The end of the summer is drawing near, and millions of parents across the country are scrambling to entertain their children without resorting to screen time.
Make life easier on yourself by slowing down and focusing on things that bring the family together, and, in some cases, getting them out of the house, said children’s author and certified speech pathologist Tabitha Paige.
“These final weeks are a wonderful opportunity to slow down in an intentional way,” Paige told The Independent in an email. “To let children build forts, ride bikes, catch bugs, read books under blankets, make up games with siblings and spend long afternoons outside.”
The Independent spoke with multiple child and family experts and narrowed down four cheap activities that keep devices turned off, build bonds and create those irreplaceable summer memories.
Capturing coordinates
Geocaching is a great way to get the kids outside and have fun, said Stuart Davis, CEO of London-based sustainable kids footwear brand Dubs.
The activity is a modern-day treasure hunt, Davis said, but participants use GPS coordinates provided through an app or website instead of a map. The “treasure” is a physical cache - a container of varying sizes that sometimes includes logbooks and prizes.
“It's free, and it turns an ordinary family walk into an adventure,” Davis said. “Download [an] app, pick a nearby cache, and suddenly you're not just heading to the park - you're pirates hunting treasure or explorers following clues.”
The official app for the activity is Geocaching and is found in the Google Play and iTunes app stores. The app is free to download and use but offers a paid upgrade. For $6.99 monthly or $39.99 annually, users get access premium features such as offline geocaching, which could be helpful if cell reception is spotty during a hunt.
Having kids hunt around in parks or trails is a great way for them to get some exercise, Davis told The Independent in an email.
There’s often a small payoff once a cache is found - caches usually have a logbook adventurers can sign. Sometimes they also include a small gift that’s swapped out with a new trinket for the next person who finds it.
“It's stealth exercise at its best,” Davis said. “Fresh air, movement and time together all happen naturally, capped off with the excitement of finding the cache, signing the logbook and swapping a small trinket for the next adventurer.”
Rec center recommendation
Signing up kids for free classes, activities or sports competitions at the local recreation center or park has many side benefits, said Rob Price, CEO of Youth Enrichment Brands, the parent company of i9 Sports and SafeSplash Swim Schools.
“The activity itself matters less than the fact that it involves other people,” Price said in an email to The Independent.
The act of joining in with other kids and participating not only provides affordable fun, it also fosters important areas of development.
“What we know from the research and from watching hundreds of thousands of kids in our programs is that the developmental value of group activities often comes from the social feedback rather than from the skill being learned,” Price said.
Group activities help kids learn about disagreement, negotiation, coming up with solutions together and teamwork.
“You can't replicate that on a screen, and many communities have more free or low-cost options than parents realize,” Price said.
Sunny sleuthing
Summer is a season for thriving in the natural world - some insects, in particular, are more active during the season and certain weeds grow faster in June, July and August’s heat.
It’s a great backdrop for a day of nature sleuthing, Paige said. “Give your child a notebook and invite them to become nature detectives,” she said.
Kids can use notebooks for a variety of curiosity quests, including:
- Sketching animals and insects
- Pressing flowers
- Collecting leaves
- Write down interesting things they see.
Nature sleuthing lets kids cultivate their ability to notice the world around them, Paige said.
“They start to recognize the same birds returning to the yard or the different shapes of leaves on a trail,” she said. “They begin asking questions and making observations they may have otherwise missed.”
Choose your quest
Working together to solve a challenge can create long-lasting memories and strengthen bonds between parents and children.
That’s why designating one day a week as a “Challenge Day” when family members tackle a pre-chosen activity can be a great way to keep kids off their screens, said Dr. Alexandra Fogblia, director of family programs at addiction recovery center All In Solutions.
A challenge can be as simple as the family using a set of materials like cardboard boxes, tape and string to build a boat that floats or a marble maze.
It’s an inexpensive activity that promotes “teamwork, communication, and creativity,” Foglia said in an email to The Independent.
“It is likely that the actual project created on family challenge day will never even make it out of storage, but the memories made creating it will last forever - and that's what creates strong family bonds,” she said.
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