With the final days of school just behind us, many of us are now faced with the prospect of being home along with are kids, all day long. In theory, this sounds great, however you know that if they are not kept entertained, they are going to start bugging you constantly! If this is your fear, here are five smart ideas for children’s entertainment that will keep your kids busy and entertained all summer long.
1. Sidewalk Masterpiece
One of the cheapest and easiest ways to entertain kids involves a bucket of chalk, and a small stretch of sidewalk or driveway for them to create their masterpiece. Often purchased very cheaply, sidewalk chalk can provide hours of entertainment as they set about creating scenes and tableaus of their own. Consider looking up some of the amazing sidewalk chalk artists online or on YouTube for inspiration!
2. The Library
Get your kids out of the house and get them doing something educational that will help them start the next school year out on the right foot. Grab your library card and head to your local library this summer for days’ worth of kid’s entertainment. Most libraries offer summer reading programs, whereby your kids can earn prizes and recognition the more books they read. Not only does this spare your house from the mini-tornadoes that are your children, it also gets them doing something educational!
3. Water Day
You do not have to have a pool to wear your kids out playing in the water. One of the easiest ways to entertain kids for literally hours involves hooking your garden hose up to a sprinkler and setting it out in the yard. Kids will leap back and forth over the sprinkler, slide in the grass, and maybe even make some mud pies, but most importantly they will be out of your hair and likely wearing themselves out. You are free to sit in the shade with a cold beverage as you supervise!
4. Forts
Inherent in every child’s nature is the desire to build forts out of pretty much anything they can find. From pulling a sheet across a rope tied between two door knobs to stacking couch cushions and hiding inside them, kids love forts. Whether you use the aforementioned materials, cardboard, or go so far as to build a full-on tree house, your kids will want to spend hours playing and entertaining themselves in their own space.
5. Historical Live Entertainment
Yet another educational way you can entertain your kids is to find forms of historically-accurate live entertainment that they can participate in. Your kids will delight in getting their faces painted at the nearby Renaissance fair, eating historical dishes with their hands, and maybe even getting to see some knights in shining armor as they joust it out on the tournament grounds.