The Blogfathers

Lots of parents seem terrified of the children’s summer break. Desperation and frustration, what are we going to do with the kids for a month or two? How do we find some creative (and not too costly) activities? Lifehacker has an article, 10 ways to entertain young children for $1 or less (wihout TV), that is worth a look. They talk about some simple and classic ways to occupy the children without parking them in front of the TV.

Summer is almost over, if your kids are back in school save these suggestions for a rainy day or weekend without activities. A couple of favorites:

Large cardboard boxes - Perfect for making houses and small castles. A large cardboard box can entertain an imaginative child for hours. Make sure you are nearby to take pictures and plenty of door knocking. Hint: look for an appliance store in your area. They often have many of the large boxes they are willing to give you as opposed to putting in the trash.

Water sprinkler - While watering the lawn, water your kids too. On a hot summer day, your grass needs 30 minutes of water. Send your kid out in a bathing suit and you’ll kill two birds with one stone.

My son, and also young daughter, love boxes. Small ones are used to do pretend cooking or temporarily store some toys, large ones usually become a pirate ship. When he gets a gift I sometimes think he’s more excited about the box. Especially if it’s Playmobil or Lego.

Water is another favorite. My son doesn’t like getting soaked but he loves the water hose. He can spend hours walking around watering flowers in the garden. Give him some water and a large brush and he can play for hours while I sit back and drink some wine. And when we’re on the tennis court, he always want to help me water the courts after finishing. He will become a great gardener:-)

I’m not very good at creative games indoors but luckily my kids love to spend time with me doing everyday stuff. Riding the subway or bus is always fun, taking a short ferry ride visiting the captain is fun, bike rides are great, fishing is exciting, plus my son loves anytime we can see a fireman or police officer.

The ultimate activity for my son is a visit to the fire station. Most stations test all their equipment once a week or more. I call them up and politely ask if we can come by for a couple of hours while they go through all their exciting stuff. I bring tons of donuts, cinnamon rolls etc. for the firemen (and firewomen) and we walk around while they calmly test their equipment.

They are always soooooo nice and let my son do lots of col stuff even though I repeatedly them him we’re fine just watching while their focus on their work. Last time my son got to test ride a truck, use the fire canon, sound the siren, try on their helmets, sit in the boat, and also ride the ladder of the huge ladder truck. It was one happy toddler, and one scared father, who excitedly rode 90 feet up in the air standing next to a firefighter.

Activities like this are remembered for a very long time. You got some favorites?

Action, Parenting Challenges, Family Fun!