These days, it seems like a lot of kids don’t want to spend time outside. They would rather spend time inside on their phones and tablets. If you are looking for ways that you can spend time outside with your kids and you are looking for some suggestions on what you can do with them that they are going to enjoy, we have some ideas that you can use. These are all things that you can do with your kids this summer to have fun as a family.
Camp in the Backyard
One of the best things that you can do with your kids during the warm weather is to camp outside in a tent with your children. If you have a grill, you can grill out and make hot dogs and hamburgers, and eat outside, just like you have a campfire. If you have a fire pit, even better! After dinner, you can roast marshmallows.
Have everyone put their cell phones and tablets away and go electronics free for the night. Break out the sleeping bags and sit around and sing songs and tell ghost stories. This is going to be a lot of fun for the whole family and it’s something that they will never forget.
If you plan to do this, a couple of things you might want to get is a lantern and a bug zapper.
Go Hiking
Get out with your kids and go hiking with them. This will encourage them to explore nature and get out of the house. It’s a good idea to get everyone a good sturdy pair of hiking shoes and a nice backpack that they can carry while they are hiking. You also will want to have something to keep the bugs off that is small and portable.
When you are hiking, It’s also a good idea to bring a water bottle and keep hydrated while you are hiking so that you don’t get dizzy because you are hydrated.
Go on a Treasure Hunt
Again, this is a good idea if you have small children. You make a list of things to look for and go for a walk with your children. Look for flowers of certain colors, a rock of a certain shape or color, and even things like pennies. You can even look for things that you don’t bring back, such as seeing a brown dog or a red bird (cardinal).
Build Your Own Time Capsule
This is something that kids do a lot of times when they are in school. But why not make one for your family? This is a fun way to remember what they have done through the year and think about the things they want to put in it.
Play Games Outside
When the weather is warm, this is the best time to go outside and play some games. Play things like badminton, throw a rubber ball between people, play lawn darts or bocce ball. There are so many lawn games that you can play.
Have a Water Fight
This is something that kids of any ages are going to love doing. Get out the water pistols, the water balloons and more, and declare a war against your family. This is going to be a lot of fun when the day is hot. Just make sure that you lay down some ground rules so that no one gets hurt, especially if you have older and younger kids in the family. Otherwise you may find that your fun day is turning into a day filled with tears.
Break Out the Sidewalk Chalk
If you have a cement patio, why not buy a bucket of sidewalk chalk or even some sidewalk chalk for each member of the family and encourage them to tap into their inner Rembrandt? Take pictures of the artwork with your phone so that you remember it for years to come, and then you will have a memory of a fun day since once it rains the artwork will be gone.
Have a Picnic at a Park
Pack a picnic lunch for your family, grab a blanket that you can sit on, grab a frisbee or a ball and head to your local park for a day outside. Tell everyone to leave their phones and electronics behind, only bring one in case of emergency.
You can even combine this with going on a treasure hunt and with playing games outside. There are so many options out there.
Create a Scavenger Hunt
This is something like having a treasure hunt, but you have put the items around outside for your children to find. Make sure that you write down hints so that they know where they should look. For example, some of the ideas you could use are:
- Go to where Fido sleeps (doghouse)
- This is where birds get a drink (birdbath)
- This is where we saw the squirrel yesterday (tree)
- This is where we get our mail (mailbox)
- This is where we park our cars (garage door)
When they find everything on the list, make sure you have a special prize for them. For example, you could give them a new toy to play with outside. Or, you could have a bag of marshmallows that they can roast after dinner.
Tie Dye Some Shirts
Get everyone in their old clothes, because this is going to be messy, and get some white shirts for everyone to dye. This is a lot of fun. You just need some dye for dying your shirts and some rubber bands so that everyone can create their own shirts. You can even get hats so that your kids and you can color their hats, too!
Buy a Pool
There are a lot of pools available in the stores that you can set up quickly and easily without having to hire anyone to do it. So, why not get your family a pool that they can swim in this summer? Get a few blowup toys for them to play with and they are going to love spending time outside throughout the summer. Just make sure that you keep the ladder up so that no one has an accident with the pool.
Go to the Beach
Summer is the perfect time to go to the beach, if you live close enough to one. Pack your bathing suits, some toys to play with in the sand and head to a day on the beach. You can even go beach combing to see what shells you can find to take home with you. Even pack a lunch and take it with you so that you can spend the whole day there.
These are just some of the things that you can do as a family with your children. We have a lot of items in our store that you can use when you’re outside with the kids. If you are having trouble finding something or you have a question about one of our items, please contact us and let us know how we can help you. We are always glad to hear from our customers and to help them in any way that we can.
