3 Great Ways to Engage your Kids in Outdoor Activities This Summer
There’s nothing like a mystery adventure to light the fire of imagination in children and when planning outdoor activities with your offspring, try to retain an element of uncertainty. Setting individual tasks can be fun, although working together might work better with a single-family; we asked a few learning experts for some cool outdoor activities to engage and challenge the kids.
- Build a fort in the yard – This one takes some preparation; select items and materials that can be used to construct a shelter and inform your kids they can only use what’s in the pile. Set a timeline for the build and you are always there to offer advice if they get stuck. Things to include, rope, a few sheets and blankets, pegs, and a wooden mallet, plus anything else you think they’ll need. This could be extended into an overnight camping adventure if the weather is fine; it’s probably been a while since you slept under the stars; remember the mozzie repellent and have a spare flashlight. Search online for stainless steel water bottles for kids and they can be really independent.
- Treasure hunt – This is a great game for kids of all ages and it is relatively easy to set up; choose an arena, perhaps a wooded area near your home, then you need to find good hiding places while making it known that they are not to disturb nature and there are rules when clue hunting. Prepare a written list of cryptic clues; how cryptic depends on the players – you want this to be tough, but achievable. Each clue points to a location, where a single letter of the alphabet can be found and all the letters make a word and the first one to tell you the word is the winner. For older kids, you need a large area if you want to keep them busy.
- The nature walk – Ideal for kids aged 7 and over, select an interesting trail and pre-explore, taking note of birds, insects, and animals you see. Your kids need to be kitted out for hiking, you can source everything you need from the online supplier, and don’t forget mosquito protection. This can be viewed as a learning experience; teach the kids about snakes and other potentially harmful creatures and help them to adapt to being in the wilderness. Once you have spent an hour on the trail, you should have enough info to plan the activity. Kids like to be assigned tasks, so ask them to write down things that surprise them when on the trail, get them to listen to the sounds of nature, and try to guess which species they can hear. Some moms become drained of energy and can lack inspiration, which is perfectly natural.
We should all do what we can to show our kids the wonders of nature and this should lead to caring about their environment. There are many government initiatives regarding the preservation of nature. It is the next generations that will take the baton and continue the good work we did and hopefully, they can improve on our efforts.
