Ideas please?

Fantastic ideas here. We built a lovely bug hotel with flat bits of old fencing,shells,old flower pots,pine cones and old garden canes. All stacked up in floors. We also have decorated small branches ( eg from.our orange blossom tree)with coloured wool, rick rack, bits of ribbon, string, embroidery threads, threaded beads and buttons. Tie a ribbon end to end and hang from tree. Magic potions from petals etc, were successful with both sexes. Paddling pool a great hit always - even when not particularly hot! We have a small pond and pond dipping always exciting our newts now line up with resignation to enter jam jars!

I just got my 2 GSs helping me paint the summerhouse - now that was messy!!

A garden hose or paddling pool is always fun. Picnic in the garden whilst wet after the pool is lovely.

Like gillybob my kids used to have a tent. It can keep them busy for hours and hours - particularly if it involves tent pegs and guy ropes (you'll have to do the banging in of the pegs yourself I guess).
They can sleep in it, make dens, play house in it, shops, hospitals, pirates or whatever. If they're vaguely controllable you can get one of those disposable BBQs and do some cooking. Or just take food outside so they can make their own sandwiches and snacks - much less trouble than cleaning up the kitchen, table, chairs and floor after inside cooking or meals.....

Have a selection of stickers ribbons scraps of wrapping paper along with felt pens and glue sticks to make cards for Mummy or whoever they want to make one for. You can buy blank cards at pound shops. My grandaughter likes being creative with no set way of doing it as a lot of the craft kits they are given are very prescriptive.

Baking if indoors . If in the garden and interested in some science give them a big bowl of water and a selecti.on of objects. They have to look at the objects and decide if they will float or not and then experiment to see if they guessed right. According to their age children will have different ideas of what will float/sink, keeps them happy for ages.