Summer Activities

Finding enough summer activities for your kids can often be a never ending task. With never ending energy they constantly running to go outside only to come inside a few minutes later. And they do this 45,000 times a day. Somehow they remain bored for about the same amount of times. "Mommmmm, what can I do?" "Mommmmmm, I'm bored." Sounds familiar right? It sounds very familiar - you likely did and said the exact same things as a kid yourself.

So how did you manage to stay busy way back when? Depending on how along ago that was and what neighborhood setting you had, those activities may have been very different. Unless there was a torrential downpour, my mom kicked us out of the house and said to come back when the street lights came on. But those were the days when we could hop on our bikes and ride all over the neighborhood for 12 straight hours. No helmets, no knee-pads, no paranoia. Nowadays, in most places, things are a lot different. Many parents have trouble even letting their kids out of site for more than a few minutes. So what are parents to do? Let's explore a few ideas we can implement when those frequent requests for kids activities come up.

Water Fun

Kids love water. They love to spray water, jump in water, and splash in water. But not everyone has a pool, and even if you do, watching them the whole day is not always possible. I have witnessed my boys playing with a water hose for almost 3 hours, and if you don't prepare for it in advance, they will dig huge mud pits in the middle of your back yard! Why? Because muddy watery holes are great fun, that's why. Consider designating a place in your yard for such an activity. Let them know that THIS is the place where anything goes. (Be sure to contact your electric and gas companies to know where it is OK to dig1!) Dig, make mud, throw mud... make mud pies. The works. Have a water hose or spigot on hand to create that wonderful brown substance, as well for cleaning up your little piggies.

Even older kids like mud, but they may be up for a more intellectual experience. Water gravity games might be the answer. Using buckets, cups, tubes, or any object that they don't have to tear from your house, have them construct water gravity contraptions where water is poured in from the top and flows along to each object in the series. You may be surprised how elaborate your kids can get with these structures.

Rainy Days

So it's raining and your kids are trapped in the house with you. This exponentially increased the amount of times they inform you that they are bored. But if it is just rain and not thunder, lightning, and brimstone, consider actually letting them go OUT in the rain. Did I mention that kids love water... in any form. You could take the bathing suit approach if the weather is nice and warm, or provide them with rain coats and rubber boots. They can pretend they are deep sea fishermen trying to survive the rough ocean. There is something very magical about rain, and your kids will sense it. It will be an experience long remembered.

If going outside is not an option you are left with the TV and video games. But that isn't what you did as a kid was it? No way, we climbed up into the linen closet where the old board games and puzzles were. They smelled like soap. There were pieces missing in every puzzle box. Remember that? But there are unlimited options other than boxed entertainment. This is the perfect opportunity to test their architecture skills by making the infamous "Fort". The fort to end all forts. Indestructible... until the dog plows through it. Another rainy activity I remember was creating these sudo-bowling games. It wasn't exactly bowling, but it was taking a ball and knocking down objects. Have them take turns designing each knock-down challenge. Hide your breakables.

I big thing to remember when coming up with activities for your kids is that usually things that allow them to design, create, and control will be more fun and last a lot longer than pre-made games. At the start set boundaries in terms of what they can't use and where they can't go and then step back and watch it all happen and be amazed. Did I mention to hide your breakables?

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Human Knot - Another Duct Tape Team building Exercise

Seasonal Bonding and entertainment

There are many benefits to encouraging your child to engage in an outdoor kid activity. Any outdoor kid activity, whether it is just playing outside or engaging in a sport can be beneficial. There are so many activities that you can do with your child, from riding a bike to bird watching to rock hounding so you can make it a family activity.

Play Outside

Whether you are hiking on a trail or just hanging out in the back yard, you can create a fun outdoor kid activity and even learn something along the way. Get a book on plants and learn the names of various plants and trees as you go along. Bring along a camera and take photos of the plants that you identify so that you can make a scrapbook. In your scrapbook add an information sheet from research that you do in books or on the web.

Survivor!

This is a fun outdoor kid activity that you can do just about anywhere. Even if you can't go somewhere to camp, you can pitch a tent in the backyard to create an ambiance. Get a survival book and learn about various survival techniques. Learn how to identify poisonous plants. Create various scenarios and discuss what you would do in each situation, such as lost in the forest, trapped on a deserted island or stuck in the mountains.

Star Light Star Bright

Get a map of the constellations and take a walk outside to look at the sky. Learn how to identify various planets and constellations and talk about the history behind them. This is an outdoor kid activity that the whole family can enjoy. This outdoor kid activity can also take you indoors to the library so that you can learn about the solar system and stars. You may even want to invest in a telescope to get an even better look at the stars above you.

How does Your Garden Grow?

Gardening is an outdoor kid activity that can teach your child how to grow their own food, the responsibility of caring for a garden and the rewards of seeing plants grow as you care for them. You may want to start small with window boxes or containers and then graduate to turning up ground for a garden. Your child will learn how to weed the garden, dig and plant. You will need some flexibility for this outdoor kid activity because it may turn into an excursion to dig to China or an expedition to locate earthworms.

Pick Your own Fruit

This is outdoor fun for the entire family. Although it is seasonal, it can be a lot of fun. Find places where you can pick your own berries, such as blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. There are also places where you can pick apples, peaches and pears. The whole family can get in on this outdoor kid activity. Pick a little, eat a little and go home and make a delicious blueberry cobbler! This outdoor kid activity will not only provide tons of fun, it will also create precious memories.

Copyright 2007 Nicholas Hurd all rights reserved

Nick Hurd is the developer of http://www.KidsActivitiesandGames.com A place where you can Discover lots of activities for children [http://www.kidsactivitiesandgames.com/kidsactivities].

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Fun With Hula Hoops!

Maybe even have two teams racing against each other!

Get your family together over Christmas

If you ask a thousand children about their favorite time of the year, most of them will say that it is Christmas. If you ask them why, they will say that it is because of the colorful and brilliant decorations, the Christmas songs that they hear in the neighborhood, the gifts that they receive and all the exciting Christmas kids' activities that have been prepared for their fun and enjoyment. How about you? Do you want to prepare memorable activities for the children in your family?

Basic Things You Need to Know When Preparing Activities

There are so many things that you can use when preparing Christmas kids activities and you can find them even in your own home. You need not have big budget in order to host an activity. Just be creative and resourceful and everything else will fall into place. Tips and tricks on how to prepare Christmas kids activities are presented below:

Kids today are different from kids before. Christmas kids activities that you enjoyed doing before may not be amusing for the kids now. You must take this in consideration when preparing the activities. You can do a little research of which activities would work for the new generation.

Base your selection on the age of the kids who are participating. You might end up preparing an activity for children below 5 years old when your participants are already older. They might just find it dull and boring.

Choose safe and easy to follow Christmas kids' activities. Of course, being the host, your first concern is the safety of the participants. You would not want the kids to get hurt while doing the activities you have prepared would you?

It is recommended for you to come up with unique ideas so as to raise the kids' curiosity and interest. However, if you are having a hard time with the preparations, you can adopt printable activities over the internet.

After deciding on what activity to do, the next thing to do is list all the necessary materials that you need as well as other important things like prizes or gifts. Try to look at home if there are materials that you can use. You can even ask other people if they have some of the materials they need so that you can just borrow from them.

After making sure that you have everything that you need, you can already start organizing the whole event. This will include the venue and the participants as well. You can already tell the kids about what you have prepared so that they will look forward to the activity date.

Preparing Christmas kids activities are both fun and fulfilling. Once you see the smiles on the kids' faces, you will definitely feel the worth of all your efforts. You just have to be cautious in choosing the activities that you will host. Besides online tips, you can also ask the help of a friend or a family member so that you will get another opinion or point of view.

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Team Building with Duct Tape!

Another set of ideas to get your family closer

Most parents are so preoccupied with their work, business and other things to pursue financial stability that their family life is neglected. With this busy lifestyle, where then can quality time with the family fit? Is it an impossible mission? No, so please put down whatever you are doing and spare a minute to read this. Even though both husband and wife work, they have to find time to strengthen their bond with their kids as often as they can. We must never resort to lame reasons like feeling too tired or too busy and neglect the family that you have created.

Quality time is where family members gather to share special moments to nurture their relationship and it can involve many activities to let each other know you are a family. Such activities need not always be outdoors as there are many kid activities you can do together in the house such as play board or card games or watching your favorite movies. Kids need to know and feel that they have parents who love and care for them to enjoy their childhood and grow up to be confident adults.

How do you have quality time with your kids?

When a family is committed to managing their lives well to raise a happy family, you have to make time to spend time with the family no matter how busy your daily schedule is or how tired you feel. This is a basic and important requirement to spending quality time with your kids. You can try the suggested kid activities which you can do with them -

1. Have a morning or evening walk in the park

Learn to relax with your kids by having a leisurely 30 minutes walk in the park. You need not do this every day but have this activity at least once a week as the main purpose is for the family to be together. I like to pack a simple picnic lunch during the weekends and take my whole family out to the park.

2. Have regular "sit down" meals together

Sharing a "sit down" meal together on a regular basis can do wonders for your family. Schedule two or three nights in a week for this special meal and give your kids undivided attention. Show them how interested you are in what they have been doing for the day or at school by listening emphatically to them. Kids are very sensitive as they know when you are genuine or just faking it, so turn off your cell phones and television and do not read the newspapers or magazines when you are having this "sit down" meals with them. I see so many parents doing this and they wonder why their kids are still not happy when they thought that they have already spent quality time with them.

3. Have a fun activity night together

Schedule a day to play some activities with the family. Take turns letting each family member choose the activities that will be played. I will usually plan this activity with my family a month before as this can build up the excitement in my kids. The activities which we usually play are board games such as Monopoly, Risk and Scrabble. I still remember fondly one of the most enjoyable and fun kid activities which my youngest child organized for a particular month. It was the Easter month and she had diligently collected several empty egg shells for us to paint Easter eggs. Later she hid these eggs and gave us clues to find the hidden eggs. My whole family loved this activity so much that we promised to play it again next year and even name it as "The Easter Hunt".

4. Read to your kids or encourage them to read to you

This is one of the many kid activities which I encourage parents to start early with them, as early as while they are still infants. They may not understand all that you are reading but they will grow to love the sound of your voice. Choose storybooks with big prints and colorful pictures to read to your kids and it is always good to encourage them to read to you as this can nurture them to love reading.

Knowing how to spend quality time with your kids is like baking a cake, a lovely, time-consuming process that should not be hurried or it will a leave a nasty taste in everyone's mouth - why? try eating a half-baked cake!

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