You might have noticed that your children are a little more agitated lately. What’s going wrong? Well, the fact is that kids need social activities for their development and they need to go outside to get some fresh air to stay healthy. Now, this has become more difficult through the lockdown and the ongoing health crisis. But it’s important to realise that there are activities that you can explore with your kids that will still be safe. Let’s check out some of the options.
Goin’ Fishing
If you’re no stranger to camping holidays then you have probably already been fishing with your kids. If you haven’t been on any camping vacations, then now might be a good time to consider taking one. Fishing can be great fun and it’s the perfect activity for the current climate. You can get out on the water and remain completely isolated which is great. You might think that fishing is difficult. But catching trout with this guide couldn’t be more simple and there are lots of possibilities like this to explore online. As such, you don’t need to worry about struggling with this activity.
Arts And Crafts
If you’re looking for an activity that the kids can enjoy at home, then you might want to consider taking up some arts and crafts. Arts and crafts are great for developing your child’s finer motor skills which are important in early development. It’s also easy to do even with items that you might have lying around your home like string, paint, paper and cardboard. You can find some great guides online if you’re struggling to get started here. There are even YouTube videos that you can follow step by step.
Swimming
Is swimming safe in the current climate? It could be as long as you make sure that you are staying six feet apart from other people. This is why a water park may not be the best option right now but you could have fun in a public pool with the right social distance measures in place. You might also want to try wild swimming as long as you find a place where it’s safe to do so. For wild swimming to be safe the water can’t be too deep and it must be calm enough for your level of ability.
Mountain Biking
Or, if you have a couple bikes, then you might want to think about going mountain biking. Biking can be great fun and you can do it in isolated areas so it’s easy to keep socially distanced measures in place. If you don’t have a bike then you could always purchase a couple. You just need to make sure that your kids are old enough to enjoy this activity safely.
We hope this helps you understand some of the awesome activities that you can try with the kids this summer. The coronavirus has certainly put a dampener on a lot of plans, but there are still options available for families to keep the kids entertained and happy while staying safe.
Read a Book
Picking up a book is a great way to get away from reality for a bit. Take a trip to the library or browse through books to see what interests you and your kids, and create a space and time for quiet reading as a family. Check out https://coolthingschicago.com/best-fantasy-novels/
Get cooking
For a child there are a lot of important skills to learn, and one of those that you can teach on a summer’s day is cooking. Allowing your child to help you in the kitchen will save a trip to Flippers Pizza to get them their favourite treat, and you can make pizzas at home with the kids easily this summer!
Homemade pizzas
Ingredients:
- Pizza dough (if you don’t want to make it)
OR
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 7g active dry yeast
- 325ml warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- Tomato sauce
- Cheeses – mozzarella, Parmesan, cheddar
- Peppers
- Red onion slices chicken
- Basil leaves
- Start your dough by mixing yeast, water and sugar and leaving to foam for 5 minutes. Add this to a bowl which has your flour and salt, and mix to combine. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Here is where you can get the kids involved!
- Leave to rise for 2 hours in an oiled bowl covered with a tea towel.
- Turn out and separate dough into 4.
- Roll into pizza shapes, let the kids do this themselves.
- Preheat the oven to gas Mark 7
- Top with your favourite toppings and bake for 15 minutes until bubbling and hot!
Pizza is a great way to teach kids about cooking as well as about the science of food. Making bread is a good way to help kids understand how yeast works and how gluten is developed in dough.