School’s out for summer and the kids go wild. There doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day for swimming and playing with neighborhood friends. But, eventually, boredom slowly starts to set in. Don’t let your kids resort to sedentary activities to pass the time on the couch. Make summertime family memories with these fun outdoor activities:
Get Aquatic
Cool off, hit play on “Limbo Rock” and get crazy with water limbo. Use the water hose as your limbo pole, and every time it lowers, your kids are one inch closer to getting soaked. Once you have a limbo winner, turn the backyard into a battlefield and break out the squirt guns or super soakers to play water gun tag.
Invite the Neighborhood
Invite neighborhood families on a warm summer evening to participate in a scavenger hunt. Plan a late afternoon, potluck-style barbecue, then break off into teams for the scavenger hunt. Create a list of items to find, such as a flashlight, picture of a dad going down a playhouse slide, seashell or banana. Restrict the scavenger hunt to being on foot and make sure each team includes an adult for supervision. You can also organize a treasure hunt with a homemade treasure map, a jump rope competition or hula-hoop tournament. Your kids will be having so much fun they won’t even realize they are getting exercise, too!
Picnic in the Park
Pack a basket of goodies and enjoy a picnic at the park with your family. Make an afternoon out of it, and once the sandwiches are gone, play relaxing educational games, Memory or card games such as Uno and Go Fish. Bring bikes to ride along paths and crackers to feed fish and ducks. Take your park activities up a notch and safely play Monster Tag on the jungle gym. Designate one person as the “monster.” He or she has to chase all of the other kids around the jungle gym. The game starts to get challenging when the monkey bars and slides come into play.
Exercise With Nature
Use the outdoors as your free, natural gym. You can try flying a kite, hiking, rollerblading or beach volleyball. Also, visit Active.com and sign up for a family fun run, sports camp or a themed 5K race in your hometown.
Grow an Organic Vegetable Garden
Teach your children about responsibility and health by planting a vegetable garden. Go to the store together and pick out seeds and plants. Before long, you will have a beautiful vegetable garden that will provide your kids with a sense of pride. Pick the grown veggies and cook a tasty salad to promote nutritious eating in your kitchen.
Whatever you decide, the important thing is that you just do it! Your kids don’t care what you do – as long as you are doing something with them.