Summer Outdoor Activities for Kids

During the summer months, many parents enjoy planning outdoor activities with their children and their friends and relatives. It is good to enjoy the sunshine, and outdoor activities if planned well, will entertain your children more than any video or computer game can.

Whether heading for the beach, the cottage, or just to the back yard, you need to have plenty of games to keep children occupied. Here are five tried and true games that your children will love.

Games for the Backyard

If you have going to be having summer fun in your back yard, invite some of your children's friends to a pillow case or potato sack race. Using some white chalk, outline the start line and the finish line, and make sure everyone knows the rule, feet must remain in the pillow case at all times. You can also set up little obstacles, like plant pots or garden chairs that the children have to navigate around to make it extra challenging. Don't forget to hand out little prizes like candy to the winners, and make sure to use old pillow cases that you no longer need!

Another great game in the backyard is the obstacle course. This is a great game to involve the whole family, and your neighbours and can really help you get to know people. Set up lawn chairs, plastic tables, for children to navigate around, and have objects like balls that they must balance for a certain length of the lawn. Upside down buckets or plant pots that you must hop around to get to the finish line are also a nice touch, and again don't forget to give out little prizes to the winners.

Water Games

Water games can be played in the back yard or at the beach. If you have garden hoses or a sprinkler system, you can quickly add the fun element of getting sprayed with water to your games. Children love to get wet.

A basic water game is just adding a twist on the old three legged race. Secure children's ankles to each other with old cloths or old pantyhose, and again clearly mark out the start and finish lines, with some chalk. The twist is that the children have to try and race to the finish line without getting sprayed with water from a moving sprinkler, or an adult holding a garden hose. This game not only builds team spirit, but helps children with their coordination.

Relay games help children build strong communication skills and team work skills. A water relay race can bring fun to the whole family and is a cheap game to make. Simply fill about four buckets with soapy water and place them at one end of the lawn, at the other end have a bucket with a large sponge. The goal of the game is to soak up as much of the water as possible with the sponge, and transfer it to the bucket at the other end of the lawn. Set a time limit like three minutes for the game. Whoever has moved the most water with the sponge to the second bucket wins the relay race. Alternatively, this game can also be played on the beach using water from the ocean.

Creating fun games for your children, their friends and for the whole family needn't be difficult or expensive. With a little imagination and common sense, you can make sure your children have fun for hours.