5 fun things to do with the kids this spring

Hooray for springtime! Easter is upon us, and now it’s warmer and lighter, we find it’s easier to fill up the kids’ calendar with fun days out as well as more cost-effective spring activities.

But just in case you’re stuck for inspiration for the half-term holidays and the sunny (and not so sunny) weekends of April and May, here are five ideas from us at b.box.

1. Visit some baby animals

Baby animals are everywhere in April, if you know where to look. For a ‘big day out’ in the Easter holidays, you can’t go wrong with a farm attraction: lambs, kids (baby goats, that is), piglets, calves and foals are in abundance, with lots of farms allowing families to get close to watch feeding times, or even to pet the babies.

Spring time often sees zoos and safari parks have a baby boom, too. It’s worth checking attractions’ news pages, as they’ll often announce new arrivals: you can talk to your child about a baby elephant, for example, learn its name and date of birth, and then your little one will be excited to look for the baby animal when you get there.

(This writer’s local zoo has baby wallabies, from b.box’s native land of Australia. Just like kangaroos, they're called joeys, and they sit in their mum’s pouch. So cute!)

For a less pricey day out, we absolutely love WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) attractions. Their admission fees are much smaller than a zoo’s but they are packed with interesting native wildlife, and in April and May give you a chance to see a full variety of ducklings, goslings, cygnets and chicks, as well as tadpoles and other fascinating wetland species. They’re the perfect picnic destination.

2. See a garden in blossom and bloom

Another ‘big day out’ idea is an RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) garden. These are not your average gardens: they’re planted to bloom spectacularly all year round, with lots of child-friendly trails, points of interest and adventure playgrounds for youngsters, so they’re well worth seeing, and impressive to even the most indoorsy kid.

They’re perfect for a day out in the fresh air, and for getting your kids interested in flowers, trees and blossom. Also admission for kids aged 5-16 is only £5, and free for under-fives.

But there are literally hundreds of gardens to choose from other than the RHS. Most National Trust and English Heritage sites offer large outdoor spaces: gardens, meadows, woodland – all putting on a fantastic show of greenery and blossom at this time of year. There will be independent gardens local to you too. Pack up a picnic, and go and enjoy nature’s show!

3. Take them to the beach

You cannot beat the British seaside for a day out with the kids, and if the sun is shining, there is no better feeling than beating the summer crowds and getting some off-season beach fun.

In the UK you’re never more than 70 miles from the sea. Once you’re there, it can be a very cost-effective day out: kids like playing in sand whatever the weather, and as long as you take a towel or two with you, there’s no harm in letting them have their first paddle of the year. Who doesn’t enjoy the shocking cold of the Atlantic in April?

You can warm them up afterwards with a picnic: as well as sandwiches, fill an insulated food jar with soup, pasta or stew, and they’ll be toasty again in no time.

They’ll probably beg you to buy them an ice cream anyway!

4. Hunt for Easter eggs

What’s Easter without a hunt of some kind?

Many attractions in the categories mentioned in this article host their own inventive Easter egg trails through the Easter holidays. The National Trust and English Heritage both have fun Easter trails at most sites. The RHS has a fun Easter Detectives mystery-themed trail. And the WWT has a ‘Gozzle’ trail featuring the adorable gosling from Julia Donaldson’s latest book, which runs right through till the end of May.

Do check your local attractions for their own Easter fun. A lot of tourist attractions open for the season during the Easter holidays, so see if your favourites are doing anything new this year.

Of course you can always set your own Easter egg hunt at home.

You wouldn’t believe how many Easter eggs you can fit in a b.box large lunchbox. We’ve done 11 – can you beat it?

5. Get them involved in spring cleaning

Spring is a time to update, clear out and refresh. For lots of parents, the Easter holidays are the ideal time to get ahead of the back-to-school rush in August and buy new equipment, including pencil cases, lunchboxes and water bottles, to last for the next year or more.

If you’re updating your child’s lunchbox this spring, no need to throw the old one away: a bento lunchbox with a clip lid makes fantastic storage for the kind of small toys that end up littering the bottom of your toyboxes.

We’re talking building bricks, doll’s house accessories, number and letter games, board games and jigsaw puzzles whose original box has broken, homemade bracelets, and the many small toys that accumulate from fast food chains and chocolate egg surprises.

Get your little one to help with sorting them all into different containers – they might really enjoy it.

In fact, on rainy April days when there’s not much to do, upending a couple of toyboxes in the name of spring cleaning, and letting your kids pick through the mess, can keep them occupied for hours.

It’s a chance for them to discover old toys they haven’t played with for a while, and to unite different parts of a set so it’s like having the whole toy new. And obviously there’s the benefit of clearing out the stuff they’ll never play with again – before getting the kids to help (?!) with tidying up!

Our collection of lunchboxes, snackboxes and water bottles are available in fantastic spring colourways, like Lemon Twist, Flamingo Fizz and Feeling Peachy. Shop the range today!