Summer is a great opportunity for you to spend quality time with your kids. Try not to lose sight of this as you are dashing from one scheduled activity to the next. Childhood experts recommend that parents of preschoolers make sure their child gets adequate down time during the summer months to just have fun.
The next time you are looking for ways to keep your kids entertained on a warm summer day, consider the following activities:
SHARK ATTACK
Place hula-hoops or large beach towels on the ground to serve as dens for the “fish.” Pick one child to be the “shark.” Next, have the “shark” call out: “Fishy, fishy, cross my ocean.” The fish then have to move to a different den. If, while out of a den, the shark tags them, they become sharks as well. The last fish swimming wins the game and becomes the first shark next time.
Note: To make the game more challenging you can remove dens as the game progresses, forcing kids to stand together on one or two dens.
ANIMAL TAILS
Cut foot-long pieces of string or yarn and hand them out to the kids. Each child then tucks the pieces of string or yarn into the backs of his/her shoes.
Once you say, “Go!” the kids have to try to step on each other’s tails.
When all the tails are lost, replace and repeat.
Tips: You can pretend the tails belong to mice or lions and have your children act like the respective animals while playing the game. Another variation of this game is to use long, white athletic socks and have kids tuck them in their waistbands while pretending to be bunnies. The designated wolf then tries to grab the bunnies’ tails. The last bunny standing becomes the wolf for the next game.
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