SUMMER'S here (well, almost) and the living is easy -- especially if you're seven-years-old and the days of ice cream and water fights seem to go on forever. We haven't had many good summers in recent years but the Year Two pupils at Gilnow CP School know exactly what they like about the sunny season. Summer clothes, swimming and sizzling barbecues all sprang to mind when reporter Irma Heger and photographer Sean Wilton went along to quiz the youngsters about the subject of "summer". Here is what they said . . . TO Medeeha Anwar, the best thing about summer is riding your bike in Queens Park.

"I have a big bike, a silver one," she explained. "I've had it since Year One. I go with my mum."

Her colleague, Joshua Ward, is another park fan.

"I like going to Queens Park or Moss Bank Park and go on the slides or feed the ducks," he said.

"And I like going out with my friends on my skateboard and my bike.

"You get more time out in summer because it's lighter and it's very sunny."

Anita Gorsia also likes the park, where she goes on the swings. Her other summer favourite is water fights -- "splashing water on my friends."

Sara Hadley agrees about the water fights -- "you get some buckets and throw water at each other" -- and she also enjoys her pool.

"We have a big pool at home," said Sara proudly. "It's big enough to swim in -- a little bit," she added. "And I've got a pink water pistol."

Sunbathing is a good pastime, too, according to Sara. "You just go on the sunbed and relax and no-one's bothering you."

Kirsty Patterson hasn't got her own pool -- yet. But that's only a matter of time...

"I'm getting my own pool when it's more hot," she said with much certainty.

The little girl is also a great nature-lover who likes "the leaves growing" in summer, as well as "making daisy chains", "picking dandelions and giving them to your friends" and "picking grass and throwing it up in the air".

But swimming is without a doubt the most favourite summer activity.

Akram Ellahi said he goes swimming with his dad, while Johnny Wood's father takes him to an outdoor pool with a punchbag in the middle of it.

"It hangs down from bars," he explained. "You have to stay still when you're swimming and punch it. My dad said he might take me again, soon."

Some of the children also like being taken to theme parks on nice summer days.

Blackpool is Kirsty's favourite destination, especially when her mum "lets her go on the new ride."

Camelot does it for Ali Ahmed, and he has been there "lots of times". "You can go on the fast rides and eat ice cream," he explained. "And you can get stuff as prizes when you win something."

Kirsty, meanwhile, is particularly fond of Alton Towers, where she treats herself to toffee dummies.

Talking about food, mouthwatering barbecues were also on the children's minds.

Johnny Wood likes sausages, chicken waffles and twizzlers at his "barbie", while Anita Gorsia said she gets to eat "exciting" food such as pizza and pasta in summer, while her winter diet consists of "normal" food, including "chipattis".

Sara said she eats sandwiches only in summer as well as summer fruits, such as "oranges and strawberries."

Despite all these delights, Johnny still prefers winter because "you can do things with snow".

"A long time ago, when I was three and it snowed, me and my dad made a snowman -- and we were thinking about a snowdog but there wasn't enough snow," he recalled.