The 4th of July has zipped its way past (how is that even possible?!) and we’re now getting into the Dog Days of Summer. You know the ones. The days where it’s too hot to think and where it seems like the sun will never set. Kids are also starting to get a bit restless – after a couple of weeks with no school the excitement of it all has worn off and now there’s just a lot of questions (usually involving snacks and/or having a friend over) and way too many instances of “I’m bored” being said/whined/sung around the house. Your kids haven’t hit the singing with boredom stage yet? Just wait.
If you’re looking for some tips and activities to beat the Dog Days Blues, keep reading!
Water Balloon Pinatas
When it’s just too hot to tolerate, and even the air conditioner isn’t providing relief this game will certainly help cool things off! As long as you’ve got at least 1 tree in your yard and a few balloons lying around, you’re all set!
What You’ll Need:
- Multi-colored Balloons
- String or Yarn
- A Tree
- A long stick or pole
This game is fun for kids of all ages, but if you’ve got some older kids who are a bit competitive, try hanging the balloons at different heights, or making different colored balloons worth different points (ie: red is worth 10, blue is worth 5, orange is worth 3, yellow is worth 1) to get them into it.
Have each of the kids take turns trying to pop the balloons – depending on the ages of the kids and the durability of the balloons, you may want to limit the number of swings taken during each turn.
The kids will stay cool while they work up a sweat (and tire themselves out), and you’ll get to hang out in the shade while you keep score.
Bonus Points: You can also use the water balloons and a wiffle ball bat for a quick game of baseball. Whether they get a hit or strike out, the kids will still get get cooled off!
DIY Beaded Wind Chime
This is a great activity for rainy days, or days when it is legitimately way too hot to be outside, water activities or not. This is also an activity that will require a bit of concentration and creativity for tiny hands which may or may not result in a period of prolonged quiet (just sayin’), and the end result will be a very pretty, mostly functional keepsake!
If your household isn’t chock full of craft supplies all the time, you may need to make a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for some of the supplies, but even if you buy enough supplies for the entire neighborhood to participate you won’t break the bank – we promise!
What You’ll Need:
- A few hearty sticks
- Durable string, wire, or fishing line
- Beads (Hobby Lobby has quite a few options, but these kits should cover you for a while: one, two, three)
- Bells or anything that will make a pretty jingle sound in the breeze
To begin, have the kids determine how many strands they’re going to thread (do at least three for maximum wind chime-yness), and then tie one end of the strands along their stick/branch. Then let the kids loose creating patterns with the beads (or just stringing them in whatever random order they please). Once they’re done (when they have about 2 inches left), string on the bells and tie them off.
Finally, tie the string/wire/fishing line from one end of the stick to the other, leaving enough slack for it to be used as a hanger. And voila!
Squirt Gun Water Races
This game will definitely take a bit of concentration, and may be better suited to older kids.
What kid doesn’t love playing with squirt guns in the summer? No squirt guns handy? Just use the sprayer attachment on your garden hose and set it to the powerful stream spray.
What You’ll Need:
- Squirt Guns or Garden Hose with sprayer attachment
- Clothes Line or Rope
- Plastic Cups
- A stopwatch (or smartphone with a stopwatch app)
You can set this game up one of two ways, depending on what resources you have at your disposal. Simply punch a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup, thread the clothes line through it, and tie the clothes line between two trees (or other stationary objects). If you’ve got the room for it (and multiple squirt guns), you can create two tracks by just… doing it twice! Or three times – the possibilities are endless.
If you’ve only got one track ready to go, you’ll need to have the kids take turns spraying the water into the cup and timing how long it takes it to get from one end to the other. If you’ve got two tracks the kids can go head to head for the grand prize (or just the satisfaction of knowing they’ve won).
Many kudos to the ladies over at This Grandma Is Fun, who created an entire Squirt Gun Race obstacle course!
For some more fun ideas for the summer, check out the rest of our blog! As always, to find out more about how Pay4SchoolStuff.com can work for your organization, check us out at Pay4SchoolStuff.com or send an email over to [email protected] to schedule a demo.
That saves me. Thanks for being so selesbni!