Dandelion clocks
Don't let the art of telling the time through dandelions slip. Once a dandelion has flowered and turned to seed see how many puffs it takes to blow the seeds from the plant. Count them up and that's the time. For your kids this could mean an early bedtime or a late night watching a favourite movie…
Counting the spots on ladybirds
We all know that you can tell how old a ladybird is by counting its spots. Bring your children down to the canals and see how many ladybirds you can spot and what their combined ages are.
The buttercup test
It's a well-known fact that you can tell if someone likes butter or not by holding a buttercup underneath their chin. Show your kids that if there's a yellow glow under their chin then they're a fan. If not they definitely don't like or appreciate butter and should be relegated to margarine from now on.
Do they really love you?
Daises are the best for this trick. If your youngster has got a crush on somebody then you can find out definitively if they love them or not by picking petals off one by one while chanting ‘they love me, they love me not'. If it turns out your child's love is unrequited you can always cheer them up with a Mini Milk – another summertime classic.
Twig boats
How many of us made boats out of twigs with paper sails and then tested them out on the water? Encourage your children to experiment with different designs and then take them down to your nearest canal or river to try them out. Just remember to tie them to a piece of string so that you can pull them back out again!
