Can you believe that it is less than 4 weeks until the children go back to school, much sooner than that for my fiends in Scotland. Time really does fly when you are having fun. I appreciate that not everyone is as lucky as me to be able to take the summer off work (pretty much) and spend time with their children, but I do think that it certainly polarises opinion of long school holidays.
Last week was filled with lots of fun at Butlins with Dairy of a Frugal Family and believe it or not, it allowed for lots of free range parenting and provided me with the perfect place to allow the boys a little extra freedom. I let them get their dinner and drinks on their own, go to the games room on their own and also spend time with the Frugal’s without me watching over my shoulder.
We also managed to find some outdoor spaces to play in the most unlikely of settings. The top image is a woodland service area just off the M25, the perfect spot to allow the children to let off some stream and go to the loo and the tree climbing took place on the edge of the car park at our Premier Inn hotel in Berkshire. Just goes to show you that outdoor play and adventure is never far away and that children can play anywhere given the chance.
Alvin is also proving to be an excellent competition for our #freerangesummer and we are all benefiting for dog walking adventures.
What have you been up to this week? I would love for you to link up.
<div align="center"><a href="https://www.muminthemadhouse.com/" title="The Mad House" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.muminthemadhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/free-range-summer.jpg" alt="The Mad House" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
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Good to hear we are not the only family to be found climbing trees in car parks and making dens in bushes at service stations!
Sounds like your free range summer is going well and giving you a little adult time out too. I have linked back with Country Kids as it is a good old free range post from us this week too.
This looks like you’re having such a fantastic time over the summer! My daughter is only 16 months old so at the moment her “free range summer” is a daily toddle around the shops in town, maybe through the park!
If you go back there again, go to Hotham Park next door to Butlin’s; excellent park there! I hope the post I’ve joined up to the linky is appropriate? It’s more of a child-led activity with free-play as he’s still too little to let him wander off.
Sadly we’ve not been up to much this week to even blog about >.< However loving your pics and I loved Butlins as a child!!! x
How fab that you all got to go away together. Yes we allowed our kids lots of freedom at Butlins too, it was a great training ground for this summer. Mich x
I love this idea of a free range summer and I’ve really enjoyed reading about what you and your family have been up to this holiday. You’ve certainly packed a lot in! x
I think it really boosts kids confidence when they’re allowed to do a grown up task like choosing and buying their own food and drinks. Looks like you’re having a really lovely summer 🙂
I’m looking forward to letting my children have more freedom from me although I don’t want them to grow up!! Space is so important. I wish I could find places to stop on the motorway like that. We’re off to Norfolk today and will stop at South Mimms 🙁 and Anglesey Abbey for a run around 🙂 Lovely pics of a lovely summer x
Make sure to give your child plenty of alone time to observe and interact. Enjoy a laid back, no-schedule summer this year with plenty of free range time to learn, grow and connect with the beauty and reality of Mother Nature. Build memories and learn life lessons. Your children will always remember these moments and will thank you for them some day.