Summer Fun With Kids
Summer time is here again! Time to get outdoors and enjoy nature with your kids. Or stay inside on a rainy day and enjoy fun activities together. Summer is the time for quiet reflection, relaxing in the shade with a good book or floating along on a raft on a nearby lake. And summer is the time for special events, family gatherings or vacations, experiencing exciting Disney theme parks, family water parks and hotels, the county or state fair, or watching local parades and fireworks. Whatever your plans are for the summer, there is an opportunity to enrich and expand your relationship with your children. They are off from school and there is increased daylight hours, making more time for strengthening the family bond.
Some simple and inexpensive summer activities children and parents can do together include:
1. Visiting the local library and finding books to read together, as well as encouraging children to read on their own. There are summer reading programs going on now at your local library. Check it out! (I find the best way to get a child to read is to be a good role model and read books myself.)
2. Spending time in the great outdoors. This can include so many things, such as picnicking, camping, hiking, fishing, swimming, biking, planting flowers or vegetables, visiting the local playgrounds, flying kites, picking berries, etc. The list can be as long and as varied as your own family’s interests. Outdoor activities provide advantages. Family members can be away from phones, computers, televisions, and other distractions.
3. Playing games with your children. Card games (such as “Go Fish” or “Old Maid”) are always fun. There are also board games for young children (such as “Candyland”) and the games we make up to play in the car (such as the “alphabet” game, where you find something outside or inside the car that begins with a letter). “Simon Says” is a fun game to play with children. In case you have forgotten how to play from your own childhood, Simon is the leader and tells the other players what to do or say. However, if he doesn’t say “Simon says” first, then the players can’t perform the direction and whoever does it is then “out”.
These are just a few tips for making summer family interaction time more fun and special. Whatever you do this summer, make time for family fun.
Jill Phillips
ECFE Parent Educator