The sand pit/water table was full of water, bubbles, 4 cups of various sizes all with holes. 2 different measuring cups and endless supply of ice cubes.
The toddler poured, splashed, drank ( yuk!) tried to hold the ice cubes, traced his finger in the sediment ( Why does dirt get everywhere?) for a long time before he was joined by 3 splash happy preschoolers.
Shrieks, giggles, splashing , questions and throughly wet and happy I wondered if we could do this everyday….
With summer officially here with great weather what other outside summer play activities are you planning this summer?
The Daily citizen features Tips for combating kids’ summer boredom with lots of practical examples.
‘Adults can help a child overcome summer boredom by being prepared with a variety of activities that are both fun and educational. Play is essential for children to learn and grow. While they are playing they figure out how things work, pick up new words and ideas and use their imagination. Play also helps children solve problems and learn to cooperate with others.’
The ideas are ones we know but when did you actually do them. E.g. Plan a scavenger hunt, make a tee pee. Kids love it.
This idea was different from the collections of natural object usually mention. We’re encourage to collect science equipment.
‘prisms, magnets of different sizes, rulers, yardsticks, tape measures, thermometers, scales, flashlights, kaleidoscopes, magnifying glasses, measuring spoons and cups, an old clock, glue, washable markers and cookie cutters.’
Imagine the fun kids can have with these, although you have to teach the kids how to use them safely. Sun and fun plus imagination and creativity in the backyard. Magic!
There are plenty of play-activities listed here for more than two weeks.
How about another fortnight of fun in the sun play-activities?
The beanblog.com lists 13 fun play-activities in their Thursday thirteen.
13 Family Fun Summer Activities You Can Do In Your Own Yard
[or neighborhood]
I especially like no.1 and no. 6 Who knew you could even do no. 6?
A new favourite for us right now is see if you can write your name with the watering can before the letters run or disappear. After we’ve watered the flowers we planted see our post here. We use the left over water from the ridiculously small watering can to draw letters…. maybe he’ll want to draw shapes next week.
Dodaddy over at GMParents continues the excellent series, The little naturalist with part 3 Nature journaling with innovative ways to profile nature. Don’t miss the other posts here and here. He really shows you step by step how to get the most out of nature. We’re going to try out the sound map. It’s a looks like a lot of fun.
What would happen if you built a house for the fairies? Would they come? An interesting idea for the summer.
So now you have a bumper amount of ideas to get you thinking and planning your summer play-activities.
Whatever fun you have in the sun don’t forget sun protection.
***What fun summer play-activities are you planning this summer?***
