Summer Magic: A Little Outdoor Guide by LRDM Petits

For slow afternoons and the kind of joy that doesn’t need planning.

We made this for you, mothers, fathers, grandparents, godparents, friends. For anyone spending long, sun-drenched days with little ones who move like birds and dream in color.

Here are a few of our favourite things to do outside, wherever you are. No big trips, no fast plans. Just small moments. The kind that become memories without trying.

1. Painting 

Set up a little corner outside, in the shade of a tree, a terrace umbrella, a linen sheet pegged between two chairs.

Let your child paint with water, with petals, with fingers. The wind might blow the paper. Good. That’s part of it. Keep it quiet. A bowl of water, a few soft brushes, a cloth to wipe little hands.

2. Jeu de Boules & Other Slow Games

Play a soft, silly version of jeu de boules in the garden or the park. Let everyone win once. Let the balls roll off in the wrong direction. Laugh. Let go.

Or draw a chalk hopscotch on the sidewalk. Let them invent the rules.

3. Fruit Picking (or Stealing from Your Own Garden)

Even if it’s just a strawberry from a pot or a wild blackberry from the edge of the path, picking your own is a tiny celebration. Wash it in a cold bowl. Eat it outside.

4. An Unplanned Picnic

Whatever you have on hand. A heel of bread. A boiled egg. Some cucumber sliced with a spoon. A napkin in your bag. Lay it all out somewhere soft, and call it a picnic. Add a book or nothing at all. Let time pass.

5. Collecting Nothing in Particular

Rocks. Sticks. A feather that looks like it’s from a storybook. Carry a small basket or an old jam jar and let your child fill it with “important” finds. Name them all. Make up where they came from. In the evening, line them up on the windowsill. That’s your summer museum. 

6. A Slow Walk Near Water

River, lake, canal, sea. Doesn’t matter. Water calms everyone. Dangle feet. Count boats. Watch ripples. Tell them about the first time you swam.If it’s warm enough, let them go in. Clothes and all.

7. Follow the Shadows

The sun writes its own stories. Follow the light through trees, over walls, across the garden floor. Sit in a patch of shade. Let them nap, draw, or chatter beside you.

There’s no rush. Enjoy the day. That’s the gift.

With love,

Valery & Floor