Defeat Summer Boredom with These 7 Outdoor Activities

With summer fast approaching and school graduations abound, children will soon be heard collectively sighing, “I’m sooooo bored.” Though they won’t have classes and homework to keep them busy, that doesn’t mean they have to sit around all day like zombies forgetting everything they learned during the school year. Here are 7 FREE summer ideas that you can do with your children to help keep them active and entertained.

Go on a Quest

Did somebody say scavenger hunt? No? How about BEACH SCAVENGER HUNT?!? Head to the nearest beach with this list and have a scavenger hunt. With items like “something made out of metal” and “three different kinds of shells”, your trip can be informative while also adventurous. Bring an extra bag or two and help clean up any trash while you’re there. This will teach your kids conservation as well as keep them busy!

Camping at Home

Have an unexpected day off? Put the tent up in the yard and have an impromptu camping trip without the hassle of packing and travel.

Paper Airplane Contest

Help your kids learn about what makes airplanes fly and have fun at the same time. Check out these downloadable designs for some fast and easy paper airplanes and hold a competition in your backyard when the projectiles are complete.

Backyard Sock Puppet Play

Hark! Is that a young Shakespeare I hear? Follow these simple instructions to turn an old bed sheet into an impressive theater curtain. You can also find tons of cool puppet ideas on Pinterest. Let your kids write a script, pop some popcorn and enjoy the show!

Be Kind

With advancements in technology and instant entertainment abound, it is easy for children (and adults) to become self-absorbed. However, it’s also easy for us to be kind to our fellow man and give selflessly. Teach your children about acts of kindness by putting together care packages for troops, organize a food drive for your local food shelf, or set up a community cleanup project.

Paint the Town (or just your driveway)

Kids love to color. Sidewalk chalk is an incredible outlet for this. There’s little to no inside mess. Okay, this idea might cost a few dollars, but it is completely worth it. There are several recipes for sidewalk chalk, and when thinking about getting more bang for your buck, it is cheaper than buying boxes of it from the store. Plus, cleanup is a breeze. Just wait for the next rain storm.

Neighborhood Olympics

Do you have the next Usain Bolt or Michelle Akers living near you? Organize a neighborhood Olympics with fun races and obstacle courses and give prizes for the top spots.


School might be out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean your kids need to stop exploring, learning, and being active. Take some of these fun ideas and get busy with your kids! When the time comes again to get busy raising funds for your favorite organizations, visit Gifts ‘N Things for everything you’ll need.

How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss

Summer break is a great time for children to relax before the upcoming school year, but it is very important to keep your children’s minds sharp and continue their learning throughout the summer months. Too often, the summer wipes a child’s mind of some of the lessons they learn during the school year. Here are some fantastic ways to prevent summer learning loss.

Creative Writing Assignments

Have your child make a journal and document their summer adventures. This will get them thinking creatively and will help fine-tune their writing skills.

Take Vacations - Small or Large

Vacations are not only great for family bonding and relaxation, but they can also be very educational. Whether you go somewhere near or far, each destination will provide a great opportunity for your child to learn about the history of the city you are staying in.

Field Trips

Visit local museums, historical sites, zoos, or libraries. Doing so will get your child off the couch and out learning about the community.

Storytime

Read to your child each night before bedtime. You can also create an on-the-spot story about an imaginative topic. Create characters and a plot. Then have your child create a story too. This will sharpen their imagination!

Encourage Interaction with other Children

Set up play-dates with other children. Getting your child to interact with other children will help their social skills and will teach them about getting along with others, which will help them greatly when school begins.

Cooking

Cooking will teach your children how to use measurements using various cooking utensils. This is also a great time to pull out that old family cookbook and teach your child about your family’s history.

Projects

Have your children assist you with any summer projects you may have. This includes crafts, home remodeling, or even planning for your upcoming school fundraiser!

Start this summer off right and keep your child’s mind sharp by trying some or all of the tips above. Come next fall, you child will be ready to return to school- maybe even prepared to teach their friends a thing or two!

Family Fun on the Fourth

Along with celebrating our nation’s independence, the Fourth of July is a great time to bring the community together to create fun memories with friends and family. Among the fireworks and parades, the fourth is full of excitement- especially for the kids. Activities such as creating fun crafts, making festive treats and playing outdoor games are always popular among children.

Creating crafts is always a hit with kids, no matter the age. For the younger children, try something as easy and fun as creating a Fourth of July wand, a red, white & blue wreath or simply having them decorate individual napkin holders for your Fourth of July get together. For the middle-aged children in the family, try crafts such as creating a Fourth-inspired word find or patriotic firecracker favors. These crafts are guaranteed to get your kids excited about the festive holiday.

Although kids love crafts, they also love sweets! Making fun holiday treats is always a great way to get the kids ready for the Fourth. Putting together something as simple as red, white & blue cupcakes or attempting more of a challenge with festive sugar cookie bars will light the little ones up like fireworks. Along with being fun and tasty, making treats with the kids is a great way to gain valuable family bonding time over the holiday weekend.

Playing outdoor activities is always a great way to get your kids excited about the Fourth of July.  When it comes to outdoor activities the opportunities are endless. Some hits among children are the bean bag toss, polish golf, and of course potato sack races. These games are great for getting your kids involved with the other children in the community as well as making memories for years to come.

The Fourth of July is a great summer holiday that the family will be sure to enjoy. Whether you choose to create a craft, make treats, play outdoor games or all of the above, your kids will enjoy the fourth in ways they never did before! Check out our Facebook page for even more ideas for family fun on the Fourth.

How to Keep Your Kids Entertained and Happy on Road Trips

Summertime is the perfect time for a family vacation. You can show your kids natural wonders or enlighten them with cultural and historic points of interest. However, whether you are traveling to the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Yellowstone, or your family cabin up north, your memories can depend on how fun or how big of a headache the journey was. Below are some tips to keep your kids entertained and happy on road trips.

Help Them Visualize
Provide your kids with a map of your trip, pit stops included. It will help dampen the incessant “Are we there yet?” questions if your child can visualize where they are and where they are headed. Plus, being able to read a map is a useful life tip that they can learn. In addition to providing a map, give your child a briefing of the itinerary, such as how long the trip will be and how much time there will be between stops.

Set Expectations and Reward Good Behavior
Kids are never too young to learn a lesson. In addition to practicing patience, setting expectations on how to behave on a long trip can help your child practice good behavior especially if they are awarded. No complaining from “point A” to “point B” can be rewarded with an ice cream cone or control over the radio. Being helpful with siblings could be rewarded with getting first pick on which sight to see or pool time at the hotel. Remember that a little incentive never hurts.

Eat Well, Take Rests
For everyone’s sanity, make sure to make somewhat frequent pit stops. While trying to reach a destination as quickly as possible may be tempting, getting out of a stale car to stretch your legs will go a long way in maintaining a positive outlook for you and your kids. Think about eating healthy and non-messy foods—not just McDonald’s or gas station goods—to stay refreshed. Pack your own small snacks, maybe even meals, to satisfy your appetite and prevent overtiredness and crankiness. Nuts and dried fruit are portable snacks that provided a great pack of nutrients and energy. Also, remember the importance of water and staying hydrated. Stick with healthy habits on your trip because healthy kids are happy kids.

Be Prepared
Parents probably can’t stress this enough: be prepared for every situation. Prepare yourself for bored kids, tired kids, temper-tantrum-throwing kids, and sick kids. Have enough healthy snacks and a variety of medicine and vitamins in case you find a drugstore unavailable. Have each child bring a favorite toy, book, or blanket for some comfort away from home. This will go a long in helping everyone have the best time they possible can.

No, Really. Be Prepared
Pack activity kits for each child. App games and DVD players can be nice to distract your kids, but have a small variety of toys, paper activities, crafts, books, and games so your child can flex their creative minds. You can give them a new activity after every stop so they have something new to look forward to as well.

Simple tips and habits will help you and your kids have an excellent time on your family travels and will help to ensure exciting and hopefully, fantastic memories.

Free Summer Activities

Do you feel like no matter what you do, it costs money? Summer has arrived, the kids are home from school for the season, and keeping them busy and having fun might feel like an expensive endeavor. Well, take heart my thrifty friends; for families trying to stick to a budget, there are a whole host of fun, free - or highly affordable - ways to fully enjoy all that summer has to offer.

1. Plant a Garden

Even for those with the least experienced green thumb, potting your own flowers, herbs and veggies - or creating a small raised bed - is a great way to celebrate the arrival of summer. Start from seeds or buy a few developed plants at a garden center. With a little TLC, your summer plants will add a lovely touch.

2. Lemonade Stand / Car Wash 

Many of us can look back on childhood and remember at least one entrepreneurial summertime endeavor. For this writer, it was definitely a lemonade stand. The great thing? Projects like lemonade stands and car washes become a source of great pride for kids. Plus, they don’t really require a whole lot of initial investment, and often end up being a great way for members of your neighborhood to get to know one another! And obviously, a little extra pocket cash is never a bad thing!

3. Backyard Art Projects / Show

Help the kids stay creative over summer break with group art projects. One cool idea we bumped into? Painting on plain, white sheets for “display” on a clothesline. Once the art has been completed, kids can invite friends over for a “gallery opening.”

4. Handmade Bird Houses / Feeders

This one’s a classic, and thanks to the wonders of Pinterest, there are more variations on the craft than ever before!

5. Backyard Scrabble

Here’s a really cool idea we found while trolling the web. Make words and spelling fun outdoorsy with your own homemade letter tiles...because, on a beautiful day, Words with Friends is much better in person!

6. Dollar Store Spray Bottles = DIY Squirt Guns

Think cheap squirt guns, only more durable in the long run. (Those cheap discount squirt guns tend to break on a dime). Added bonus: add washable paint to the bottles and spray them at bed sheets, pieces of poster board or big sheets of paper to create original outdoor abstract art for your “art show.”

7. Host a Neighborhood Baseball / Kickball / Wiffleball Game

You don’t need a ton of backyard space for a scaled-down version of baseball-diamond style activities. Gather the neighborhood together for a little physical fitness fun...just make sure you get plenty of water!

8. Visit The Library 

Air-conditioning is always a plus on the hottest of summer days, and lots of public libraries host a ton of free activities for kids all summer long!

9. Volunteer

Summertime is a great season to plot out a few days of the month to roll up your sleeves and help out the community. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity, for example, are ultra-busy during the warmer months, and are always looking for a helping hand. Check out your library for fliers from area organizations who could use a little manpower!

10. Bug / Amphibian / Other Critter Hunt

This is just always fun for kids. Find a nature preserve or park near your neighborhood, get out the jars and nets and see what you can find!


These are only a few of the many, many ideas for inexpensive summer fun. Have one of your own? Leave us a comment and tell us about it!