Now that summer is here there’s no excuse not to get outside with your kids and make the most of the great weather.
If you are looking for simple ways to bond with your preschooler, consider the following activities:
Weekend Warriors
Get out your calendar and mark off a weekend to do something active with your kids: swimming at the local pool, biking to the park, playing tag or basketball, or hiking around a nature reserve. Take along a picnic lunch or splurge on some ice cream after a good workout.
Take Classes
Many local fitness clubs and community centers offer parent/child classes. The most popular include yoga, tennis and aerobics. The classes are tailored to accommodate parents with young children from infants to preteens. In infant yoga classes, babies are incorporated into yoga moves.
Room Makeovers
Give your child’s bedroom a makeover—-with his input and help. Sit down together and get his thoughts on what theme or colors he would like to see in his haven. Then, go shopping together to collect all of the items needed to create your child’s dream bedroom. Next, allow him to help with simple jobs, such as painting the trim, moving small items or hanging bulletin boards. He’ll take more pride in his new surroundings if he was involved in the redecoration process.
Make Cleaning Fun
Instead of relegating your preschooler to doing chores by herself, turn chores into a game you can do together. Race to see how fast you can get the house clean, and then try to beat your old time the next week. Or, play music while you’re doing laundry, and encourage your child to sing and dance while helping to fold and put clothes away. Another idea: Set up plastic buckets around the playroom and have your child shoot as many toys into them as possible. Then, you can give him a turn maneuvering the vacuum in the areas that were once occupied with toys.