Are your kids bored? Here are a few fun summer activities for the family.
One perk of being one of the younger children in my family is that I have nine darling nieces and nephews. All nine of them, under the age of 10, and their parents will be at my house next weekend for a family reunion. My younger sister and I were put in charge of planning activities for the family to enjoy while together. It was a little difficult trying to come up with ideas of what we could do that would appease the variety of ages. Here’s a list of some things we came up with to keep the kids entertained. You may find some of them perfect for an FHE activity or just a fun summer night:
1. Movie and activity. Watch Tangled and make your own floating lanterns. I made a floating lantern just a few weeks ago and it worked so well! Check out this tutorial for more info on how to do it.
2. Relay races with eggs. Grab a few eggs, stick them on spoons, and race from one end of your yard/ driveway to the other without breaking the eggs.
3. Chalk it up to fun. An inexpensive box of colored chalk can keep kids busy for hours. Have younger kids draw pictures on the sidewalk or driveway. For the older children, try a game of Tic Tac Toe or hopscotch: draw a hopscotch pattern with eight squares; players toss a marker (try a stone or button) into a square and then hop over it on one foot.
4. Knock ’em over with backyard bowling. Find household items that will tumble over easily, such as empty cereal boxes, empty soda cans, or small stuffed toys and align them in a row like bowling pins. Then, using a smaller ball for older kids and a bigger ball for the young ones, have the children roll the ball. They score a point for each object they knock down.
5. Play Kick the Can. A variation on Hide and Seek, this game works best with at least three kids. One person is designated “it” and will guard the “can” (could use one of those metal food storage cans or a ball) which is set in an open space. While the other players hide, the “it” counts to 20 (or higher) and then tries to find and tag the other players. If captured, players must go to “jail.” Any player who hasn’t been caught can run in and kick the can, setting all of the captured players free. If the “it” finds everyone, he wins the game.
6. Create an outdoor canvas. (This is my favorite!) Hang an old sheet on a clothesline or tape paper to a fence for your budding artist(s) to paint on. Encourage them to try painting with different kinds of brushes or items. They could even try dipping grass into paint and swishing it on paper, then try painting with a leaf or a twig. The kids can also try painting rocks and creating little people or bugs with them. (Might want to dress them in play clothes you don’t mind them getting paint all over.)
7. Sleep under the stars. Pull out sleeping bags and blankets and arrange them on the grass so everyone is lying next to each other. Enjoy talking and looking at the stars before falling asleep. You could even check out a book from the library on constellations and have a contest to see who can find which constellation first. (Just don’t forget to turn off the sprinklers!)
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Ashley Jones practices public relations for Deseret Book. She loves writing, emailing her missionary sister, and making/eating home-made popcorn.