boat trip to watch dolphins.

Home outdoor cinema, in a field with a few sheets sewn together on a scaffold pole, and a projected film, hay bales and blankets to lean on, and a hotdog and popcorn stand, great fun!

Teaching them to sew, and to crochet on pins

Helping them to have a charity stall with home made crayons.

Crazy face/body painting.

Slack lining. I'm rubbish, but boys are getting good!

Making felt, collecting sheep wool from fences.

Making jam after picking berries, making wild garlic pesto, making elderflower cordial.

yummymummy345 · 02/04/2013 22:42

cheap or free --

collecting different leaves and bits and bobs from say forest then making a picture.

Making your own video - great for a memory box too

yummymummy345 · 02/04/2013 22:45

treasure hunt with some dc's friends, make a map etc

TerraNotSoFirma · 02/04/2013 22:47

Great thread, thanks for starting it.

One thing I do if we are kept in by crappy weather is an indoor picnic, properly pack the picnic basket and make flasks of hot chocolate, blanket on the bedroom floor.The children love it.

We have just got the car fixed and back on the road, so I think we'll take a drive to Ullapool on Saturday and get fish and chips. I know it's not spontaneous if I plan it, but will keep an eye on this thread for ideas to pick from to liven up holidays and weekends.

MoominmammasHandbag · 02/04/2013 22:51

I am joking about the cellar guys, honest! I am a nice Mum and I do nice stuff with my kids all the time, regardless of whether or not the ungrateful little beggars will remember it.

yummymummy345 · 02/04/2013 22:51

Camping in the garden when it warms up a bit...

Iamcountingto3 · 02/04/2013 22:56

Love the idea of afternoon tea, & a proper teddy's tea party - I used to love doing that!

We do 'lucky dip hat days' - everyone gets to write what they'd like to do on a bit of paper and whatever comes out you have to do! Interesting that the kids stuff is often the simplest - it's much more likely to be dh & I who put random stuff in there
(Incidentally, it's also a great way of doing a 'jobs & fun' day - sometimes we pay that you can only put things in that'll last, say 30 mins. They dh & I will put some household tasks in, as well as fun stuff. The kids will do dull jobs without complaint when they know the next paper out of the hat could be a good one!)

yummymummy345 · 02/04/2013 22:59

love this Iam

comeonbishbosh · 02/04/2013 23:18

I think you are all experimental travellers at heart. See here for your next missions...

www.latourex.org/latourex_en.html

There's also a Lonely Planet book of Experimental Travel - out of print I think but you can pick it up cheaply 2nd hand via Amazon.

comeonbishbosh · 02/04/2013 23:20

Sorry, here's a clickable link on that:

www.latourex.org/latourex_en.html

Thewhingingdefective · 02/04/2013 23:33

Ooh I love spontaneous trips and activities. The best one we ever did was getting up in the morning, booking onto the afternoon ferry to Brittany, grabbing passports and an overnight bag and going to Morlaix for two nights when our DTs were 2 years old. I had got up in such a bad mood that morning and DH said 'let's go to France' - so we did!

Lucyellensmum95 · 02/04/2013 23:46

I saw someone with his kids doing some sort of treasure trail.........i think you can download them from interweb

ATouchOfStuffing · 03/04/2013 00:07

Awesome link comeonbishbosh! I love it!
DD is not 2 yet but the mini iced gems tea party sounds good for the cold weather atm. Poor chicken fell over running and grazed her nose today so looking a bit battered :(

theluckiest · 03/04/2013 00:08

Oh this is a marvellous thread. I am inspired. I asked my boys what we should do tomorrow and they replied they wanted to go to the woods (fab one 5 mins away....we are very lucky)

I am going to suggest collecting sticks n leaves n stuff and den making.

And then as an antidote to all that muddy boy-fun I may just teach them to knit. Or sew. Or play the guitar.

(Here's another...some of my favourite childhood memories are watching Fred n Ginger movies and mum putting on musical albums & we would sing our hearts out. Jesus Christ Superstar is still a big fave.

Also my dad decided that my little play farm was a bit piddly so we made a massive extension from chipboard, papier mâché and poster paint. I bloody loved that farm....was still on top of my wardrobe when I was 18)

Just a few more ideas....

ATouchOfStuffing · 03/04/2013 00:11

Oh yes, happy memories of making a teepee/wigwam in Brownies and camping in it under the stars in Summer. Also catching crayfish when I lived near Shalford in Surrey (I mention that because they are only found in certain rivers) with bacon tied to sticks! Going to the bakers with mum where she invariably chose me the apple turnover when I wanted the big iced bun (note - get the big iced bun and sod the fruit content) and sitting and people watching by the window with them.

Dancergirl · 03/04/2013 00:20

Lovely ideas.

Feel like taking the dc to a beach now, we are in NW London though so not really nearby. Where are good beaches in Essex?

Solopower1 · 03/04/2013 00:57

If you are in Edinburgh go to the museum. My grandchildren take off their shoes and skate about in bare feet on the cool floors. There are sensory-type rooms and activity rooms, lots of play areas and huge stuffed animals to see.

When we went on Saturday it was teaming with families. It is so huge that any serious adult museum-goers can go to the quieter areas while the kids play with the hands-on stuff. It's amazing. The only criticisms I have are that they took away the lovely fish pond, and there are only two tiny lifts.

It really is inspired, imo. A warm, clean, spacious indoor area with plenty to do, a couple of cafes - and it's free. You might even learn something about dinosaurs. Perfect for treasure hunts too - but my little ones don't need to be organised into anything at the moment. They just like walking round.

Btw, when my son was 8 I used to drop him off at Manchester Museum and he would stay there all morning. Alone (it never ocurred to me that someone could have taken him)! He found a door to knock on and a man would come out and give him a snake skin. There was also a museum club on Saturdays.

I would not do that now.

Maryz · 03/04/2013 01:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Solopower1 · 03/04/2013 01:07

Maryz, you remind me of our mud fight. Unfortunately it was not with permission and it was in the sitting room.

We also painted the garage walls with a huge mural. That was with permission, and great fun. Then we painted ourselves, all over, head to foot.

Solopower1 · 03/04/2013 01:10

And when we went for wlaks, we used to trail the adults and 'spy' on them, the idea being that they should never be able to see or hear us. This was a game invented by my mother, I think, so that she could get some time to chat to her friends. I remember it as being really exciting!