5 Ingenious Ideas for a Summer at Home

For many of us, this summer will mean a break closer to home, if not entirely at home. Here are five clever, boredom-busting ideas for you and your family to make this the best summer ever!

Icypoles, but not as you know them

First things first – we’re going to need some refreshments to get through all these activities. Before you do anything, whip up some frozen treats. 

Step one, invest in some icypole moulds! We found this set of six for only $1.50 at Kmart. Make the most of seasonal fruit and water or juice to make some simple treats, or branch out and get creative! Here are ten delicious ideas from the team at Taste. 

Once the kids have gone to bed, it’s time to break out the boozy icypoles!

Balloon Battles

An activity where social distancing is not only encouraged but advantageous, a 2020 water balloon fight is fun reimagined. And we’re calling it – water balloons are not just for kids. We want grown-ups to take on the challenge!

First off: no more queues at the tap. Grab a couple of packets of Bunch O Balloons ($9 per pack from Big W) and you’ll have hundreds of balloons ready to go in just a few minutes. They even tie themselves!

Of course, water balloons don’t have to mean mindless warfare. There are so many fun games you can use them in, encouraging strategy, teamwork and just plain fun. Here are 50 ideas to get you started!

Best of all, water balloons no longer mean a whole lot of plastic strewn across the neighbourhood. Thanks to Terracycle, you can now recycle all your leftovers!

Ready, Set, LEGO!

Every family has LEGO stored somewhere in the house, and summer is the perfect time to break it out and get creative! Sure, you can build using instructions, but have you considered:

• The All-In – Make the ultimate tower, vehicle or city using every last piece of LEGO you own. You’ll be surprised how hard it is!
• The Locked Room Challenge: Buy a new LEGO set and build each section without opening the packets
• Build Words, Not Buildings – add some blank stickers to the sides of your LEGO bricks and write different words on them. Then build your sentences!

Hundreds of more ideas are just a Google away, but here are 25 to get you started. 

If you don’t have any LEGO, or want to add to your collection without breaking the bank, companies such as Bricktastics sell packs of pre-loved LEGO for much less than you’d pay for a new set!

Our personal favourite idea, however, remains this unbearably cute lego key holder:

Three Words (sort of): Slip ‘N’ Slide!

Nothing says summer like busting out the Morning Fresh, chucking together some tarps and wrenching on the garden tap. Yep, we’re talking Slip ‘N’ Slides!

Sure, you can DIY it, but you can also splash a little cash to catch a better splash. Every department store has a few options, but we recommend the hitting up Rebel Sport for the Wham O XL Triple Wave Rider (how can you go past that name?)!

Please do not try this particular version at home:

Tasty Licks (No, Not Icypoles Again)

If you’ve ever wanted to learn an instrument, this summer may be the perfect time, especially as the good folk at Fender have made their Fender Play learning series absolutely free until the end of the year! 

Learn guitar, bass or ukulele free with bite-sized video lessons from some of the world’s best musicians. Just remember to shred responsibly (language warning on the very funny video below)…

Whatever this summer looks like for you, make it unforgettable with a minimum $800,000 First Prize!