Summer is in full swing, and that means the kids are out of school and looking for things to do. Keeping kids entertained during summer is challenging for busy families. Still, there are plenty of fun activities everyone can engage in that don’t involve sitting on the couch staring at a screen all day. Here are some free and inexpensive ideas for summer fun for the whole family.
Get Into Nature
Summer is an excellent time to get out of the house and explore your natural surroundings thanks to long, sunny days and warm weather, and best of all, it’s free. Consider taking the day and going hiking through a local park or forest. Not only are you getting out of the house and enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer, but you can also turn this into a learning experience. Use your phones to identify plants, trees, flowers, and insects native to your area and learn more about them. Take plenty of photos to make a visual diary of what you saw, so the kids can share them with grandparents, friends, and teachers once they return to school.
Another fun nature activity is to start a garden. Gardening is a great way to teach kids about the value of planting, growing, and eating healthy fruits and vegetables and about being responsible for planting, watering, and caring for what they’ve planted to make it grow and thrive. Finally, if you can’t travel far, you can get out into your backyard and do some bird watching or insect hunting. Again, use your phones to look up what you find and see how much you can learn.
Explore Local Landmarks
Almost every city has a few landmarks or oddities that make it unique, and summer is a great time to explore them. Whether it’s a popular eating spot, museum, flea market, historical landmark, or weird local attraction, there’s almost always something you can find to make your day an adventure.
Painted Kindness Rocks
What is a painted kindness rock? Well, it’s a new craze that’s swept through many communities in the last few years. Kind rocks are ordinary rocks that kids and parents paint with decorative, fun designs that include a kind message. Once the rocks are painted, the idea is to hide them throughout your town or neighborhood and give hints on social media on where to find them. People in the painted rock community go on these scavenger hunts to find the rocks, photograph them, and post the pics on social media with relevant hashtags. There are many communities on social media dedicated to painting, hiding, and finding kind rocks, and it’s a great way to be creative and have fun while getting out of the house and being active. And, like the other ideas on our list, this is something you can get into with very little money; chances are you already have some paint and brushes around the house, and the rocks can be anything you find around the yard.
Photo Scavenger Hunts
Speaking of scavenger hunts, another fun activity that everyone can enjoy is photo scavenger hunts. Most kids are tech-savvy and attached to their phones, so this is one activity they’ll love. To start, determine the area to explore, make a list of items for the kids to locate and photograph, and set a time limit. Depending on the kids’ ages, you can make it more challenging by using riddles or cryptic clues that require a little brain power to figure out. Clues can be specific for young children, such as “find something green” or “something in the sky,” or more challenging for older kids, like “find something that flaps in the wind, or “find something that’s square and green.” You can make this a competition or do it just for fun; just be sure to limit the area the kids can explore to keep everyone safe and ensure no one is out of sight. Or, if you want to give them more space, consider sending a responsible adult or teen to guide them.
Indoor Ideas
Sometimes, when you intend to get out of the house for some summer fun, Mother Nature has other ideas. Whether it’s raining or too hot, you’ll have to make do with activities confined to your home. The activities you can do as a family indoors are endless, and here are a few.
- Family movie night
- Family story time
- Playing board games
- Balloon sports
- Video games that encourage physical activity
- Crafts
- Coloring and drawing
- Hide and seek
- Indoor camping
- Indoor scavenger hunts
- Ask the kids to put on a play
If the weather is disagreeable to outdoor activities, and you’re ready to get out of the house, there are many activities you can engage in that are inexpensive and entertaining, like bowling, visiting a museum, story time at the library, and more. Get on Google or social media, and you’re sure to find plenty of local attractions and ideas to help you deal with those rainy days. There are thousands of fun activities the whole family can engage in to take away some of the boredom that often sets in during summer break
Set Up A Backyard Waterpark
Don’t feel like dealing with the crowds and hassle of taking the kids to the local pool or water park? You can create a mini-water entertainment site right in your backyard by setting up the sprinkler and getting a few inflatable pools and water balloons for the kids to run and splash in. Ask the kids to invite their friends and parents, throw some hot dogs and burgers on the grill and make a day of it. At Kids R Kids, we make learning, care and fun part of our every day. You can too! All you have to do is set aside the time and get creative. If you’d like assistance in developing a fun interactive program for your child give us a call at 407-306-9035 or contact us online.