The best thing I did with my primary-aged DC this summer was ....

[Cheebame]

Well that was summer, then (unless you're in Scotland or it's a training day, or your holiday dates are otherwise different)

Six weeks has at times felt interminable (things to do on the fourth straight rainy day ... hmmm ... where's that tablet?) and at times felt like tumbling through a time-portal so that the whole year from last September has only taken 20 minutes, but here we are at the start of a new school year.

Apart from camping - which she loved, I think the thing DD liked most was making things out of cardboard boxes, which suggests we should have bought more paint and gone out less! What have you and yours enjoyed most over the summer?

Oh, great thread idea.

We have rediscovered lego and monopoly. Have also pretty much roller skated our way through the 6 weeks.

Have also stopped ds biting his nails and taught him how to tell the time. (Not connected)

Will think of more I'm sure.

Mine is going in to year 6. She loved her first festival and can't wait till next year.

My little sister had her baby girl (my first time being an auntie) so I think that was the best thing about summer, we have spent 3 weekends visiting her as she lives a couple of hours away

I bought a blow up punch bag for my two (going into yr 2 and 6) they have spent hours knocking it down and there has been no arguments
The best £7 I spent all summer

Took him down to his grandparents for a week and they took him out with his cousins every day. They didn't do anything 'special', mostly just various parks with scooters, freezing cold days on the beach and lots of Minecraft on the sainted X-Box, but he only sees his cousins for a week in the summer and a couple of days at Christmas so it was fabulous for him to just run feral with them for a bit while DH and I had some grown-up days out with nice lunches.

Lots of trips to the swimming pool and time at the park with bikes.
DS discovering reading in his head and wandering round with nose in book, just like his mum

My kids are 9 (his birthday was yesterday!) and 6.

Both kids learnt to swim & are now v confident in the water (DS has had a swimming phobia since he was 4).

DS went on his first cub camp & loved it (to the point that he sobbed as he didn't want to come home )

Been on holiday by the beach for 2 weeks.

DS has discovered mine craft on his xbox (birthday present).

Theatre trip to see Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (DD) & Warhorse (DS).

Body boarding on the beach in Cornwall while camping, baking, gardening, riding bikes, visiting Woburn Safari park, cuddling, watching films, painting. A blissful 6 weeks.

Outside of our holiday, which was a fab 10 days camping in Dorset, bikes have been the thing this summer. Ds2 (5) learnt to ride his without stabilisers and has been desperate to go on it as often as possible, which has encouraged Ds1 (8) to cycle everywhere too. It's been a revolution!

Ds1 has read for pleasure for the first time ever, and cooked muffins and eggy bread almost unaided. Ds2 has played lego and I spent about 3 solid days sitting on the floor with him doing 'construction' - otherwise known as reconstructing all the Star Wars lego models that Ds1 has demolished over the years.

Happy days. I'm sitting here planning for the new term now feeling very glum.

Lots and lots of gardening - we've grown fruit vegetables in raised beds this year, so they (DD, 7 and DS, 3) have been picking peas and strawberries, digging up potatoes, pulling up carrots etc. They have loved growing things from scratch and getting to enjoy the 'fruits of their labour'.

Playing in the garden on their swing/trampoline/swingball until the last of the evening light has disappeared.

Just come back from a 2 week holiday in Cyprus and we celebrated DD's birthday at the local waterpark with extended family (I'm half Greek Cypriot) - hours and hours of riding crazy slides and having a total blast!

Sadly, it's the last day of what has been a fantastic 6 week break

Geocaching! It's been everywhere with us, on holiday, at home, visiting grandparents. It's taken us to places we wouldn't otherwise have gone and taught us things we wouldn't otherwise have known. The kids will now happily walk for 2 - 3 hrs to do a decent series of caches. Wish we'd started it years ago

Trips to London - museums (free ones) but also Kidsweek shows. Will definitely do more of this next summer.

A couple of theme park trips.

Camping.

Loom bands and Lego got us through the wet days.

Staying with grandparents who happen to live near a beach now was a lovely free holiday and we will ask to do the same next summer.

Lots of play dates and trips to the playground.

A few mornings in a holiday club, planned to coincide with friends, so I did get a few hours off!

It's flown by apart from the past week of bad weather, which has dragged.

Send them to holiday club!

Just being less stressed and harassed by the school/ work routine has been lovely for me and kids. I get to be mum rather than Sargent Major barking orders and keeping to schedules. It has allowed me time to step back and appreciate my DCs. They have had time to be bored, to chat, to doodle and draw, read, learn to knit, learn to cartwheel and just be happy.
My new term resolution is to maintain some of this happy balance but give it a few weeks and I shall be back to Sargent Major

Not a v exciting summer as I was working from home. However, ds saw a lot of his friends and we had some day trips away. Ds did, however, spend a lot of time watching TV and playing his computer, but that's what holidays are for.

Making summer scrapbooks to collect all our summer memories in has been lovely and my two (4 and 10) have spent hours round the table gluing! Also a gorgeous week in Edinburgh and lots of parks and catching up with friends have seen us through 6 lovely weeks.

Buy them a trampoline - 2 days ago! Wish I'd done it earlier. But actually it was only seeing how much they used the one on holiday that persuaded me to give one garden-room. Well, that and discovering they were only £80, not £300+ as I somehow imagined.

Beach trips in Wales - first time they were really confident playing in the waves. Building castles for them to stand on as the tide came in. Buying a wetsuit for DS2 so he didn't get too cold.

Trip today to the RSPB reserve at Sandy - we didn't see that many birds but we had a lovely time exploring, re-fighting the battles on Endor and chatting about our ideal days

Geocaching. Swimming in lakes and rivers in the Dordogne. Camping out in the garden in a home-made shelter (at holiday house). Canoeing.

My kids highlight was meeting Steve Backshall. He's their hero so when I discovered he was signing his new book at a waterstones we could get to fairly easily, I surprised them with a trip there.
I'll never forget their faces when they realised why they were there and when they spoke to him. He's lovely.

Camping and stage school for a week.

Sending them to their grand parents for the week
they had the best time ever & me & dh carried on working so we can afford the MOT

We discovered geocaching

Camping.
Absolutely brilliant age range for it!

I think for my DC's the best things have been hours spent loom banding, camping with friends and building a fire pit in the garden followed by chopping up wood and toasting lots of marshmallows

DS1 (age 6) has discovered how to feel the fear and do it anyway so has enjoyed swimming in rivers, doing Go Ape and going down water slides. It seems to have really helped his confidence.

DS2 (age 4) has discovered discovered his inner mountain goat and loved scrambling up gullies to find a waterfall in France.

And DD (age 2) loved camping and spending time on the beach.