This post was written in collaboration with Very.co.uk

UK summers are something special and increasingly, becoming rather hot! With heatwaves more common now across the UK, if you’re like us you will be rethinking how to enjoy the season. We don’t mean just to muddle through but how to make the most of it and be comfortable doing so.

After all this is memory-making time, with school events and fairs, school holidays and those spontaneous garden moments with the paddling pool out and the BBQ fired up. Or even trying to comfortably work from home juggling ‘all the things’ which families deal with.

You want to feel relaxed while doing all this, and also grab some everyday snapshots that turn into keepsakes. Apparently us Brits take more photos during summer than any other season. You can see why with longer days and ‘time off’ keeping us cheerful. That’s a lot of opportunities for capturing memories!

At the heart of this summer should be a simple idea: when you’re comfortable and cool, you’re more present. So this is what we’re aiming for!

Staycation Summer Essentials

Heat has a way of disrupting everything, the work-from-home focus to long, stuffy, garden afternoons. That’s why cooling tech is becoming just as essential as your phone or camera during the summer months.

We’ve teamed up with Very.co.uk to find incredible products which help us survive the heat and create a fun, comfortable environment where life still flows naturally whether you’re working, relaxing, or capturing it all on camera.

Everyday Summer Companion: Shark FlexBreeze Fan

My latest work-from-home colleague for when the temperature rises is now the slick Shark FlexBreeze TableMate Fan! Apart from looking fantastic, it’s clearly designed for flexible, family life. I love that it can be picked up by the handle and seamlessly moves from home office to garden to patio.

Importantly for new tech, I found it very simple to set up, which took only a few minutes.

It can be a desk, table fan or slots easily into the stand and then is at the perfect height for being placed on the decking and next to your table while having drinks or dinner. It would also work well in your living room beside the World Cup watch area!

In the past, most fans I’ve used don’t seem powerful enough and just move around the heat. This high-velocity one quickly cut through the stagnant, warm air and you feel the difference straight away.

Being easy to move as it’s cordless, we found it great for flexible living spaces where you might have an indoor room opening onto the garden.

If you like a bit of control, you can customise your cooling needs with five fan speeds, 180 degrees of side-to-side oscillation, and a 55° tilt to keep the air circulating.

This is all wonderful but most exciting for all of us was the misting feature! With an attachment you click onto the front of the fan and connect to your hosepipe! Yes that’s right! You can have a fine, cool mist spray across your room or garden. It worked magically and has been a huge hit.

Home Working Tech Helper

As someone who works from home full time, summers can be a bit of a slog. I’ve used this indoors, sunlight pouring in, laptop open, and the portable fan quietly keeping the air fresh next to me. It’s the difference between a sluggish afternoon and a productive one. And really should be in your ‘tech kit’ for summer if you’re spending a lot of time working at home.

Instead of pushing through a hot, sluggish workday, it helps you reset and refocus during peak heat hours. It saved me in a few “I can’t concentrate” moments!

Cooling, Then Capturing your Summer

It’s not all about work though! So once comfort is sorted you can relax and be creative. As we all naturally get together more at this time of year there are memories to be made.

Whether it’s everyone round the table having a great meal, kids running through the sprinkler, we all tend to reach for our phones. Although I love a digital camera I never get round to printing off my photos and that joy of holding a physical picture can get lost.

I’ve recently discovered the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Camera which blends my nostalgia for an instant physical photo with the benefits of digital.

Interestingly my children love it and yet they haven’t grown up with the retro idea of printing your images. There’s something magical about taking a photo in that moment and then seeing it in your hand. I think these would make a brilliant ‘end of year exams gift’ for teens!

The digital camera works by taking the photos which are shown on the screen and then you choose which pictures you would like to print so you aren’t wasting film. Alongside it you buy packs of sheets of film, which fit into the camera in seconds.

It has the modern benefit of having creative filters and effects and it’s small and compact so can be taken anywhere. You can connect it to your phone and share images on social media if you need your fix! But I find it has a reassuring vintage feel to it but with all the modern tech upgrades we’ve become used to.

Summer Tips Without Overheating

To enjoy even the hottest moments of this weather, I’ve been thinking about how to make our family lives easy and practical to get the most from my summer setup!

I don’t want to be worrying about where everything is each time the sun shows its face.

So that you don’t have to think about this in advance, my thoughts are:

Create a cool hang out zone. This could be a spot on your patio, deck or balcony where you know it’s pleasant to gather. Move around furniture slightly or your plant pots and make a space for your fan, so it can live there or be moved there in minutes. As it looks so smart you won’t mind it being part of your outdoor decor.

Relaxed atmosphere. Check how you will connect music in this area to give a chilled vibe and maybe add a little side table for aperitivo snacks and drinks!

Be prepared for keeping kids cool. Use more tech helpers! Find or buy a small electric pump for the paddling pool so this can be put in a few minutes when you hear the good weather is coming.

Keep your camera within reach. The best summer shots are unplanned. Having your Instax camera ready means you don’t miss spontaneous moments. You can never have enough photos with the light this time of year. Whether it’s for those pretty evening skies or checking the greenhouse tomatoes with the children. You don’t want to be scrabbling around for the camera and film.

Have a summer basket by the back door
In here keep sunscreen, hats, your camera, a beach towel, your favourite book, and maybe a couple of picnic glasses. You will have more gorgeous moments to capture if it takes seconds to get outside.

Unexpected Ways to Use the Shark FlexBreeze Fan and Fujifilm Instax Camera

When it’s too hot to sleep!

Have a film night if you’re all struggling with the stuffy evenings. Watch a film outdoors and use the fan to create a gentle breeze. Think open-air cinema nights. Add fairy lights, blankets and cool drinks.

When you’re turning guests into sausages!

BBQ Smoke saviour, forget the usual uses of your fan and place this strategically near a BBQ setup. If like us you sometimes end up with smoke heading over the patio. The fan can gently redirect fumes away from your seating area making outdoor cooking more comfortable for guests.

Special occasion parties

When you’re trying to break the ice at gatherings, pass the Fujifilm Instax Camera around and let each guest take one photo of the moment as they see it. The prints become the story of the same evening, seen through different eyes. You can then print the images or share them with your guests digitally.

Create a Heatwave Time Capsule

As a mum this one really appeals to me. You can use the Instax prints as physical memory drops throughout summer. Each week of the holidays, print a few standout moments and then store them in a box labelled “Summer So Far.”

Before & After Summer

Similarly if you want to capture the real, imperfect moments with children we all have, which you don’t see in staged pictures.

Take shots of the kids before heading out into the heat. Off to school in their pristine uniform and at the end of the day, mucky after sports day!

Before the playdate begins and again after playing, paddling pool swimming, ice cream eating and garden chaos!

The contrast tells a fuller story of the day than a single image ever could. These can then be printed and made into a collage of your summer.

Well this is making me a bit emotional now! We parents know what these milestones mean and how quickly children grow. We are all desperate to capture our summer moments and hold on to them. Now you can enjoy the warm weather and have physical memories to keep for years to come.

If you want to stay cool this summer and savour all the good bits, check out the Tech at Very.co.uk