Weekend Activities for Families with Young Kids

It’s Summertime and if you’ve got young kids who are still in grade school, you know the summer days at home can get long and boring for them, especially if they’re not involved in summer camps, sports or extracurricular activities. As adults, our schedules can get hectic and the summer feels just like any other season to us. But since the kids are out of school, this is the perfect time to take advantage of any bit of free time you all have together and strengthen those family ties! The bond you make with your kids during these years are what will create lifelong memories. When the weekends finally roll around, make it a point to cherish family time and make it fun for everyone! Here are just a few ideas your family can engage in on the weekends.

Beach or Pool Days

It’s summertime - take advantage and hit the water! If your kids don’t know how to swim or are still learning, take the time out to teach them or even look up some family swim classes you can take together. If you happen to live in a coastal area, enjoy soaking in the sun and make sand castles, play some beach volleyball, soccer or football, have an oceanside picnic, bring some music and an umbrella and enjoy a saturday or sunday funday. If you don’t have a beach nearby, hit the pool - play a family game of marco polo, red light, green light or racing games. Swimming is a great workout for everyone and has so many benefits, especially for young kids. You can make it extra special by wearing matching swimsuits or matching family outfits!

Museum or Aquarium visits

If you have a small budget allotted for admission fees, hitting a museum together is a wonderful outing your ids will remember for years to come and it will be an educational experience for you both. Whether your children are into science, animals, art or anything else, hitting a local museum is a fun family outing that has educational benefits. Add an extra element of fun by quizzing your kids on what they learned after the visit or, if you know what’s in the museum, creating a mini-scavenger hunt beforehand so your kids can stay engaged the whole time they’re there! Maybe the prize for whoever finds all the items on the scavenger hunt list can be “gets to skip dish duty for the week” or something like that.

Family Competitions

There’s nothing wrong with a little competition between family! The beauty of this activity is that it can be either an outing or a stay at home activity. A  good, healthy competition can be applied to anything, from a family game of cards or board games to a family bowling outing, a game of volleyball, soccer, frisbee, tennis, or any other sport. If your kids don’t know how to play something, teaching them is half the fun!

Family Cooking Days

Teaching your kids to cook is a vital skill they’ll be grateful for later on in life. Turn it into a fun, family activity! Many adults today remember cooking with their parents and often allude to how much fun it was - think of your kids future memories! Teach them classic family recipes if you have any, or look some up online and try them out together. Kids tend to like baking and things that result in something sweet, but any dish will do. You can even try something new - get adventurous and create new recipe!

Go on a Nature Walk, Bike Ride or Hike

So many kids are curious about the world around them - feed their curiosity with an educational trip into nature. Go on a hike and play little games, like whoever can identify the most birds, animals or plants wins a prize at the end of the trip, or, if they’re into photography, snap some photos together. Make sure you read up on the flora and fauna that will be surrounding you wherever you go so you can answer their questions and educate them about the world around them. Going on a  nature walk, bike ride or hie is also amazing cardio and will keep them used to being active. If children are exposed to and conditioned to do physical activity early on, they might be more likely to continue maintaining this healthy routine well into their lives.

The truth  is, the possibilities are absolutely endless - there’s so much you can do with your kids on the weekends. Don’t let your iPads, phones and tv’s take away precious time with your kids - use every moment to the max and create lifelong memories you’ll always cherish!