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As Summer rolls in, do you feel you have to make rules about screentime in your house? Do you worry about your family sitting around all Summer and feeling like nothing got done – fun or productive – when school starts up again? With a little intention, your days can feel full and Summer-y in the very best way. I love to recommend one totally screen-free day (make it a game and put them all in a box, or a treasure hunt to find them at the end of the day) – think of all the ways you loved to pass the Summer days as a kid, and reconnect with that kind of unplugged fun!
Remember making a telephone with two tin cans and a string? And those stilts made out of coffee cans? Check out the Summer carnival and play some games you’ll inevitably lose. Go to a drive-in movie. Read on the porch swing. Catch fireflies. Have a watermelon seed spitting contest. Skip rocks. Have a jump rope competition, or a campfire sing-a-long. Play tag! Have a lemonade stand. Eat popsicles and listen to records (or if you can still find a CD player, pull out your old CD case). Make a 90s/2000s playlist and have a dance party! Go to the park and swing or slide. Play board games by candlelight.
We sometimes get into a mindset that kids nowadays are so addicted to their devices, but perhaps they’ve just never been introduced to the joy and pain of an afternoon with a Skip-It! Show them how fun an old-fashioned Summer day can be, and you might be surprised what they want to do with their free time as the Summer goes by!
What were your favorite things to do as a kid in the Summer? How can you introduce your kids to that kind of fun? Share your ideas with us!
Originally posted on Kivity.com on June 8, 2022