Summer Activities – Keep it Creative! – From Guest Blogger Elizabeth Mays
I have always loved having the kids home for the summer, and I’m a person who never gets bored, so I’ve found ways to keep my kids busy and having fun. There are a myriad of scheduled activities for kids to participate in outside the home, such as summer reading clubs at the library and bookstores, day camps, and swimming lessons, but today I want to focus on simple, everyday activities at home.
I have always encouraged imagination and creativity through play, as it’s not only fun, but educational too. If you give the kids a few supplies and a starter activity, and then just let them take it where they want it, they’ll have a blast!
- Running through sprinklers is a favorite childhood activity. Add in an umbrella, a bucket, and a big squishy sponge and watch what fun they will have!
- Fill a wading pool with water on a really hot day, dump in a big container of ice cubes, and let the kids try to get the ice cubes out of the pool with their feet!
- Some gardening tools, a bucket, and a place to dig will have them creating recipes extraordinaire. At our house, making outdoor salad is an everyday delight.
- Make a backyard obstacle course and let the kids help come up with activities to include. Play copycat where one person goes from point A to point B doing an activity of their choice (like skipping, hopping, galloping, or running backwards) and everyone else follows behind. Take turns being the leader. Be prepared for silliness.
- Run some relay races. Have some flippers? Let them slip them on and then try to race each other across the yard. Fasten cups onto their shoes with rubber bands and fill them with popcorn or Mom’s Best Naturals cereal. Let them try to race each other to a container and see who can fill it first. I guarantee the birds will be getting quite a tasty treat that day!
I could go on and on, but these are a few tried and true activities and I hope they inspire you to come up with even more ideas. Have a wonderful summer with your kids!