School is officially out! After a week or two of lounging, watching TV, and playing video games, are your kids already bored? Are you going crazy? Counting down the days until school starts?
Summer isn't meant to be spent indoors; don't let your kids' vacation be limited to hours in front of the TV or playing some sort of electronic device. Get your kids outdoors! Tell them to go outside. Tell them to use their imaginations and find fun in the outdoors. Trust me, boredom ends as soon as they go out the front door—even if you have to push them out the door.
Finding Fun in the Outdoors
To make finding that outdoor fun a little easier for your kids, we put together a list of easy and fun Summer activities for kids they do in their own backyards. Even if you can't plan a trip to your state park for the afternoon, you can still get your kids outdoors—and hopefully make them realize the world does not actually revolve around whether they have a wifi connection:
1. Scavenger hunt. You can make it into a competition to see who can find the most things on their list the fastest (a small amount of competition can be a huge incentive for kids of all ages). Here's a scavenger hunt list that we made. Print it, modify it for your backyard, and let the kids run wild!
2. Make a bird feeder or birdhouse. We made a bird feeder for the backyard garden, filled it with seed from a local feed store, and within hours, we had a ton of new birds flying around the yard. The kids were amazed and sat outside watching the birds, trying to take pictures of as many as they could see. Here are bird feeder building plans that use common household items AND they're designed specifically for kids to make.
3. Bug hunt! If your kids aren't totally grossed out by bugs, this hunt could last all day. Tell your kids to find:
10-20 bugs (any kind)
A list of specific bugs
Bugs smaller than a dime or larger than a quarter
The creepiest-looking bugs they can find
They'll go crazy—in a good way—with this one. (Here are a few bug hunt lists you can download, in case you need something fast.)
Kaya started her fort with pruned and fallen tree branches.
4. Make a fort. Forts are the bees knees of Summer vacation. When I had "nothing to do" during my Summer vacation, I always defaulted to the fort. Using anything and everything I could find, the fort became hallowed ground—even though it may not have looked like it.
Give your kids the freedom to use whatever they find (well, within reason) to build their fort, and the fort project will take on a Summer-long life of its own. Your kids will love it.
5. Plant a garden. It may be a little late to plant certain fruits or vegetables, but check your local zone and see what you can still plant this year. Kids love planting, watering, and watching the progress on a garden they helped grow. I'm not gonna lie: the weeding could largely end up in your hands (it does in our house, anyway). Even so, gardening is a great Summer activity for kids on many levels (e.g., teaching them the value of time and effort and that everything doesn't have instant gratification, being able to provide for yourself, daily responsibility, etc.).
6. Mud City! If it wasn't a fort, it was MUD! Have a sandbox? Maybe a chunk of your lawn where the grass refuses to grow? Dirt driveway? Whatever the place may be (it was always the driveway when I was little), dig up the dirt a bit, hose it down until it's good and muddy, and let the kids go to town building Mud City. Mud City is just like any other city—it has roads, buildings, people, cars, and anything else you can think of—but it's made entirely of mud. Make sure your kids are in play clothes that can get dirty, and then LET THEM GET DIRTY! Mud City would sometimes last all day, and by the end of the day, we all had to be hosed down before being allowed back in the house. That's the sign of a successful Mud City.
7. Nature art collage. For the artist in your kids, task them with creating Summer art. Give your kids paper (or canvas if you want to go all out), and tell them to collect anything outside to build a collage. They can pin or paste whatever they find to the paper/canvas. If they want to get really fancy, have them paint the paper/canvas first and then pin or paste their findings. This doesn't have to be a one-day project either; they could make an entire series throughout the Summer.
8. Neighborhood clean-up. Make your kids feel more invested in their neighborhood and show them they have a real part in helping to keep Mother Nature clean. Give them one of those plastic grocery bags you have stuffed away in your kitchen and tell them to scour the neighborhood, filling up their bag with any garbage they find. They'll likely come back asking for more bags. This is a fun event that typically rewards kids with recognition from nearby neighbors, which they really like.
It's Never Too Late to go Outside
Whatever you choose to do this Summer, don't let your kids waste away in front of the TV or their handheld electronic devices—get your kids outdoors! They will enjoy and remember their Summer vacation for the rest of their lives—and hopefully pass on the outdoor Summer vacation tradition to their own kids!
You Might Also Want to Check Out:
The Cannon River is a nice scenic paddle not too far from the Twin Cities—but far enough to get you well into the country—and if you time it right, the Cannon offers a peaceful, beautiful, and rewarding taste of the Driftless Area. Learn more about the Cannon and start planning your next trip!