With a climate so changeable that the best of the weather can be over and done with before the schools have even broken up, it’s important to perfect the art of grabbing it while you can.

Don’t wait for your summer holiday – take time after school and at weekends to get out and about, and squeeze every ray of sunshine out of the not-so-great British summer.

Here’s six suggestions for outdoor activities for kids.

1) Pack a picnic: even if it’s just to take to the local park, or even the garden, most children love the idea of packing a bag and setting off to eat lunch on a blanket outside. Treat yourselves to a new picnic basket or some cheerful plastic plates from your local discount shop or supermarket and make a day of it.

2) Get on your bike: whether it’s hitching up the trailer buggy so that all the family can enjoy a day’s cycling or simply taking the scooters to the park, there’s plenty of fun to be had on two wheels. If you don’t have bikes for the whole family, check out your local bike hire where you can usually find a selection of bikes, baby seats, trailers and tag-alongs to meet your needs so you can try before you buy and find what works for you.

And if you haven’t cycled for a while, you’ll soon find out that you never forget how to ride a bike, or just how much fun it can be!

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With the school summer holidays looming, you might be apprehensive about having the children at home all day while you’re trying to keep them and the house under control.

Having jobs to do can be surprisingly motivating to young minds and can encourage them to move away from the TV when they are bored through the holidays.

Set them little tasks everyday to get them helping out without realizing it.

Start training them now and you could have some useful little helpers on your hands by the time they break up! Here’s 9 school summer holiday tips to make things a little easier.

* Set the timer: see how many toys they can get into the toy box in one minute.

* Have a race: one tidy all the green and yellow Lego, one the red and blue.

* Play basketball: see if they can throw soft toys into the toy box from a distance.

* Play cafes: get little waiters and waitresses bringing empty plates and cups into the kitchen for you.

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Babies are magpies. They love jewellery – anything shiny, especially if they can yank on it.

Which can become problematic if you have jewels studded into your face. But I am stubborn; dangly earrings, beaded necklaces, facial studs and rings are permanent fixtures – at my own risk of course.

For mums who’d prefer not to have their jewellery decimated by drool, hands and gums, but still want to look stylish; Gumigem Teething Necklace is the thing for you!

Gumigem was developed by a mum for mums. It is the original UK teething necklace “aimed to provide mummy with a stylish accessory that baby can chomp on to his heart’s content.”

In two styles, and several colours, the necklaces are made from a similar material to that of most baby teethers.

Gumigem silicone meets FDA standards and is BPA, PVC, lead, latex and phthalate free. It also has high tear strength so you can be confident it will stay intact.

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Imagine this: a buggy board that transforms into a scooter – no mess no fuss. Wouldn’t life be that much easier!?

It’s time to get excited mums and dads because your dream for a world of greater convenience has come true thanks to Mountain Buggy’s ingenious Freerider. Surely the best buggy board ever?

Freerider offers dual functionality that transforms a buggy board into a scooter in seconds (no tools required!).

For all the ‘go, go gadget’ dads who want to know how it works (I’ll assume mums just want to know that it requires minimum effort – which it does), check it out:

buggy board

* buggy board attaches via a connector that fastens to the rear of the buggy

* the connector can be positioned anywhere on the rear tube dependent on the users preference

* 2-mode rear wheel castor – swivel for using as a board to follow the buggy in any direction

* clip-in handle bar can be taken off for folding up the back of the buggy

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Dummy versus Thumb; the battle of the soothers. Who ever thought parenting could get so complicated?

Teach your baby to self-soothe but run the risk of an entrenched habit that lasts through childhood and perhaps longer.

Thumb sucking gets a bad rap a lot of the time, so I thought I’d do a little research and debunk some myths, Thumb sucking – The facts!

Thumb sucking will not cause crooked or prominent teeth unless your child is still sucking her thumb when the adult teeth are coming through, usually at around 5 or 6 years old. Research and dentists agree that thumb-sucking as a baby or toddler will not have any lasting effect on your child’s teeth.

There is no evidence to suggest that a sucked thumb will not grow properly. It may get soggy and sore, which can be rectified with a mild cortisone cream.

Thumb suckers are not mentally unbalanced. Who knows how this myth came about?

Sucking is one of a baby’s natural reflexes and is used as a way to calm down when tired, hungry, bored or just in need of comfort. As it is relaxing, it may also help induce sleep.

Many parents like the idea of a baby learning to self-soothe with the help of a thumb but are afraid that the habit will become entrenched for a prolonged period. Which is a reasonable concern.

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