Summer Activities For Children | Hacks On How To Keep Your Child Busy?

This week I let my 7-year-old daughter play on my smartphone for 2 hours while my 2-year-old son was napping while I was working from home. 

I talked to my friends about how our schedule is hindering their playtime and the guilt we felt of letting our kids spend most of the time watching the screen.

Every Parent would have wondered how to keep their child busy during the summer so that the kids do not feel bored and bug them the entire summer. The ways to channel their energy in the right direction are not that hard to find. 

To make it easier for you, below is detailed information about the different activities that can help you engage your child during summer.

Summer Activities For Children:

Engaging them in engineering activities

Yes, there are lots of STEM games that will pique an interest in them. Try to encourage them to play such games that are a blend of architecture and engineering because this is a perfect way to let their creativity come to life.

These little learners have wide-open curiosity and getting them into STEM activities is clearly not a bad thing to keep feeding that fire in them.

The earlier the better, these activities introduced will help develop the technological fluency and understanding with the age of how things work.

Going on a hike

What could be a better way than your little one knows about the names of the flowers, how nature works and so on – going on a hike is the best way to spend time in nature.

The best way to spend family time together is to build memories. Especially when you have kids of less than 8 years this can be the best exercise to let them have.

You can have a camping trip or plan a barbecue at the camping site perhaps the best way to channel their energy.

DIY games

There is a dearth of DIY games when you Google or the best way to learn is through YouTube. You will find hundreds and thousands of DIY games that make learning imaginative, interactive, and fun. 

Many children have a hard time catching up on math concepts and spelling which these DIY games make easier. Some of them are

  • Foldable craft to teach 3D shapes
  • Sight word games
  • Using straws to make words and numbers
  • Learning spelling through scrabble
  • Time watching games

Playing treasure hunt

This is one of the best outdoor activities to do during summers. All you have to do is hand them the map and some clues they are good to go. Exploring their own way will help them learn many things during this game.

Teaching them to manage money

This activity is best for slightly older kids like 7-10 years. Give them jars and let them work their way and earn and save their hard-earned money.

Engross them in small chores like setting up the table, folding laundry, watering plants, and giving them money in exchange for that work.

Not only they will feel appreciated but feel proud about earning it legitimately.

Making a short video

If you are thinking this could be too technical and tough, then let your kids prove you wrong.

At this time, my boy aged 7 and his friend aged 9 are shooting short videos from my smartphone.

Let your kid gain that creativity and make use of this latest technology app that helps them shoot fun entertaining videos. Let their creativity flow out and be proud of making something they own right from scratch.

Start a photo diary

Just like Instagram, making a physical photo diary can be the best way to make happy memories. Snap any random pictures daily and print them.

Let them paste into a diary with a short note to go with. It will serve as a story to their picture whenever the photo diary is opened. This will enhance their writing creativity.

Stargazing in your backyard

Kids love stars. Setting up a tent and sitting there with your kids gazing at the constellation can be a great summer activity. This way you can teach them about the stars, and planets.

It is a perfect way to let them learn about planetary movements and astronomy. What’s more, you can hire a telescope for a day to get that detailed look in the sky.

Your kids are surely going to enjoy gazing at heavenly bodies.

Take them with you to shop at the local market

Whether you are a parent of a picky eater or a foodie eater take your kids with you when you visit the local market. A field trip to your local market will help your children know about the entire healthy food system.

In fact, it is the right opportunity to educate them on healthy eating and expand the food items that you can include in your kid’s palates.

Not only will your kids get to support the ecosystem of crops and the farmer’s community where your kids get to know how the crops are grown, seasonal crops, how they reach the local markets, etc. will help them cultivate interest from a younger age.

Enroll them in camping

Today you will find different types of summer camps offering opportunities for kids to evolve into independent and mature individuals. It helps them to explore their mental and physical capacity.

Children are usually sitting at home, hitting video games, or watching television during their summers. These camps give them the right environment contributing to their growth.

Summer camps specifically designed for kids are meant to help them showcase new skills, allowing kids to become self-confident.

They learn to make new friends, learning new things which ultimately helps them to develop their own personality.

There are other hundred ways to engage your kids during summer like getting them into painting activities, exploring parks with them, role-playing activities, storytelling, letting them volunteer, doing gardening, and much more.

What are the indoor as well as outdoor activities you can do in summer?

Apart from the above-mentioned activities, there are numerous others that can be categorized into indoor and outdoor activities. Performing these activities will keep your kids busy and also help them build fun memories during summers. 

Indoor Activities

Summers are extremely hot in most parts of the world. So, parents prefer keeping children in the sunny hours of the day indoors. As kids spend maximum time indoors, it becomes quite challenging for parents to keep them entertained inside the home. 

However, to their rescue, there are various indoor activities that keep the children engaged even when they are inside the closed walls and also help the parents to manage their kids effectively.

Here is a list of some of the best indoor activities for kids:

  • Engaging the kids in art projects will not only help the kids by bringing out their creative side but will also make them extremely happy. You just require different colored pencils, crayons, coloring books, scissors, glues; and you are all set. 
  • During school hours kids do not get much time to play with their toys. Hence, utilize their free time in the summers by getting them some new and modern toys. So, the kids do not miss out on the fun of playing with toys.
  • Nurture the bookworm in kids during the summers by introducing them to the joy of reading. This will help your kids develop vocabulary and open the doors of literature for them
  • Introduce the habit of journaling in your kids during summers. Writing a journal daily will enhance their writing skills and also, it will help them save their summer memories in written form.
  • Bring different puzzles for your kids as it is the most effective way to keep them occupied for long hours. It will also keep the kids mentally active. Instead of spending hours on puzzle apps and computer games, you can make them spend time with the physical ones.

Outdoor Activities

As most of the time in summer passes inside the home, kids are always excited to step out of the house and have fun. To make their summer vacations memorable, you can introduce different outdoor activities to them. 

Outdoor activities play a major role in the physical as well as social development of a child.

You might need to extract some time from your schedule to supervise the kids initially but with time and practice, the kids can perform these activities outdoors themselves.

Here is a list of some of the outdoor activities for kids

  • Nothing could be more fun for kids than water-based activities in summer. Parents can either go to a beach or spend a thrilling day at the pool with their kids. Even if you don’t go for conventional sources, you can simply let your kids assist you while you clean your car.
  • You can make your kids join special skill classes such as self-defense, dance, swimming, music, etc. as they have ample free time during summers. This way you can channel their energy in the right direction and also, be able to introduce different skills to your child.
  • Teach your kids about gardening by allowing them to assist you while you water your plants or sow new ones. Bring them close to nature by asking them to pick out some plants of their choice from a neighborhood nursery and sowing the plants with you.
  • If you cannot think of taking your kid to somewhere special outside, you can simply bring your kids to a nearby park or go cycling with them. 

Conclusion

Summers are the time of the year when kids have lots of free time with them.

For parents, it becomes quite necessary to engage their kids in something useful so that they do not cause much trouble to them.

With several fun indoor and outdoor activities, you can channel their excessive energy in the right direction.