5 Ways to Keep Kids Moving This Summer
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This is a guest post from Jennifer Taylor
It’s the time of year that most parents dread and all kids love. Its summertime!
Often times, it takes parents all summer figure out ways to keep their kids active and preventing them from becoming couch potatoes. The first thing you can do is take away their tablets and video games, but then boredom will quickly set in and then comes the complaints and whining.
Keeping kids busy can benefit parents in two ways; it can keep their weight down along with your grocery bill and it can wear them out so their little bodies aren’t filled with endless energy.
Here are my 5 suggestions on how to keep your kids moving this summer!
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1. Playing outside
This may seem cliché but there are so many activities that can be simply done at a park or in the back yard.
Generally anything outside kids will love. My kids love the idea of just being outside. If you organize a group of kids to play a game or a play date it can make it even more fun and prevent the kids from getting bored.
The game will depend on the age group. A simple game to play is tag; most age groups understand tag and enjoy chasing each other around and it can eventually evolve into more complex games such as hide and seek. You can set up races or safe obstacles courses in the yard or park as well. This can keep them going for hours!
2. Enjoying the summer water
Most kids absolutely love the water!
If you have a community swimming pool in the area, take the kids to the pool! This is a very fun way for the kids to burn energy and they will have fun doing it. If your kids aren’t diaper trained, don’t forget to put them in a good-quality swim diaper (like these ones) to avoid any accidents.
However, if you don’t have a community swimming pool nearby or a swimming pool at home there are other ways to have fun getting wet at home. You can have your children run through the sprinklers or invest in a slip and slide.
These are inexpensive items you can have and keep at home to keep the kids moving all summer long. Kids enjoy water balloon wars too. Water activities can be fun for kids of all ages.
3. Getting rolling with bikes
I have found through personal experience regardless of the child’s gender and age of the child that all children love to ride bikes. Bicycles are an excellent source exercise and can be very energy burning. With supervision, children can ride around the neighborhood. Taking the bicycles to a park is a double fun because the kids get to ride their bike and play at the park.
4. Sports
Generally in the summertime there aren’t many sports going on. It tends to be an off season for most parts of the country. People are vacationing and kids are out of school, so sports tend to be during fall, winter, and spring.
To keep the kids moving, you can organize your own football, soccer, baseball, and any other sports your kids love. There also might be summer programs at the local clubs that have events and games your child can join. This will keep them active and their skills up to par.
5. A family camping trip
Camping can often be a combination activity. If you pick the right location you can also hike and fish during camping as well. I started hiking with my children at the toddler age and they had a blast looking for different animals and different kinds of rocks. If you are near a lake or body of water you can splash around or even raft or float the river.
In conclusion
There are so many awesome opportunities to keep the kids moving during the summer. The most important thing is to make it fun.
Get involved as a parent or caregiver. Don’t make it a chore to keep the kids busy. Being enthusiastic and excited will motivate the kids to be excited and motivated as well.
It is so important to keep them busy and moving rather than in front of the screen and in the refrigerator.
Don’t let boredom take over your kids this summer. Keep your children healthy and active!
Jennifer Taylor is the creator and head writer of MomTricks, where she can usually be found working when she’s not chasing around her two wonderful kids. Come over and say hi!
