It's that time of year! Our kids are either resuming their homeschool activities or attending in school! But amongst the hustle and bustle of the first few weeks of school, we often forget about the last few weeks of sunshine and summer activities that can be had. Below are a few ideas to keep your kids outside and taking advantage of the lighter days before our holiday season starts.
A simple and easy way to get the whole family outside together is to take a listening walk. Find your favorite close by trail, or head to the lake for some woodsy environment, and just listen. Listen to the birds, search for bugs in the dirt or on the waters edge. There are a lot of things that we miss just by walking with our heads down and headphones in or maybe when we just aren't paying attention.
If you have multiple kids and are trying to find outdoor team building activities, forts are usually always a good option! Do you have sheets that might not be the nicest? or outdoor blankets? My sibling and I used to LOVE making outdoor forts, and while we used sheets and blankets, we were also left with our imagination for the remainder of the house essentials. We were forced to work together or else the fort didn't get built, and usually by the end if it, we had a pretty rad little kid cave!
3. If you're okay with a little bit of mess, create an outdoor kitchen! This allows a lot of sensory play for the youngsters and creativity with pretend play (kitchen, restaurant, and sometimes vet if some critters end up amongst the kitchen creations!).
4. Magic Petal Potions! Grab a bowl or even a small bucket and encourage your little ones to fill it up with petals, weeds, leaves, pinecones, etc. You could even turn this in to a yard cleaning activity. Have them mix everything up, maybe sprinkle some dirt in, and mush it up with a utensil of choice. This encourages them with more creative and pretend play, and gives them a fun little experiment with nature!
5. Last but not least, another good activity for all ages is a bag of trash! Grab a bag or two and head out to your towns locals park, play ground, beach front, anywhere really. You can turn this in to a game to see who can fill their bag first with as much litter or trash as possible. This is a good fun competitive exercise, and also encourages manners and environmental respect. Who knows what treasures you'll find along your way!