With kids going back to school, it’s a perfect time to do some last minute fun activities with your children. Or maybe your schools are already in session, which means it’s a perfect time to purposely schedule in a weekend afternoon of taking your kids on a date. You can take all your kids or just one on a special date; it’s up to you. The important thing is to plan it, schedule it in, and make it happen. Here are some ideas of fun things to do with your kids.
Go for a Nature Hike
One of my favorite things to do is to get away to the local trails for a run with my daughter. You can hike, explore, take photos of the scenery and each other. One rule that we go by is to be quiet and observe the wildlife without disturbing them and to take only pictures.
Movie Date
Why not check out a local movie together with your child? There are a lot of fun movies for kids to enjoy with their parents. One of the sites I use to check out the quality of a film, and if it’s appropriate for the family, is the Dove Foundation website. The Dove Foundation keeps up to date on all of the new movies coming out and rates each one in detail on six criteria: Sexuality, Language, Violence, Drug and alcohol use, Nudity, and Other.
Art and Craft Day
Most kids love creating stuff. Schedule in a day and have supplies ready to make a new piece of art or a craft that you can display around your home.
Go Out for Ice Cream
The fun thing about ice cream is that when the local summer ice cream stores close for the season, most towns still have options like frozen yogurts stores, Dairy Queens, and others. If your city doesn’t have any off season ice cream stores, you could buy ice cream at your local grocery store with extras that maybe you normally don’t have around like hot fudge, sprinkles, etc.
Go Shopping At The Dollar Store
What child doesn’t like perusing the aisles at the Dollar Store? With $10 you can get a whole lot of treasures. It’s a fun place to shop and doesn’t break your bank account.
Visit The Zoo
If you have a zoo close to you, this is a great place to take your child. Even if you’ve been there before, animals are always doing new things to observe and talk about. You can have lunch there and make an afternoon out of it.
Visit a Senior Center or Nursing Home
Visiting a Senior Center or Nursing Home can be so rewarding for both you and your child. You’ll be doing something good for others while receiving back the good feeling of helping. Make sure to call ahead of time and tell them that you’d like to bring your child in for a visit with the residents. The activity director can tell you a good time that works best for their residents’ schedules. You may want to bring in hand made cards or something to hand out. Here are some ideas: Holiday Cards if you visit around any holiday, little hand held flags for veterans day or the fourth of July, painted rocks, or any small craft. You might even want to do a craft or activity with the residents or bring in a friendly pet for them to visit with. Make sure to run your ideas by the activity director first.
Play At The Park
Most towns have parks, and you may have visited your local park many times. But visiting while the kids run and play is different than scheduling in a time for you to have fun with your children. My daughter and I love to go inner tubing on the river that runs through our local park.
Go To A Lake
If you have a lake, ocean, beach or even river, there are so many things you can do there, from boating to walking around or having a picnic by the water. Wildlife uses water to drink from, so you may even see lots of animals. At our park, we’ve watched bears, moose, mink, and deer come in for a drink while we are enjoying the day by the water. Water is so relaxing and offers a great get away adventure spot.
Sit down with your child and make a list of things you’d like to do together on a date. Once you’ve decided what you’d like to do, schedule it in and make it happen. You’ll both come back more refreshed and with memories made that will last a life time. I heard someone say the other day that you can make and lose money and even get it back again, but you can’t get back what you decided to do with your time. Count this in as one of the most important things you will do all week and make it happen. Have fun!
