Here are 3 fun and easy ways to tire the kids out. Summer has officially started for some of us and will start very soon for the rest! My social media feed has filled up with busy, momma’s trying to keep the kids entertained and still get some regular routine done around the house.
It can definitely be a tricky balance! We just spent the afternoon at a lovely, outdoor picnic hosted by a local church. I felt inspired to share a few games ideas to help keep some sanity at your house this summer. Bonus points for getting the kids super tired for naptime/bedtime.
Activity Number 1: Outdoor obstacle course
During my 3 maternity leaves this was one of my favourite go to’s. It doesn’t require any fancy equipment. We just used the toys that we have on hand. I set up an obstacle course for the kids to run through and we have different competitions in order to pick a “winner” or best played award.
Some examples of items included are:
- kids picnic table to climb over
- pillow cases to jump across the lawn in
- hula hoop rolling or jumping in
- a small pool or bucket to fish an object out of
- water balloons to carry across the yard
- a balance beam station etc, and
- the list goes on.
Different competitions that we’ve held are:
- the fastest kid (timed) moving forward and the fastest kid
- repeating the route backwards
- the funniest completor and the slowest completor.
We try to find something to celebrate at the end of every “competition” and often use “iced juice (ice cubes made of juice)” to cool ourselves down.
Activity Number 2: Sprinkler
This is an easy one and my kids love it. They’ll play for hours on end and use different buckets to experiment with too. At one point they even used the outdoor play castle to make a water slide. Close adult supervision is obviously recommended.
Activity Number 3: A themed treasure hunt in the backyard
We’ll take turns with this one, letting one of the kids help me hide some items to match our theme. We often try to use items that we already have on hand and around the house. If I plan it correctly this one can stretch out into an entire day and include themed meals and snacks and even costumes if the weather and energy allow.
I generally let each kid pick 1-2 theme days throughout the summer and we plan from there. It’s another house favourite. Other summer favourites include:
- beach days
- park visits and bike rides.
Obviously every busy, momma also needs the energy to get through the long, lazy and sometimes hectic days of summer. If you’ve got some favourite ways to tire your kids out this summer feel free to share! I’d love to hear about any favourite activities that you do in the summer. 
