Thursday, November 14, 2013

Fun Things For Kids - Outdoor Activities

Are you a mom looking for fun things for kids to do in the outdoors? In modern times where television, video games, computer games, and other indoor activities are prevalent, sometimes it is necessary to entice your children to play outdoors. On those hot summer days you may or may not want to enjoy the weather outside with them. Even if you bring out a good book and work on your tan while they play, you will all feel better for getting a bit of fresh air. So here are some examples of activities the kids can do with OR without parental involvement.Jungle Safari With a Picnic
There is a nice park right behind our library that has a little miniature forest in it with paths. We love to ride our bikes over to the library with a picnic lunch in a backpack and go for a safari. We have all sorts of adventures (think Backyardigans style) and then when we get tired we sit down and eat our lunch. It's always a fun thing for kids to use their imagination, you may just have to steer them in the right direction to come up with a good story.Variations on Tag
Tag is an oldie but goodie, and you can add a few tweeks to the game to make it more fun. Two of my kids' favorite versions are freeze tag and tv tag. In freeze tag if you get tagged by the person who is "it" you must stand with your legs spread apart and you are "frozen" until someone else crawls between your legs and unfreezes you. You keep going until only one person us left unfrozen and then they become the next one who is "it". TV tag is similar to freeze tag except to get unfrozen someone else must come and tag you and say the name of a television show (that hasn't already been said). You can play infinite variations on that version of tag such as candy bar tag, animal tag, etc.Homemade Slip 'N' Slide
When I was a little girl my parents couldn't afford to buy us one of those deluxe slip 'n' slides, so my brother and I made do with several large black garbage bags taped together with duct tape. Then all you do is poor water over from the hose and enjoy. To be honest this is a little disappointing compared to a "real" slip n slide, but part of the fun is in putting it together. So don't be afraid to give it a shot!Hopefully these have given you a few ideas on fun things for kids that you can try with your own family. Like I said you can either teach your kids how to do it and just let them go at it, or you can jump in and play along with them. Either way it will provide you some great family fun!