Summer Spectacular: Week Eight

To help keep your holidays super fun, creative and budget friendly, there will be 63 unique activity ideas to unlock. Each week, another seven ideas, plus a puzzle, will be released. This is Week Eight. Check out the full schedule here. We hope you find some great ideas to keep you entertained!

Cameras at the ready! We're determined to capture our escapades this week for World Photography Day. From kite flying to pond dipping, we've got plenty up our sleeves for the penultimate week of summer fun. 

Plus, in case of rainy weather, there's a brand-new puzzle for you to crack. Teresa Trayals has been out collecting butterflies and logging her findings. She's trying to log the ways her specimens differ from each other, but she's missed a few. Can you spot the differences between her butterflies? Check the answers here when you've solved it.

Here are the seven activities for this week...

We love finding the weird and wonderful hidden gems when we explore, and often they’re tucked around corners you’d never think to venture down.

Explore ‘off the beaten track’ in a historical town or city. Since today is World Photography Day, take a picture of any interesting features you find, and when you get home, see if you can find out more about them. Make sure you get a few snaps of you and your crew having fun exploring too!

Let’s go fly a kite!… Well, that’s a bit easy, really. So, try making one of your own! Gather the craft supplies and build a functioning kite. What features does it need to fly properly? You could try the standard diamond shape, or something more elaborate.

Then, take it out for a test flight. You’ll want to pick somewhere wide open with a breeze. Did your kite work? What changes do you need to make to make it fly better?

Sometimes, there's nothing better than spending the day relaxing and reading.

Have each member of your family put the name of a book they'd like to read into a hat, then pick one at random. Everyone then has to read the book, so it will need to be suitable for all ages and reading levels, and be a book you can get multiple copies of.

When everyone has finished, sit down together and discuss the parts you liked, who your favourite character is and what you think would happen next.

Gather your friends or family and host a themed dinner party. Choose from either a historical or international theme, and come up with a menu to fit.

Your meal should have two courses as a minimum - a main with either a starter or a dessert - but, you can have more if you like.

To make it even more of an event, ask your guests to dress up to the theme, decorate to match and look at after-dinner games you could play.

Let’s get up close to some wildlife with a day of pond dipping or rock pooling. All you need is a clear bucket or jar and a net.

Start by looking to see what you can spot, then try gently gathering the organisms by dipping your bucket or net into the water. Keep the creatures in water while you identify them, and return them as soon as you're finished. Find rock pooling tips here, and pond dipping tips here.

Our intrepid explorer, Teresa Trayals, has been out looking for wildlife too, and managed to collect some butterflies. Can you help her spot the differences between her specimens in this week's puzzle?

Spend a day in the garden or park playing games. If you’ve got a patio, get hold of some chalk and draw hopscotch, noughts and crosses, etc. If you’ve got a lawn, try croquet, boules, etc.

Get a group of you together to play games like tag and capture the flag, or keep it small with tennis and netball.

If the weather is against you, what games can you bring indoors? Ball games may be off the cards, but there are plenty of pen and paper games you could try.

Go travelling and see the sights on a bus adventure! Head into the city for an open-top bus tour, where you can listen to the audio guide and hop off at the must-see stops. Or, venture further afield for a sightseeing trip, like the Adventures by Bus journeys that operate in the south of England.

If you’re really up for a challenge, see how far you can travel on bus trips in one day - this man travelled 137 miles from Derby to Whitby! Or for something more gentle, take the most scenic journey in your local area.

Every Saturday, a new week of fun ideas will be unlocked. This is week eight, and plenty of ideas are already available - check the main page to see what you've missed!

If you can't wait until Saturday, head to our Hidden Treasure blog to discover even more activity and exploration inspiration, like Holiday Bingo and the 30 Days Outdoors challenge.