Summer Fun
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Summer is almost over, but we still have a few weeks left! Naturally the weather starts to heat up around this time of year, and it's the best time for outdoor play. Here are a few of my favorite activities for outdoors in the heat:
- Water play of all kinds is great. Use spray bottles, paint brushes, water tables, a pool if you're fortunate. These build arm and hand strength, in-hand manipulation, pre-writing skills.
- Make nature bracelets. Take painter's tape and loop it around the wrist with the sticky side out. Look around outside for all sorts of objects to stick onto the "bracelet". To make it more challenging, try to find a particular kind of item, i.e. something yellow, something straight, something round, etc. This builds visual figure ground skills which are needed for reading and writing as well as more mundane things like finding objects in a drawer.
- Put some miscellaneous objects in the yard and have the kids figure out what to do with them. Things like empty plastic crates, boards that have the edges sanded, blocks, tarps or blankets, etc. This helps with problem solving, cooperation and creativity.
- Make a hideaway with blankets or tarp over furniture inside or bushes outside. Again, this helps develop problem solving, cooperation and creativity.
- Go on a hike. Even young children can walk on a flat trail for a short distance.
- Listen for sounds in nature: birds chirping, lizards scuttling by, wind, etc. Make it a "sound hunt". This sharpens the auditory sense and helps children focus.
Have fun!
- Water play of all kinds is great. Use spray bottles, paint brushes, water tables, a pool if you're fortunate. These build arm and hand strength, in-hand manipulation, pre-writing skills.
- Make nature bracelets. Take painter's tape and loop it around the wrist with the sticky side out. Look around outside for all sorts of objects to stick onto the "bracelet". To make it more challenging, try to find a particular kind of item, i.e. something yellow, something straight, something round, etc. This builds visual figure ground skills which are needed for reading and writing as well as more mundane things like finding objects in a drawer.
- Put some miscellaneous objects in the yard and have the kids figure out what to do with them. Things like empty plastic crates, boards that have the edges sanded, blocks, tarps or blankets, etc. This helps with problem solving, cooperation and creativity.
- Make a hideaway with blankets or tarp over furniture inside or bushes outside. Again, this helps develop problem solving, cooperation and creativity.
- Go on a hike. Even young children can walk on a flat trail for a short distance.
- Listen for sounds in nature: birds chirping, lizards scuttling by, wind, etc. Make it a "sound hunt". This sharpens the auditory sense and helps children focus.
Have fun!
