52 Activities for Kids from The Benson Street

Hey Love & Laundry Readers! I’m Emily from The Benson Street.

I love Shatzi and am so excited to share some great ideas to keep your kids busy this summer! From sports to educational activities, I’ve got you covered.

Sports
1. Backyard Baseball (or Kickball): Designate bases. Set up an extra task for each base to make it harder. Example: Run around each base three times once you get to the base. Play with normal baseball/kickball rules.
2. Neighborhood Olympics: Set up a day to compete in different events with all the neighbors, friends or family. Designate the events and give participants time to practice. They can even pick a country and color a flag for their country. This activity can be as simple or complex as you like. Create medals for the winners. A podium could also be constructed as part of the fun.
3.Frisbee Golf: Grab some frisbees and head to a local Frisbee/Disc Golf course. Many cities have a few parks with courses. Search online for courses in your area.
4. Basketball Games: Play Pig or Horse (or use any names or animals your kids like). Around the world is another fun basketball game. Or get creative and make your own.
5. Go Rollerblading or Roller-skating.
6. Join a sports league. If your kids are interested in learning more about a sport, sign them up for a city league. It is great exercise, teaches teamwork and is usually lots of fun!  

Games
7. Create your own game bag: Toss a few random objects into a bag and help kids come up with their own game. Here is my example from the video. Set rules and make sure everyone decides on and knows the rules. Establish how to win the game before playing. This is a great way to get kids thinking creatively.

8. Teach them games you used to play: I remember playing night games with all my neighborhood friends. We played kick the can, capture the flag, hide and seek and truth or dare. Teach your kids these games and play with friends, family, neighbors, etc.

9.Yard games: There are lots of fun yard games: croquet, badminton, horseshoes, bocce ball, ladder ball, tag, freeze tag, play catch, paddle ball, etc.

10. Yarn race: Tie a piece of yarn around the yard on trees, fences, chairs or whatever. Give each child a stick to wrap their yarn around, the first one to wind up their yarn the fastest is the winner.

11. Huge Twister: Take games like Twister and make them even bigger and play outside on the grass. Use multiple Twister mats to get everyone in on the fun.  

Water Fun
12. Build your own Water Park. Use sprinklers, pools, slides, slip-n-slides or whatever you can find to set up a water park in your own backyard.
13.Go swimming at the local pool or lake.
14. Go canoeing or rent a paddleboat.
15. Have a water fight.
16. Water balloon drop. Drop water balloon from the top of a ladder or from a second story window. See how the break open. Have each child find a box and use whatever they can find insulate the balloon and to keep it from popping.
17. Build your own slip-n-slide using a tarp and water.
18. Run through the sprinklers.
19. Water Balloon Volleyball: Partners share a towel and try to toss water balloons over the net with the towel. The receiving team tries to catch the balloon in their towels. Score like regular volleyball when a balloon pops on the ground.
20. Wash the car together.
21. Water Relay Races. Find ways to move water from one point to another and fill up a bucket first to win. Could use a cup of water, soak a sponge with water, pass buckets of water, etc.

Outings
22. Parks: Visit the variety of parks in your city. Take a picnic lunch and play on the different playground equipment.
23. Go camping.
24. Day Hikes: Find short trails around your home and take the kids on an adventure.
25. Go to the zoo.
26. Find a Farmer’s Market and buy some locally grown produce to enjoy.
27. Look for fairs in your area. There are many artisans, county, state, kids, etc. fairs. Be on the look out for fun ones near you.
28. Visit a National Park.
29. Plan a day trip to a neighboring city or area.
30. Visit a Museum.
 31. Go to a drive in movie.  

Fun at Home
32. Go on a penny walk. Flip a penny at each corner you come to on a walk. If it’s “heads” turn right. If it’s “tails” turn left. See how long it takes to get home.
33. Go on a bike ride.
34. Conduct a service scavenger hunt. Earn points for doing service for neighbors. Have a treat ready for all who participate.
35. Organize a Bike Parade. Invite your neighborhood friends to decorate their bikes and come dressed in costume to ride in a bike parade. It might even be fun to see if you could get a policeman to escort your parade safely.
36. Collect bugs and make a bug collection.
37. Bird watch from your porch. Check out a bird watching book from your local library and see what birds you find.
38. Make a kite and fly it.
39. Run through the sprinklers
40. Plant a flower or vegetable garden.
41. Make homemade ice cream.
42. Build your own musical instruments and have a backyard concert.
43. Have a 4^th of July firework show (if permitted in your area).
44. Build a fort. Inside or outside.
45. Camp in your own backyard.
46. Have a sidewalk chalk art contest. Draw ribbons near drawings for winners.

Theme Days
47. Science Day: There are so many options here. Take one science principle at a time and study it. Get the kids one of dad’s old white button up shirts for a lab coat and swim goggles for safety glasses. I demonstrated some air pressure activities in the video. Add cornstarch with water and let the kids play with it. There is so much you could do here.
48. Baking Day: Bake goodies for friends, neighbors, freezer meals or whatever you are in need of. This is a great way to teach some fractions and math too.
49. Superhero Days: Have a Batman Day or Spiderman Day. Dress up and read superhero books. Make superhero meals and have fun with it.
50. Book Days: Similar to the Superhero days, live your day centered on your child’s favorite book. Let them pretend and have some imagination.
51. Princess Days: Dress up as princesses. Paint nails, do hair. Dance and watch your favorite princess movies.
52. Read In Day: Have a read in or read out. Get a lot of books and read all day. If the kids need a little motivation give them a sucker and tell them to read until it is gone, or use bubblegum and read until the flavor is gone.

What kind of activities do you enjoy with your kids? I’d love for you to share them with me over at The Benson Street! For even more ideas check out all my quick crafts & activities.