Fun Summer Activities For The Family

Summer is, for many people, the best time of the year. The sun is out, the weather is warm, and there’s more of a reason to go outside and enjoy the weather. However, while some people are frolicking in fields, others feel overwhelmed by the kids being home all the time, and they might not know what to do with them. Furthermore, kids’ activities are not always fun for adults. Today, I’ll give you some insight on a few activities everyone in the family will love.

Camping

Camping may not always be the top choice when it comes to picking a fun family activity. Still, camping is one of the best ways to bond as a family. You can drive into the mountains or forest, set up a camper or tent, and enjoy some time away from the insanity of daily life. Try leaving mobile devices in the car, opting instead to go hiking, roast some marshmallows, or tell scary stories. There is so much in nature that we take for granted, and revisiting those treasures will help everyone in the family appreciate each other a little more.

Cooking

Many families are used to cooking being a chore, when in reality, it’s a creative, fun pastime for everyone. Pick out recipes for a 2-3 course meal and let the kids help in the kitchen. Older kids can measure out ingredients, while younger children may stir everything together or wash veggies in the sink. Adults will handle the oven or stove, as well as the chopping, grating, or any other dangerous component. Finally, sit down together, enjoy your food, and talk about your day. Cooperative teamwork (and the relaxation that comes afterward) will help strengthen the bond of your family.

Board Games

It’s inevitable that some summer days will be rainy. Rather than letting your kids play video games for 12 hours, or sitting around on your phone, take the time to pull out some board games and play them with your kids. The options are endless, from classics like Monopoly to new favorites, like Catan. Board games make great presents, too, so if anyone has a birthday in the summer, it could be a great opportunity to buy a gift that will encourage spending time together.

Summer can be a stressful time for parents, who have to coordinate their children’s schedules with their own. Although these activities will never fully solve that problem, they will ensure that the whole family has time to spend together doing an activity they can all enjoy.

From ArthurDanner.com

Get Your Kids Outside This Summer

It’s almost time for summer break, and parents and struggling to come up with good options to bide their kids’ time. Today, kids are more invested in video games and TV than ever before, and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to get them to go out and play. Nowadays, running around outside is becoming more like a chore to be ticked off the chart, rather than an enjoyable activity. This summer, commit to getting your children outdoors with these great activities.

Scavenger Hunt

If you have younger kids who have never done a scavenger hunt, this summer is a great time to do one. You can list somewhere between 5-10 items, such as a leaf, a flower, an acorn, and more. If you want to get creative, you could take pictures of the items, rather than collecting them. This would open up the list to include things like birds or fun shadows. While this activity will probably need supervision, if you have an older child and a younger, this could be a great activity for them to do together.

Swimming

Who doesn’t love swimming? Most people enjoy being submerged in water, and of course, summer is the ideal time to do so. If you don’t have a pool, take your kids to the public pool or the beach. Just like a scavenger hunt, going swimming does require supervision, but a well-equipped older (teenage) sibling could suffice, as long as you are available to jump in if need be.

Geocaching

A fun activity that can take you to new areas, geocaching is a fun way to practice navigating difficult terrain while looking for a prize. Some geocache sites merely have a magnet or other small object, but some have containers filled with stickers or other fun objects that make the search more rewarding. Keep in mind that geocaching can take awhile to complete, so you should pack food and water if it is said to be a difficult one.

Build A Fort

Forts are great places for kids to hang out all summer. It could be a treehouse or a grounded fort, but either way, it’s a clubhouse for the kids to be kids outside. If your kids are handy, you could even task them with the building and design of the fort. This would be a long-term project that has the benefit of a kids-only place for your kids to hang out all summer.

Getting kids to play outside is difficult in this age of technology overload. It’s still important for kids to get exercise and use their imagination, so I encourage you to try at least one of these options this summer. You may spark an interest that keeps your kids outdoors much more than indoors.

From ArthurDanner.com