Sometimes, telling your kids to leave their smartphones can prove challenging. Therefore, to discourage this behavior, you ought to develop different strategies to keep them entertained throughout the day. These fun games and activities you come up with are especially essential during the summer holidays. Furthermore, since your kids study from home through online classes, it is even more urgent to develop those exciting routines.
If unsure where to visit, you can help plan your day at EPCOT for the perfect kid-friendly activities. The experience at EPCOT is paroral to a Disney World tour. Sometimes, you will see some Disney characters come to life through actors in costumes. This fantasy is a perfect getaway especially if your kids love cartoons and would want to meet the characters. Luckily, your kids don’t know the difference between the imaginary Mickey Mouse and a real-life costume actor; therefore, they will have a satisfactory experience.
However, until amusement parks are up and running, you will need to find other indoor or outdoor activities that adhere to social distancing guidelines. Here are some examples to get you started:
Play Hide and Seek in Your Backyard
Your backyard is the first safe place you can peacefully play with your kids. You will bond with your kids and reduce their screen time. Hide and seek is one of the activities you can do during the afternoon if it’s not too hot; your kids can get heat exhaustion.
By playing in the backyard, your children will also get a chance to run around and enjoy the fresh air. Fresh air will refresh you from the weekly stress and bring joy to an otherwise uneventful summer.
Therefore, it will be best to always keep the backyard clean and the lawns mowed. Dispose of any metallic and rusty equipment in the garage to prevent any accidents while playing. If there is a pool in the backyard, cover it so that the kids don’t drown. Finally, set rules and safety guidelines your children should follow, always supervise their playtime.
Biking
The little ones will enjoy your family bike ride through the park or neighborhood. Biking is not only healthy for you but also an engaging way to create your children’s memories. Of course, the age of your children and biking skills will determine where you ride your bikes. For instance, if your children are below the age of 12, traffic roads are out of bounds; instead, go to parks where there is only slow human traffic.
To double the fun, compete with another family in your neighborhood. Competition is something both parents and children truly enjoy. Moreover, you can have a price for the winning family to encourage more charisma during the activities. Families are different, but one parent can stay in front of the kids while others stay behind them for maximum safety.
Have Board Game Nights
Your kids probably spend most of their screen time playing video games; therefore, you can generate the same excitement for them through board games. Games such as monopoly are genuinely addictive, and your children will fall in love with them instantly. Other games such as chess are also a good pass time your family can take up this summer. You might discover that your child possesses an incredible talent and a keen eye for chess through playing with them.
Themed nights and structure in the home will give your children a sense of security that every child needs at home. Bonding through games might also translate into your daily relationships. For example, if your kid gets bullied at school, they are likely to confide in you because they will be sad during the game. Gaming is a way to bond with your kids and get them to get comfortable with opening up to you.
Bake and Cook Together
Your kids always want to learn from you. One of the life skills you can transfer to them is the art of cooking; you may even end up creating a family recipe for posterity. The most accessible foods you can make together are pastries. The options for pies, cakes, muffins, and dumplings, and you can sometimes come up with your twists to the recipe for a more personalized taste.
Teach your children how to chop different ingredients and the different ways of seasoning chicken or beef. These skills will help them in the future when they live alone or whenever you are away from home. Of course, cooking and baking is a skill that you pass down to your kids ten years and above; younger kids might burn down the house. For safety purposes, teach your kids how to use the fire extinguisher in case of a fire.
Go to the Ice-skating Rink
Luckily, there are so many rinks across the country. Skating is so underrated because your kids will enjoy every part of the game. It is also something new and out of the ordinary that you can start as a family tradition. It is never too late to create a new family tradition. Maybe one of your children has a talent for ice skating, but you will never know because there was no opportunity to find out.
However, it will help to hold your children’s hands as they skate because it can be pretty dangerous if they cannot control how fast they move. Safety comes fast, and always be close by as your kids have fun. But, of course, this supervision does not mean you limit their chance to enjoy themselves.
Take a Dancing Class Together
Your family might need some form of physical activity to keep them refreshed. Since jogging is not very appealing to most people, a dancing class will serve your family’s needs. The type of dance class you take is purely up to you and your preference, but there are many options to select. Do some research on your own and consult your kids on the type of dance they would like to learn. Please do not impose your dance preference on your kids because they will hate the session so much unless you have the same taste.
Start a Garden
Your gardening choice, whether indoors or outdoors, depends entirely on the amount of space you have. If you live in an apartment, outdoor gardening would be a challenge unless it’s in a pot. However, any option you go with has the same effects on your children and you. For instance, rearing a plant instigates a form of responsibility for your kids that would otherwise be impossible to invoke.
Ensure you involve the kids at the start of the process. For instance, go with them to the seedling store to buy the seeds, fertilizer, and supplements. This way, your kids will develop a sense of attachment to the plants and take care of them without any complaints. Please do not force your kids to garden if they are entirely against it. It is better for the survival of your garden that they have an interest in the process at all times.
Indoor Camping
Camping is an engaging activity for young ones below the age of ten. Due to the pandemic, there are no summer camps; therefore, indoor camping will effortlessly cater to your child’s hobby. Camping indoors is not only exciting, but it also enables you to bond with your child through something they love.
Your kids probably spend most of their days trying to replicate daily activities in the home. Sometimes, you want to stop them from disorganizing the living room and furniture. Instead, set aside one night to indulge in their outdoor fantasy in the home. After all, these activities allow both you and your kids to enjoy their favorite activities with the family.
Have a Sleepover
Instead of having just your kids’ friends come over to your house, let the whole family come. Your kids’ friends’ parents will enjoy bonding with you. Sometimes, all it takes is a polite ask, and they will be more than willing to come over for dinner and a sleepover. Of course, if you have a small home, you can start with one family at a time.
Furthermore, you can do adult activities like drinking and watching a movie while the children play in the rooms. But do not overindulge and forget to check on your kids.
Learn & Play Inside
There are loads of great things you can do with your children over the summer months, and not all of them have to be outside. You are going to get rainy days now and again, and sure, sometimes you will want to spend time in front of the TV together as a family, but there are more edifying options as well. For instance, you should also be looking for some of the best ways of being able to come up with some excellent ideas that will allow you to keep your kids occupied in the best possible way, and this is something that you have to try to make the most of as much as you can. Make sure you try to focus on educational fun, and ways your kids can learn and play at the same time.
There are a lot of ways of being able to do this, and using things like word searches, crosswords and puzzles books are great ways of being able to achieve this. Try to think about some of the key ways of being able to achieve this, and there are a lot of ideas you can use for this. Make sure you are focused on doing as much as possible to make use of word searches printable from the internet that you can give them as part of the learning and playing process. This is one of the key things you need to consider when you are looking to make the most of this as much as possible moving forward right now.
A Sports Match
You do not have to travel to Europe to watch a soccer game, instead, attend a local college baseball game and enjoy the cheers of the crowd and snacks. Watching a match is a perfect option if one of your children or a friend’s kid plays on the team; you can take this opportunity to show support.
On the other hand, you can watch a live match from the comfort of your couch as a family. If the game is abroad, and you can’t get there, especially with the travel restrictions, this is the best option.
Final Thoughts
In summary, your family has so many options for fun. It is up to you to choose one or two of these endless games and activities for your summer break. The lockdown should not become an excuse because; the amount of indoor activities is also infinite. Also, ensure the safety of your children through this period.
