Summer is upon us, and even though things are finally starting to open back up, many parents are still, understandably, proceeding with caution. Are you among them? By now, most kids have gotten accustomed to social distancing, and understand that it helps them stay safe. Fortunately, we’ve got some great ideas for fun, outdoor, socially distanced, summer activities.
- Teach the neighborhood kids some old-school games. Kickball, Simon Says, hopscotch, and other old playground games don’t require kids to get close but do allow them to interact with each other. You can also play a dancing game in which everyone must freeze as soon as the music stops.
- Update some old games to create something new. You’ve heard of tag, but have you heard of noodle tag? Incorporate pool noodles into your game of tag and it’s easy to social distance. Chutes and ladders is a classic board game, but what if you made it an outdoor game, drawing a giant game board with sidewalk chalk? Sidewalk chalk is also great for playing hangman or hopscotch or drawing an obstacle course. Think outside the box to update old favorites.
- Make something big and beautiful. Create a neighborhood mural by enlisting all of the children to draw in front of their own homes with sidewalk chalk. If sidewalk talk is becoming an old hat, try sidewalk paint, made of cornstarch, water, and food coloring. You can also decorate your fence with paper flowers made by the children out of construction paper, paint, markers, and paper plates. Your kids can have fun creating these large-scale art projects and it may brighten the day for people passing by.
- Have a scavenger hunt. You can walk through your neighborhood, challenging kids to find things like a blue house or a mailbox in the shape of an animal, or make it a sensory scavenger hunt, directing kids to look for things that are rough, smooth, shiny, warm, and so on.
- Go geocaching. With a mobile device and a free geocaching account, you can be launched into an outdoor treasure hunt that provides good family fun outside in nature. It also helps kids learn to follow instructions and use their powers of observation. The treasures you find are real objects that people have hidden, typically a trinket or souvenir.
- Host an outdoor movie night. Social distancing this fun even is totally doable. Just set up your screen, position the chairs six feet apart, and serve individually packaged snacks. Movie theater candy, anyone? Everyone will have a blast and they may not even notice it’s socially distanced.
