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summer games

6 Kids Summer Craft Ideas

June 2, 2022

little girl holding colored pencils
Easy and fun summer craft ideas to make with your kids

Stay vacations are all the craze these days. Searching for activities that will keep your children engaged and that are budget-friendly can be challenging. Crafts provide an answer to this issue. Crafts, whether inside or outside, are available for any age group. You can find the materials needed in inexpensive stores or even in your own home. Pack your kids’ summer with action and fun with these 6 easy, fun craft ideas.

Outdoor Craft Ideas

We all know that the extremely hot weather is coming and doing projects outside can be uncomfortable, but sometimes being outside can help you shake off the boring summer days. Remember to drink water and wear sunscreen while enjoying outdoor activities. The following are some fun, inexpensive summer activities that can be enjoyed outside:

water bottles made into kids bowling game
Used water bottles repurposed for a kid’s bowling game

Recycle Bottle Bowling

Like indoor bowling, this outdoor version is budget-friendly, and you can make any rules you want for this game. Go ahead and:

    • Grab 8-10 recycled soda bottles (add sand or water for stability, if necessary).
    • Use any ball (a tennis ball, soccer ball, or volleyball will do just fine).
    • Decorate the empty soda bottles in any way you like.
    • Set up the bottles either the same way the game is designed, or get creative and try something new.
    • Take turns rolling the ball toward the bottles to knock them down.
    • Have fun!

Water Pistol Painting

Playing with water pistols is a fun game anytime but this activity takes it more to a creative level of fun. Remember to aim the water pistols at the canvas, not your friends or parents. You’ll need:

    • Poster Paint
    • Water pistols
    • A large canvas or thick construction paper
    • Water to thin out the paint and pour it into the water pistol

Start spraying that canvas or paper!

Lawn Twister

This exciting, classic family game reshaped for outdoor use is amazing! This lawn version of the game will have you twisting and stretching for those color dots.

    • Cut a 10-inch hole in recycled cardboard.
    • Using contractor’s paint (4 assorted colors), paint six circles of each color the same distance apart.
    • Create a spinner if you need one.
    • Grab the family and have fun.

Very Hot Day Craft Ideas

During the summer, you want your children to enjoy the outside. Healthy practices of exercising and soaking up the vitamins from the sun are essential to a child’s growth. When it’s too hot to be outside, we need to keep their curious minds learning. Here are some suggested projects that can be done in the shade:

Rock Painting

This project will bring out a creative side; there are no limitations to the imagination. Stones should be sealed after painting. You’ll need:

    • Stones
    • Acrylic paint for the background
    • Chalk pens
    • Sealer

Gelatin Flower Suncatcher

Easy and very budget-friendly, this activity only takes a few steps to complete a project. It’s very fun and creative. You’ll need:

    • Flowers (children’s pick)
    • Gelatin
    • Glass dish or a small plastic tub

Now, this is the fun part. Pour half of the gelatin into the container, then add your flowers. There is no pattern to the flowers, just toss them in any way you want. Pour the rest of the gelatin on the flowers. Once set, hang them in the window.

Paracord Survival Bracelets

This bracelet is not only stylish but can help you survive in the woods. The weaved cord can be used to fish, build a shelter, or used to hang food from a tree. To make it, you’ll need:

    • Two bundles of paracord (8 ft in length each) of any color
    • One snap buckle
    • Scissors and a lighter (with adult supervision)
    • A video demonstrating knotting the bracelet
girl blowing paint with a straw
Use a straw to blow paint around into fun designs

The Messy But Fun Crafts

A messy craft is exactly what it sounds like. These crafts can get messy, whether done outside or in. To make sticky sand, measure sand, all-purpose flour, and some vegetable oil and mix well. Then let the sticky sand run through your fingers. Combine 4 oz school glue with food coloring, a bag of Styrofoam beads, a quarter of a tsp of baking soda, shaving cream, and contact solution. Now you have your awesome slime!

For those families who are very budget-conscious, multiple websites can help download templates for paper dolls, character shadow puppets, pop-up cards, and free coloring pages. There is an abundance of activities for all ages.

It’s important that as a parent, we want our children to live a healthy lifestyle while keeping their minds engaged and happy. Making learning fun will only help to improve the child’s social skills and hand-eye coordination and stimulate their creativity.

 

Enroll Today at TIA!

Filed Under: Informative Tagged With: arts and crafts, summer activities, summer games

Fun Kids’ Games for Hot Days

June 2, 2021

kids games for hot days
Some fun kids games for hot summer days

Summertime can be challenging for children and parents alike when the weather is too hot. When the weather is extremely warm it is paramount to stay hydrated and avoid becoming overheated. So, what are kids supposed to do for fun when it’s that hot? We have gathered up some great ideas for kids’ games that will help keep your children engaged when the weather starts to heat up. They might even learn something new while they are having fun.

Outdoor Kids’ Games

If the weather isn’t too hot to safely play outdoors, these kid’s games are a great way to stay cool and have fun. You can find the items you need around your home, or at the local dollar store, making them all great, low-cost, low-fuss options.

Angry Birds Water Balloon Game

This is a great game to get your children away from their computer games and into some IRL physical activities. You can adjust the starting line based on the age of the players.

Items you will need:

  • Chalk
  • Small balloons filled with water
  • Markers

Using chalk, draw the familiar pig faces on your driveway or sidewalk. Draw the Angry Bird faces on the balloons, and let the games begin.

Water Painting

If you have children that love painting, why not create a water-based art activity! Gather some old paintbrushes or paint rollers, a bucket filled with water, and let your driveway become a canvas.

Water Walls

This is a great STEM activity for your budding engineer. Use zip ties to attach random containers to a pegboard to create a path for water to travel down. You can also do this activity using pool noodles and marbles.

Indoor Kids’ Games

There are days when it is simply too hot to be outside. On days like this, it is a good idea to have a list of fun indoor kids’ games that will keep your children engaged in something other than laying on the couch telling you how bored they are. The following are just a few ways your kids can be safe and have fun.

Tape Shape Game

Water games for summer

This game is a great way to get your kids to expend some energy. All you need is some painter’s tape. Simply use the tape to create letters and shapes on the floor. Ask the children to stand on their favorite shape. Give them instructions such as “Crawl to the letter X” or “Hop on one foot to the square” Continue with different movements from one destination to the next, until total silliness makes going on impossible.

Potato Drop

Have kids line up at the starting line with a potato placed between their knees. They will then race to the finish line where they must drop the potato into a bucket. If they drop the potato on the way or touch it with their hands, they must go back to the starting line and try again. This game can also be done as a team relay activity.

Ping Pong Ball Challenge

For this game, you will need some plastic cups and ping pong balls. You can also use other small objects, as long as they fit in the cups. Simply toss the objects to your child and have them try and catch them with the cup. Begin the game standing close together, and take steps backward to increase the difficulty.

Spider Web Game

Create a web-like design in an open doorway using painter’s tape. Give the children lightweight objects such as scrunched-up newspapers or balloons to throw at the web. Keep a tally of how many objects stick. Engage the kids in discussions about why they do or don’t stick to promote learning.

These are just a few of the many ways you can keep your kids active even when the weather is too hot to play. Click here to find more ideas. Kids’ games are a great way to have fun and promote learning as a lifetime activity.

Join the TIA Family and Enroll today!

or call us at 520-230-3833

Filed Under: Informative Tagged With: games, summer games

Summer Scavenger Hunts

June 5, 2019

Scavenger hunt idea – find a dandelion!

Summertime can be a time for creative games you do with your kids. Summer scavenger hunts are a form of a game they can do with your help or without. You just give them directions and off they go! What is a scavenger hunt? It is a game where you prepare a list of specific items that your kids will hunt for, gather or complete. It’s up to you if there is a winner of the hunt or no winners. Just the thrill of the hunt is fun enough in most cases for kids who love this game in its many forms.

The summer weather can be pretty hot for outdoor scavenger hunts during the day but that’s the beauty of this game. It can be played inside or outside, depending on the items that you have kids searching for. Even if they can’t read a list yet, you can tell them items to find, so the littlest ones can get in on the fun too. An older child can be the leader and help the younger ones. This game will teach your kids to be more observant of their surroundings. Once they get the hang of it, older kids may enjoy creating their own scavenger hunts for their siblings and friends.

Create a Check List

A scavenger hunt can be created with a list that kids check off or bring items to you. An example would be a nature hunt. They would find different types of outdoor items such as green leaves, round rock, dried flower, etc. and bring them to you.

Take a Photo

For older kids with cell phones, pictures can be taken of what they find. If there are varying ages of kids participating, break them into teams with an older child as the photographer. Make sure everyone is given items to find so no one is left out.

Sample Clues – Find something that is:

  • Blue
  • Dried up
  • Begins with the letter “w”
  • Square
  • Something you can eat
  • Sparkly
  • Old
  • Something with a handle
  • Leather

Ideas for Specific Clues to Take Pictures Of:

  • Blue Car or Certain Make such as a Ford
  • Tattoo on a person
  • Seashell
  • Pink flower
  • Foreign money
  • Tan lines
  • Black and white photo
  • Someone wearing a hat
  • Statue
  • Dial-up phone or flip cell phone
  • Wig
  • Someone in a costume
  • Out of state license plate
  • Someone with pierced ears
  • Swimming pool with people in it
  • Payphone

Link to sites with more ideas and phone apps games:

My Kids Adventures: Ten Scavenger hunts Ideas for Your Kids

Verywell Family: How to Have a Photo Scavenger Hunt for Kids

The Spruce: Scavenger or Treasure Hunts for Kids

iMom: Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Kids

GooseChase Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Mud Best Scavenger Hunt Apps and Ideas

 

As always, stay safe and have a wonderful fun summer!

Enroll Today at TIA!

Filed Under: Informative Tagged With: scavenger hunt, summer games

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