Entertaining 2yo (close to 3) & 6yo this summer

[LegoHouse274]

After a pretty disastrous trip to a local park I am thinking I will need some tips to get us through this summer harmoniously! They seem to be going through a phase where they never want to do the same thing and they just fight almost all of the time. It's mostly the little one who is the issue, my eldest is generally pretty patient and kind to him but then obviously gets hacked off when he suddenly wants to ruin something or kicks off and starts to hit her etc! My youngest used to play really well by himself quite a bit but nowadays he just doesn't, he just cries/tantrums a lot and begs me to play with him instead (which I obviously cannot always do).

So h e l p! If you have/had similar age gap how did you entertain them, both out and about and how to get them to play together (or individually!) at home without fighting and/or tantrumming for me to play with them??

I’m in the exact same position and dreading it! We’re away for a chunk over the holidays so that will take a bit of the strain off but all I’ve come up with are structured play like they do in nurseries? Tuff tables with shaving foam etc - there’s some ideas on Pinterest. My end of days back up plan is to kick them out into the garden and lock the door though

My two are the same age-6yo DD and my DS is 3 next week.
We've already been off a week here. So far this week we've been to a country park where they rode their bikes round the lake and then played in the park there and had a picnic, we did a library trip on Tuesday when it rained most of the day; our library do a summer reading challenge which they like to do, one of the days we got the bus to the next town which was an adventure in itself and we had McDonalds for lunch whilst we were there. Today we went to a park with a splash pad as it was sunny and warm. So far most of the things have only involved parking and fuel costs bar the McDs lunch. My two love to ride their bikes so we are planning lots of bike adventures. I like to get out somewhere each day-their latest plan is to try all of the parks that are accessible by bike which should keep us busy for a good few days. I tend to try to not be out before 10am (they're pretty good at playing & watching TV whilst I tidy, put washing on etc) so then we aren't back home early enough for them to really get bored in the afternoon.
Our local town is pretty good and has something on most Wednesdays, and one of the churches is doing summer craft for £1.50 a child every Tuesday so again I have signed up to those. Hopefully there are similar things on locally to you. Swimming is always good, or building a den in or outdoors always goes down well. It's hard when they bicker, mine are buggars for it! 🤞🏻for good weather for the rest of the holidays lol

Thanks for the tips so far.

Tuff tray/sensory play type things I think would be popular but not convinced they'd play long enough before fighting that it would be worth the clean up. Could try doing some in the yard tho when it's actually bloody dry - rains here so much of the time! We don't have a garden which is a shame.

Some of the more active ideas from second PP they'd both enjoy but just aren't possible with two of them. Bike riding - my eldest isn't confident yet so still really needs 1:1 attention when she's cycling and my youngest has some physical conditions which means his gross motor skills are behind, so hes nowhere near riding a bike or scooter or anything like that. The pool ratios here won't allow one adult with two children of these ages either so that's also not possible. Library will definitely be a trip at some point as we have two within walking distance. Loads of playgrounds too but need the dry weather for that.

I have 2 dc the same age and I get them out of the house every day - it's too chaotic to have them at home for me. We're in London so we'll find somewhere new to go every day, there are loads of special activities and workshops put on in the museums in the summer, plus lots of different parks and other play areas to explore, leisure centres, museums, galleries, splash fountains, theatre shows, festivals. I pick a different one each time to keep things interesting. There are quite a few blogs listing activities going on for kids so I put them in my calendar to keep track.
I bring a packed lunch so we stay out until at least after 2yo's nap, then they are fairly worn out and can potter at home while I prep dinner.