Healthy Kids • YMCA Camps and Outdoor Education • YMCA Child Care
7 DIY summer activities and games for kids
25 July 2016 - by Cheryl - YMCA Child Care
We’re halfway through summer and we’ve had some really great weather these past few weeks. Let’s hope it keeps up until September — summer always seems so short!
This season brings with it a host of exciting events and opportunities, but that can often mean entrance fees, travel expenses, and paying for meals. With that in mind, we’ve taken some inspiration from our YMCA Child Care centres and YMCA Summer Camps and collected a great list of activities — all of which you can easily set up at home or in a nearby park — to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine with the kids, without breaking the bank:
1. Backyard Summer Games
The 2016 Summer Olympics begins next week, so now is the perfect time to get the family excited by planning your own Summer Games. Choose age-appropriate activities/events like a jumping rope competition, obstacle course, or three-legged race to make it fun for everyone. Remember to celebrate not just the winners but all the participants at the end of each event.
2. Outdoor Bowling
A few empty water bottles or milk cartons and a large ball is all you need to set up an al fresco bowling game. Try bowling on different surfaces to see how it affects the game. The longer and uneven the “lane,” the more challenging it will be for kids.
3. DIY Water or Sensory Table
Why buy an expensive water play table when you can make your own? Large, plastic storage bins do the trick, as do play wagons and empty wheelbarrows. Place the bins at an appropriate height for children and fill them with sand, dirt, water, rice, dried pasta, or shredded paper. Add containers and small toys or figures to encourage creative and exploratory play.
4. Water Balloon Hot Potato
Playing catch can get boring, but hot potato with water balloons presents a real challenge. Children can form teams and compete for the longest successful toss and catch.
5. Chalk Spray Art
Kids love creating masterpieces with sidewalk chalk, but parents dread all the laundry they have to do afterwards. Chalk paint spray is a cleaner (and inexpensive) outdoor art activity that you can easily make at home. Fill a squirt bottle or small water bottle with 1/3 cup baking soda and 1/3 cup cornstarch, and then mix with 1 cup warm water to break up any clumps (yes, you can double this recipe for larger bottles). Add a few drops of food colouring, and you’re ready to start painting!
6. Giant Jenga
Take an indoor game outdoors. Head to your local hardware store and pick up some 2x4 boards, cut in pieces about 10 inches long, for your own giant Jenga set. Older kids will enjoy playing the game with the larger pieces, and younger children can use them to build forts or toy car ramps.
7. Capture the Flag
A popular summer camp game that can be easily replicated at home is Capture the Flag. Divide the group into two teams; each team will hide their “flag” somewhere in the game area. Teams try to capture the opposing team’s flag and bring it back to their base without being tagged.
Have an inexpensive DIY outdoor game or activity your family loves? Share this post via the links below and let us know — we’d love to hear about it!
This season brings with it a host of exciting events and opportunities, but that can often mean entrance fees, travel expenses, and paying for meals. With that in mind, we’ve taken some inspiration from our YMCA Child Care centres and YMCA Summer Camps and collected a great list of activities — all of which you can easily set up at home or in a nearby park — to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine with the kids, without breaking the bank:
1. Backyard Summer Games
The 2016 Summer Olympics begins next week, so now is the perfect time to get the family excited by planning your own Summer Games. Choose age-appropriate activities/events like a jumping rope competition, obstacle course, or three-legged race to make it fun for everyone. Remember to celebrate not just the winners but all the participants at the end of each event.
2. Outdoor Bowling
A few empty water bottles or milk cartons and a large ball is all you need to set up an al fresco bowling game. Try bowling on different surfaces to see how it affects the game. The longer and uneven the “lane,” the more challenging it will be for kids.
3. DIY Water or Sensory Table
Why buy an expensive water play table when you can make your own? Large, plastic storage bins do the trick, as do play wagons and empty wheelbarrows. Place the bins at an appropriate height for children and fill them with sand, dirt, water, rice, dried pasta, or shredded paper. Add containers and small toys or figures to encourage creative and exploratory play.
4. Water Balloon Hot Potato
Playing catch can get boring, but hot potato with water balloons presents a real challenge. Children can form teams and compete for the longest successful toss and catch.
5. Chalk Spray Art
Kids love creating masterpieces with sidewalk chalk, but parents dread all the laundry they have to do afterwards. Chalk paint spray is a cleaner (and inexpensive) outdoor art activity that you can easily make at home. Fill a squirt bottle or small water bottle with 1/3 cup baking soda and 1/3 cup cornstarch, and then mix with 1 cup warm water to break up any clumps (yes, you can double this recipe for larger bottles). Add a few drops of food colouring, and you’re ready to start painting!
6. Giant Jenga
Take an indoor game outdoors. Head to your local hardware store and pick up some 2x4 boards, cut in pieces about 10 inches long, for your own giant Jenga set. Older kids will enjoy playing the game with the larger pieces, and younger children can use them to build forts or toy car ramps.
7. Capture the Flag
A popular summer camp game that can be easily replicated at home is Capture the Flag. Divide the group into two teams; each team will hide their “flag” somewhere in the game area. Teams try to capture the opposing team’s flag and bring it back to their base without being tagged.
Have an inexpensive DIY outdoor game or activity your family loves? Share this post via the links below and let us know — we’d love to hear about it!
