Are your kids bored? Summertime offers us a lot of opportunities and summer vacation is a lot of fun for our kids – but as parents – many of us don’t get the same luxuries as our kids do. We still have to work, we still have chores and we’re still getting things done. So how do we find ways to entertain our kids and let them have a little fun at the same time we’re trying to get things done?
Upgrade the Game of Toss
You know what toss is, right? You can toss a ball back and forth, working on hand-eye coordination. But you can play toss another way too. Take a hula-hoop and hang it from a tree or other high object in the yard – don’t make it too high. Now go get those long Styrofoam swimming noodles that are getting more and more popular. Challenge your child(ren) to throw their noodle through the hoop. It’s a lot harder than it looks, but it can provide them with entertainment as well as activity and more hand/eye coordination.
The Artist Within
Do you have some paint and some brushes? They can be water or oil based paints, its not that important. Send your kiddo out to get some rocks in the yard. Everyone has plenty of rocks. Let them get rough stones and smooth ones. The rocks should be about as large as their palms. When they bring in their rock collection, have them sort through the rocks and discard any that are too small.
Spread out some newspaper or paper tablecloth on the table. Have them spread out the rocks and get out the paints. Now let your kiddo paint the rocks. They can mix and match their colors and make them as bright and as different as they like. If they want to do multi-colored rocks, let some of the rocks dry and then they can add more paint to them. The porous rocks are going to absorb a lot of paint and they’ll get interesting collages.
It’s a fun, if messy activity, that can keep them busy for a while. When their rocks are dry and done, they can make a small arrangement and add it the table as a centerpiece – it’s a lot of fun for the kids and a lot of fun for you too.
Red, White & Blue
Fourth of July is coming, help your child sort through some construction paper to get the red, white and blue out and show them a picture of a flag – challenge them to make their own flags. These paper flags just need a pair of scissors, some stick glue and the construction paper. When they’ve made a few, see if you can put them together on poster board – and write down a few words about what it means to be American. You can teach them new words like citizenship and freedom. Most young kids who’ve been in pre-school or older already know the pledge of allegiance – but it can be fun to get them involved in making their own Fourth of July decorations.
If you’re interested in more fun crafts that your kids can do, take a look at our Kid’s Craft blogs and some of Sherry’s very cool ideas!
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