5 fun Spring activities from The Week Junior

Looking for some fun, simple activities to do with the kids? Look no further - The Week Junior has you covered. 

Here are five fun and family-friendly activities for you to enjoy this Spring. We’d love to know how you get on – please share stories and photos of your efforts with us at hello@theweekjunior.co.uk.

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1. Make mini recycled houses

Find a home for knick knacks by creating these colourful little houses, cleverly made from recycled cartons. You can use them as packaging for a unique gift,  to make or just as a fun place to store goodies. 

You will need:

• Juice or milk cartons
• Paper towel
• Scissors
• A ruler
• A pen
• Card
• Paints
• Paintbrushes
• Sponges
• Glue
• Big elastic bands

1. Cut a washed one litre carton into two sections and wipe the inside with paper towel. Remove the lid from the top section then push the pouring spout inside the carton so it doesn’t stick out. If it won’t push inside, carefully cut it off to make the roof shape flatter.

2. Draw matching triangle roof shapes on the facing sides of the bottom section of the carton. Cut out the triangles and across the sides. 

3. Make the rooftops from two pieces of thick card taped together. They need to be slightly bigger than the sloping top so the roof hangs over the edges. Glue along the edge of the carton then press the roof on top. Wrap elastic bands around the houses while the glue dries.

4. Paint the houses then leave to dry. Cut a door in the house made from the bottom section. Glue card windows and doors to the front and sides. Use white card to frame the windows and doors, it helps the shapes to stand out. 

2. Grow your own food

You will need:

• Spring-growing seeds like tomatoes or runner beans
• Seed trays or small pots with holes in the bottom for drainage
• Seed compost
• A clear plastic bag

Fill the pots almost to the top with seed compost. Place the seeds on the surface, cover them with some more compost and water gently. Leave the pots on a warm, sunny windowsill covered with a plastic bag until you see shoots appear. When this happens, space them out into larger pots. 

In late spring, plant outside in the ground or in compost bags and water every day. Tall climbing plants like runner beans will need strong supports made out of bamboo canes. 

3. Make rocky road  

This chocolatey, cake–like tray bake (minus the baking) is an easy recipe that you can whip up in about 20 minutes. There’s no need to heat up the oven at all, just pop your mixture in the fridge and let it cool.

You will need:

• 550g milk chocolate
• 90g butter
• 5 tbsp golden syrup
• 200g shortbread
• 100g chocolate mini eggs
• 175g fudge
• 100g mini pink and white marshmallows
• 18x28cm baking tin
• Baking parchment
• Heatproof bowl
• Saucepan

1. Grease and line an 18x28cm tin with baking parchment. Put 400g chocolate, 75g butter and five tablespoons of golden syrup into a heatproof bowl that slots on top of a pan of simmering water to melt. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Ask an adult for some help.

2. Meanwhile, put the shortbread into a large plastic bag, tie a knot to secure and bash with a rolling pan, to crush. Put 50g of the mini eggs in a plastic bag and bash to crush. Cut 125g of the fudge into small pieces with scissors.

3. Take the chocolate off the heat, tip in the biscuits, crushed eggs, fudge and marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is well combined. Tip into the prepared tin and chill for a couple of hours.

4. To make the topping, melt 150g milk chocolate with 15g butter. Pour this over the chilled mixture, to cover. Scatter over 50g fudge and 50g of mini eggs, then chill until set. Cut into 16 even squares and enjoy!

4. Build a bug hotel

You need:

• A small, clear plastic bottle
• Things to put inside like sticks, leaves, tree bark and pine cones from your local area

Cut the ends off a clear, plastic bottle to make a tube. Fill the tube with as many of the sticks, leaves, bark and pine cones as you can, making sure it doesn’t fall out. 

Next, hang your bug hotel from a tree or tuck it under a bush. Wait a few days and see who visits.

5. Bake a loaf of bread

You need:

• 500g granary, strong wholewheat or white bread flour 
• 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tbsp clear honey 
• 900g loaf tin

Mix the flour, yeast and salt with your hands in a large bowl. Stir 300ml hand-hot water with the oil and honey, then stir these into the dry ingredients to make a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for five minutes until the dough no longer feels sticky. Sprinkle with a little more flour if you need it.

Put the dough in the tin, cover with a plastic food bag and leave to rise for one hour. Make sure the dough has filled the tin, and it no longer springs back when you press it with your finger.

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Make a few cuts across the top of the loaf with a knife then bake for 30-35 minutes until the loaf is risen and golden. Tip it out onto a cooling rack and tap the base of the bread to check it is cooked. It should sound hollow. Leave to cool.

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