Kids

School is out and summer is here, which means it’s up to us as parents to figure out how to keep our kids entertained for the next three months. Don’t be tempted to plop your kids down in front of their electronics for the duration of the vacation. Here are some fun things to do with your kiddos this summer that you might not even think of!

Throw a Luau

Image by Positive_Images from Pixabay

You may not be planning a trip to Hawaii this summer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring the luau home with you. Make some tropical foods, serve drinks out of pineapples or coconuts — mocktails for the children, rum and fruit juice for the adults — decorate your backyard with tiki torches and tropical flowers and buy some leis to hang around your neck. Then, all you need is some music, and you’ve got the perfect at-home luau recipe! Try a hula dancing contest — or a hula hoop contest if no one in your family can dance.

Head to a Farmers’ Market

Summer is the best time of year to get your hands on fresh produce, so why not take a family trip to your local farmers’ market and see what they have to offer? It can be a fantastic opportunity to teach your children where their food comes from, as well as a chance to bolster your home’s food stores with tasty, healthy options.

Get out on the Water

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

What summer vacation is complete without some water sports? You don’t necessarily have to go to the beach — which is fine by us, because the beaches are always crowded during summer vacation — but take some time to get out on the water. Rent some canoes and explore the river. These are perfect for kids, too — put them in the bottom of the canoe while you paddle. If you’re near the beach, rent some paddleboards and explore the area. Just make sure you’ve got life jackets and pay attention to water safety.

Get Those Appointments out of the Way

OK, this might not be the most exciting thing to do with your kids this summer, but hear us out. Getting them in for appointments at the dentist or doctor during the school year is a pain. They have to miss school because most offices aren’t open in the evenings or on weekends. Try to schedule your kid’s annual dental cleanings and well-baby appointments during summer vacation to reduce your stress and make them less of a hassle.

Check out Local State Parks

Image by creative2afault from Pixabay

As of 2017, there are more than 8,500 state parks spread across more than 18 million acres in the United States. Why not explore a few of them this summer? Chances are high there are more than a few within driving distance of your home. Just search “state parks near me” and plan a trip to one of these wonders of the modern world. Explore the 52,000 miles of trail or set up a tent at one of the 220,000 campsites inside these parks. You might be surprised how much you end up enjoying spending time in the great outdoors.

Make Exploding Paint

OK, so it doesn’t actually explode, but it’s a fantastic way to make a mess and end up with some art in the process. All you need are some press-top containers like old film tubes, some water-based tempera paint and some Alka-Seltzer tablets. Pour the paint into the containers, drop half an Alka-Seltzer tablet into each container and seal it up with the lid. Shake and put it upside down on a piece of paper or canvas and watch the fireworks! You’ll end up with a unique piece of art, and you got to blow something up to make it.

Have a Water Balloon Fight

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

What summer is complete without a water balloon fight? Break out a hose, fill a cooler with water balloons and have a massive battle in the backyard. If you’re worried about the latex in the balloons or don’t want to have to pick up a ton of scrap rubber after your battle, opt for some biodegradable balloons, so you don’t have to worry about polluting the environment with your summer fun.

Enjoy Those Summer Months

These seven things are just a few ideas to get you started. Use your imagination and come up with something you and your kiddos will both love. You’ve got a limited number of summer vacations before your little ones head off to college — enjoy every single one of them.

Spring is finally in the air after what has seemed like an interminable winter for much of the U.S. If your kiddos have more than a touch of cabin fever, that’s completely natural! After all, who really enjoys getting bundled up like Ralphie’s kid brother, Randy, in “A Christmas Story?”

Anyone, young or old, who’s been cooped up inside relishes the chance to don no more than a light jacket and head outdoors. Take inspiration from these ideas to get your children out and moving in nature. And because April showers still need to bring May flowers, check out the suggestions for indoor activities, too.

Outdoor Activities for Kids

1. Picnic in the park. Is the entire family dying to get out and enjoy the first warm days of spring? Why not make like Yogi bear and grab a pick-a-nick basket? Having a picnic in the park brings smiles to the faces of everyone, and the fresh air and opportunity for play will whet even picky kids’ appetites.
2. Twist and shout. Take the well-known game of Twister outside by painting a giant Twister board with spray paint on a cut-out circular guide. Once the paint dries, get the entire family involved in playing. You and the littles will stretch your muscles while having fun.
3. Obstacle course. Use your backyard, or head to the nearest playground if you dwell in an apartment, to make a challenging outdoor obstacle course for the kiddos. If going to the park, keep in mind that 40 percent of injuries at the playground happen because of inadequate supervision, so keep an eye on the young ‘uns.
4. Chinese jump rope. Challenge you and your children’s coordination with this fun and different take on jump rope. Start out easy, and then build up to more creative jumping patterns. Who said getting kiddie cardio meant making them run laps?
5. Freeze dance. Bust out the portable speakers and head outside for this crazy and silly game. Similar to freeze tag, the game requires kids to dance in the craziest way they can imagine — and when the whistle blows, they must instantly go perfectly still. You’ll work out little muscles while letting your children to exercise their creativity, too.

Outdoor Learning Activities

1. Sowing seeds. If you have a garden patch, divide it up between family members and let the kids select which plants to grow in their spot. Those in cooler climates can start their gardens indoors in pots, then transplant them when warmer days arrive. Teach kids how to prep the soil, how to mulch, and how often to water their plants to keep them growing strong.
2. Color match. This game works great for toddlers just learning their colors. Use sidewalk chalk to draw squares of different hues on a hard surface. Then, have children search the yard or the park for leaves and flowers that match the colors. Have two or more tots or taking junior on a play date? Make a mini-contest to see who can find the most objects that match each color.
3. Bounce a word. Young basketball enthusiasts will go nuts for this game, and they won’t even know you’re teaching them to read. Write age-appropriate words in sidewalk chalk and draw a box around each word. Speak the word out loud, and have your child bounce the basketball to the correct matching words.
4. Pond critters. If you live near a pond, let the little ones take old glass jars and scoop it full of water. Then, examine the glass to see how many organisms you can see inside to teach them about aquatic life. Maybe you’ll get lucky and catch a tadpole to observe before setting him free!
5. Build a birdhouse. It’s easy to make a birdhouse out of various materials. Help your children create a simple birdhouse they can hang outdoors. Once birds make the house their home, you can observe their behavior with the kiddos.

Indoor Spring Fun

Image via RedTedArt

1. TP roll frogs. This cute craft uses old toilet paper rolls that will make your child hop with joy! Help kids craft their own springtime froggies they can play with.
2. Over the rainbow. Help young children make a colorful rainbow with bits of tissue paper, cotton balls and glue. The finished creations bring a splash of colorful joy to rainy days when it’s too damp or cold to head outside.
3. Cork-stamp flowers. If you have some old corks you’re waiting to recycle from your occasional mom-juice indulgence, repurpose them to make these crafty flowers. Plant them in pots when finished, and let the littles line a windowsill with May flowers before the real ones appear.
4. Easter egg rocks. Gather up some oval-shaped stones on your next playground visit, and when a rainy day strikes, have kids paint them into colorful Easter eggs. If your community participates in the painted rock game, save them for a sunny day and help your children hide them to give random strangers a smile.
5. A buzzing pencil. Teach kids about all the wonderful things bees do while helping them transform their pencils into a bug on a stick. The craft keeps whines of “I’m bored” down while creating a teachable moment for sharing the importance of bee conservation.

Happy Spring!

The only thing better than seeing the first robin is making kids happy with creative spring crafts, games and activities. Teach your children new things in a fun way or just get the family out and moving in the fresh air. Celebrate the return of warm days while spending quality time with your beloved little ones.

When you think about your childhood, do you remember running around in the schoolyard, climbing trees and playing pretend? Play is so vital to children that it’s become almost synonymous with being a kid. Unfortunately, unstructured playtime in schools has declined in recent years, especially for students in cities and with lower-income backgrounds. Some schools don’t include any recess time in the typical school day.

Though school administrators often justify a lack of recess by pointing to more rigorous academic activities, is cutting playtime really a good way to help kids succeed? Probably not. Research suggests that unstructured play on playgrounds and in other environments is as important to a child’s development as memorizing the multiples of nine — likely more important, in fact, as many parents might agree.

Your kids need to play in order to grow and learn. Even if they get plenty of playtime during the school day, it can’t hurt to encourage play in the evenings and on weekends too. The benefits for parents and kids are enormous. Here are just a few reasons you should take your kids to play on the playground.

1. Playgrounds Teach Motor Skills

When kids climb around on the playground, swing from monkey bars and spin around on the tire swing, they’re not just being silly or showing off for their friends. They’re also acquiring the motor skills they need to navigate the world around them.

One Italian study found that playing on a playground greatly increased certain gross motor skills, including balance, in a group of kindergarten kids. By providing challenge and practice moving in new ways, kids can learn about their body’s positioning in space and hone their ability to move in different ways.

These increased motor skills can help kids navigate the adult world and make physical activity easier. And wouldn’t we all like to have an easier time in gym class?

2. Playgrounds Build Active Lifestyles

Taking your kids to the playground regularly could also help them acquire an active lifestyle. Practice with physical play in childhood can foster a lifelong love of activity, making kids more likely to continue exercise into adulthood.

By encouraging physical activity, play on the playground can help improve kids’ health and lower risk for certain health issues such as obesity and heart disease. Increased active play is especially important today, as children ages six to 11 spend more than 40 percent of their time in sedentary activities like watching television and sitting in a classroom.

3. Playtime Improves Social Skills

When kids play with each other without guidance or instructions from an adult, they’re free to develop communication and social skills. They learn to share, take turns, work together, make new friends and resolve playground conflicts like the classic “you cheated/no I didn’t” paradox.

Research also suggests that play builds social skills. In one animal study, for example, researchers found that even short sessions of play made the brain more pro-social. Taking your kids to a public playground could help them navigate social situations as they learn how great it feels to get along with others.

4. Adequate Play Increases Focus

One more academic benefit of playtime comes with its ability to increase focus in the classroom. In order to develop the balance system, kids need plenty of rough-and-tumble play. In turn, the balance system affects a child’s ability to focus well.

Kids that play dynamically on a playground — spinning, turning upside down and generally rolling around — develop their balance system faster and focus more easily, which allows them to learn more efficiently and succeed in the classroom. So more playtime could actually lead to better academic results.

5. Playgrounds Inspire Creativity

If you ever pretended a jungle gym was a spaceship, you know that playgrounds inspire creativity. With no guidance from adults, children are free to experience a playground however they want. They can make up games using their imagination, try equipment in different orders and come up new systems to play with others.

When you let your kids experience play in their own way, they get to practice creativity and independence, which can help them find their individuality and begin to take initiative.

6. They’re Built to Be Fun

Finally, in addition to all the benefits playgrounds offer, they’re just fun — for kids and parents! Playgrounds are built to provide entertainment to kids in a variety of ways. As a result, kids get to have fun and parents get to sit back and relax. Nothing beats watching your kid grow up laughing, smiling and exploring.

Get More Out of Playtime

Unstructured play at a playground provides many benefits to kids, from improved social skills to increased creativity. Plus, this kind of play is fun for everyone involved. As a parent, you feel glad when your kids have fun and grow from the experience. So next time you need an activity to entertain your family, think about bringing your kids to playground before you plop them down in front of the television.

Author Bio

Jennifer Landis is a 29-year-old healthy living blogger who loves yoga, running, and dancing it out with her toddler! You can find more from Jennifer at her blog, Mindfulness Mama, or by following her on Twitter: @jenniferelandis.

RELATED POSTS

5 Important Reasons I Want My Daughter To Play Sports

7 Ways To Have Quality Time With Your Kids Without Imaginary Play

7 Sanity-Saving Indoor Play Ideas For Toddlers In Winter