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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:
lucysmam · 03/04/2013 12:36

sorry, got your name wrong! Blush

cuppateaanyone · 03/04/2013 12:36

This thread takes me back, dad worked for the railways and got free travel in Europe, remember being woken up a 4am and asked if I'd like to go to Paris for the day......have never forgotten the excitement, need to do the same for DS when he is older.
In the meantime this has prompted me to take DS on a train for the first time on Saturday and will definately be calling the fire station

Lucyellensmum95 · 03/04/2013 12:44

OK, Den made in living room here - i suspect there are many, the length and bredth of the UK - ours has "snow" and DD is a Husky - obviously

Paddlinglikefluffyducklings · 03/04/2013 12:47

Thanks for this thread, sat here with a coffee, dd playing upstairs, thinking what can we do today.

So we are going to the local beach, taking our puppy to experience sand and sea for the first time, then go for tea and cake. Thanks

iseenodust · 03/04/2013 14:08

I'm going to 'borrow' the gallery ugly baby comp and the toss a coin for left/right. We do some of things but in a sensible way. Grin

TiredFeet · 03/04/2013 14:19

I love some of the ideas on this thread.

We do a similar one to the den idea. Ds is 2.5 and obsessed with astronauts so we create a pretend rocket in the hall and fly to the moon (the sitting room) and dig for moon rocks and practise jumping and then he gets a special astronaut picnic (with a carton of juice, he thinks this is terribly exciting!).

Britchic · 03/04/2013 14:32

What a great thread! I've written all the ideas that have inspired me in my notebook so I don't forget... thank you OP for starting it! Thanks

My contributions...

A fairy hunt where I sneak out early and leave sweets/treats around the garden, and the kids stumble across them, then realise the fairies have been!

Movie night where we cover the floor with cushions, blankets etc, turn out the lights, have popcorn and watch a great film.

As PPs have said, making dens - chairs, all the blankets/sheets we have and lots of cushions.

Giving the kids a massive piece of paper and seeing what they do with it (today a map of England with them drawing pictures of landmarks/friends, plus a few more printed off the computer and stuck on).

Any type of cooking... pancakes for breakfast, cakes etc, with them doing absolutely everything, including breaking the eggs!

Smile
Puddlelane · 03/04/2013 15:20

So many good ideas here! Lets move it to classics please MNHQ!

racingheart · 03/04/2013 15:28

Spontaneous things I have done with DC:

gone on walks with a secret stash of golden chocolate coins and hidden them in hollows of trees then told DC that goblins left sweets for children - could they find any. used to do that lots and they fell for it for years , while I got a great walk from it!

Taken train to London to see how many different types of transport we can do in a day, including Boris bikes, Clipper river boat, driverless Docklands LR, cable car, top of double decker. (This could be more of a boy thing!) Not yet done the duck bus-boat.

Built a bonfire in the back garden and baked cheese potatoes, bananas and roasted marshmallows on it. Good even on cold days!

Sometimes we go for a walk along the Thames path with lots of 20p coins and give them to all the buskers we like.

Camping in back garden (not the weather for it now though!)

Spikeinhiscoat · 03/04/2013 15:36

We've done home cinema days with ds. We'd go to the library and rent a dvd, come home and he'd make our tickets. We'd make some popcorn, draw all the curtains, and snuggle up and watch a film together. Somehow it seemed more exciting than just putting a dvd on. I think I got that idea from mn.

racingheart · 03/04/2013 15:41

Britchic - you've just reminded me - another one we do is buy huge canvases from the pound store whenever they have them in, and then invite friends round and spread out the canvases in the garden to do massive abstracts on them. DC have filled water pistols with paint and shot at the canvases, or squirted them or spun them round. Also use spray paints. Great fun.

We do film nights too. Lights off, home made popcorn and lots of blankets and cushions -good for this weather.

We have cafe nights (aka left overs nights) where they write a menu and everyone chooses something different from it. They light candles and pour the drinks. V cute.

Other homey fun things to do, when the weather is cold, are making volcanoes (papier mache mountain over a glass of baking soda, then add vinegar and stand back), making marshmallows or turkish delight, making chocolate truffles.

ProphetOfDoom · 03/04/2013 15:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JollyPurpleGiant · 03/04/2013 16:45

Inspired by this thread, I phoned the local airfield and they would love to have us visit. No flying until the snow clears though!

fuckwittery · 03/04/2013 17:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

missorinoco · 03/04/2013 17:14

Have to run and collect the DC from nursery, but just wanted to say thanks for this thread. You have inspired me to sit and think what fun things I can do with them over my holiday next week.

I will be back to look for more ideas here later.

Blatherskite · 03/04/2013 18:27

Place marking so I remember to look at this when I have more time later. I had a shitty childhood but am trying really hard to make my own children's different. My Sister randomly visited with her 2 girls today and the kids all had such fun together :)

totallynaive · 03/04/2013 18:58

The best thing the lovely lady who looked after me when I was small ever did was to get me up when it was still dark (I was about 3) and take me on a walk to the beach to watch the sun come up over the sea. The whole sky turned the most wonderful pinks and oranges, and the sea reflected the sun's glitter. That is something I'll never forget, but perhaps you'd need to wait till it gets warmer!

Iamcountingto3 · 03/04/2013 21:29

This thread has been in my head today - we made cottage loaves today (I have vivid memories of the magic of watching bread rise ... & the deliciousness of home made bread!) & our den was on my bed with ALL the cushions & bed clothes from all the beds/sofas (dh was delighted when he got home....).

I was thinking of the things that I remember from my childhood, that I try and recreate for the dcs, & a couple stand out:

  • doing things at 'the wrong time' - a normal train journey home is totally different when done early in the morning, and a breakfast picnic on a hill is fab in warmer weather. Anything that involves staying up late (even if just to lie in the garden & watch the planes stars) is always fab
  • 'breaking the rules': when you're allowed to do stuff you usually aren't. I vividly remember my dad letting my jump on their bed as a special treat, & 'driving the car' in a campsite.
I suspect both of those work better if you come from a house (as I did, and as I have recreated) where there are fairly established ways of doing things, and often, people behave sensibly & correctly. It makes the rule breaking all the more thrilling Grin
yummymummy345 · 03/04/2013 21:30

message in a bottle- sent one out to sea- got a postcard back - was lovely.

Blatherskite · 03/04/2013 22:13

I want to do loads of these! I especially like the coin-toss walks idea and the taking a train to Paris ones!

For us, we've -
Made a home cinema. We chose a movie, made tickets and posters and popcorn and then DS got the play till out for us to pay our way in with. It was a lot more fun than just putting a DVD on.

Turned the sofa into a Pirate ship. I found a huge piece of paper and we made a sail, then we rearranged the sofa cushions to make it into a boat. We even made 'pieces of eight' biscuits sprinkled with edible gold dust to make them sparkle.

The children always seem to get too many birthday/christmas presents and if someone asks for an idea and I really can't think of anything, I suggest vouchers. A little while ago, DS spotted a toy he fancied on TV and did the usual "Can I have that Mummy" thing. Instead of my usual 'we'll put in on your wishlist/it's too expensive/no' thing, I said "Yes! Get your coat on and we'll go shopping" Grin The look on his little face was amazing. We went and bought it and then came home and played all afternoon. It was so much fun.

We've woken them up and taken them on surprise trips to Legoland too.

And tonight, DS asked if he could sleep in our bed (he does this every now and again) DH is off work tomorrow so he said yes and a very smiley little boy is now asleep in my bed. One of us will have to go in his bed but it'll be worth it

Dancergirl · 03/04/2013 23:16

I'm feeling a bit sad reading these, I must be a really boring Mummy Sad

My dc are 11, 10 and 6... Have I left it too late?

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 03/04/2013 23:17

What?? Of course you've not left it too late! They're still young!

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 03/04/2013 23:18

Matilda that's a great kit! DD would love that!

Maryz · 03/04/2013 23:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dancergirl · 03/04/2013 23:31

Thanks, some really great ideas on here. I'm going to make a list.