Giving kids what they need and want is not about spending money on the right toys or classes; it's about spending time together. The easiest way to spend time with your child (or the one in your care) is to make the most of everyday moments. Whether you're running errands, cooking dinner, paying bills or folding laundry, engage in conversation about it with your child.
Preferably, you can set aside time in your schedule for some fun activities. Reading together is always a great way to begin talking about ideas and strengthening your bond. But, let's face it, sometimes you just aren't in the mood to read that favorite book for the 100th time. That's when it helps to have a bank of ideas for kid-friendly activities. Following is a list of 10 favorites contributed by local teachers and parents of young children.
- Go on a photo safari. Help your child take pictures and describe what they see. Explore your neighborhood, a local park, downtown, or anywhere else you like to spend time.
- Play cards. Kids always like Go Fish, Memory, and War. UNO is another great game that is fun for a range of ages.
- Create a cardboard castle, clubhouse or rocket ship. Refrigerator boxes work great and are available for free at most appliance stores. Help your child cut out windows and doors and let them decorate it with paint, markers, stickers and anything else you have on hand. With a few recycled materials and a hot glue gun, you'll be amazed at what you can craft.
- Pitch a tent and have a camping adventure in your backyard. Kids love playing with flashlights and telling stories under the stars.
- Make play money and imagine that your house is a city. The kitchen could be a favorite restaurant; your bedroom could be a vacation get-away; the closet could be a clothing store. Take turns being the owner and customer.
- Take advantage of all the water that surrounds us in King County and visit a beach. Talk about the marine animals and our ecosystem. Sculpt a sandcastle. Build a driftwood fort. Dig your toes in the sand. Tell a story about mermaids, boats, or anything else that might spark your child's imagination.
- Play dress-up. Any clothes will do, but it's also fun to start a collection of funky scarves, hats, sunglasses, colorful shirts, and anything else that seems costume-like by asking friends to donate items and looking for bargains at garage/yard sales and thrift stores.
- Be scientists together and experiment with common household items. See what happens when you mix different food colors together in cups of water, for example. Or watch a volcano erupt. Fill a 16-20 oz. plastic bottle halfway with vinegar, wrap about a tablespoon of baking soda in a piece of tissue paper, and lower the baking soda "bomb" into the bottle with a string. To make the eruption more realistic, sculpt a volcano around the bottle with clay or play-dough and add red food coloring to the vinegar for the lava.
- Create an obstacle course. You can do this outdoors, but it's also fun to do indoors on rainy days when your child needs to release some excess energy. Start by naming three things they have to do, such as: "Run to your room and back; do a summersault; and jump up and down 10 times." You can reduce or increase the number of challenges depending on your child's concentration and memory.
- Play the category game. This is a good one for car or bus rides or waiting in line. Think of a category, like red fruit, and help your child name all the things you can think of in that category. A variation of this game is to go through the alphabet, first naming all the "A" words you can think of then moving on to "B," etc.
There are literally hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Web sites filled with suggestions for activities for kids. You can search the Internet for a particular theme, such as alphabet crafts, or visit a local site for ideas of adventures in your area. A few great resources in our community include:
Back
RSS Feeds
Your dollars at work >>
2007-2008 "Choose the Way" Campaign Video 
Print version
Forward this Article
Subscribe to e-mail