The summer weather is a great excuse to get kids outdoors and to enjoy some play time in the fresh air.
These easy, affordable activities are sure to keep children entertained.
Backyard Bowling
This is a great activity to build relationships between children and with their adult caregiver, as anyone can participate in a round of backyard bowling. It’s also a good way for kids to develop their motor skills.
Here’s what you will need: a ball, 10 plastic bottles, a notepad and pen or pencil.
- Add about a half cup of water to each plastic bottle to keep them from falling over easily. Make sure lid is on tight.
- Create a pyramid shape with the water bottles, where one bottle is followed by two, then three, then four bottles in back.
- Depending on the age of the children, you can designate a starting line at 10 feet to 15 feet away from the pins.
- Show the children how to roll the ball in the direction of the pins.
- Just like in regular bowling, each person gets two turns to knock down as many pins as possible.
- You can record the score between each round or just play for fun, resetting the pins after every two rolls.
Swimming Pool Fishing
This activity involves a combination of creativity and sport. By “fishing” for objects in the pool, kids learn to spot a target and aim their pole in its direction, which helps develop hand-eye coordination.
You will need: a baby pool or large tub, construction paper, pencil or pen, child-safe scissors, stick or rod, tape and string.
**Adults are advised to watch children closely while using child-safe scissors
- Instruct children to draw a fish on the construction paper.
- Assist the children in cutting out their fish shape.
- Place the cut out fish in an empty pool or tub.
- Kids can now tie a piece of string (about 3-4 feet long) to the end of their stick.
- Affix a piece of double-sided tape to the end of the string.
- Now kids can “go fish” by dropping the end of their line into the pool and attempting to “catch” a fish by getting the tape to stick to the paper.
