Water balloon jumpin’

If the recent balmy temperatures are any indication as to what summer has in store for us, then it looks like we as parents better get creative, and quick, in terms of thinking of fun ways for our kids to expend their energy and beat the heat at the same time.

If you’re lucky enough for your pool to open and operate under the new CDC guidelines this summer, most likely you’ll be there for shorter visits than normal due to timed reservations. This means you and your kids might have more time at home than normal and your children may not have their usual outlet for getting in their daily physical activity.

Given the COVID-19 impact on public pools, aboveground swimming pools for the backyard, such as those made by Intex and Summer Waves are selling out in droves through online retailers this season. This has left those of us who didn’t get one already, contemplating if we should spend a small fortune to purchase one on eBay.

Regardless of whether or not you succeed in getting your hands on one, here are some ideas to get your kids excited to leave the comforts of air-conditioning to head out to the great outdoors for some summer fun. Think retro in the sense of going back in time to your childhood and doing some of the things with your own children that you enjoyed doing. Consider this a way of jogging your memory and spicing up some old pastimes to make the most of a homebound summer.

Cool course

The key to a cool obstacle course is one that involves water and you don’t have to spend a cent to create a course. You can just use what you have around the house. Have the kids gather items such as chairs, large rocks, canned goods, cones, wooden logs, a ladder, a fabric tunnel, and anything else that could serve as a good obstacle. The kids can get creative with how they want to arrange the course up in the yard, As for the cool-down element, set up a sprinkler at one of the obstacle stations so they get wet along the way as they race to get the fastest time. You can sit in the shade as you time each child and then take a turn to keep yourself moving this summer too and give your kids a giggle as they watch you navigate the course.

There is nothing like a good ol’ water balloon fight, but this approach takes the fun factor up a notch. For those of you with trampolines that have sides, have your kids fill up balloons with water and then place them on the trampoline. After they have fun jumping with them for a while, they can toss the balloons to explode them while jumping and get wet at the same time. If you don’t have water balloons on hand, you can place a sprinkler directly under the trampoline and it will spray upward through the fabric to keep kids cool as they jump.

DIY fitness dice

Make your own outdoor fitness dice by using a cardboard box (see instructions below) and the kids can help construct it and join in on what they want each side to say, such as, ‘jumping jacks’, ‘push-ups’, etc., or for younger kids ‘jump like a frog’ or ‘flap your wings like a bird’. The sides of the other dice have numbers on them to indicate how many you have to do of each exercise the dice lands on. Reserve one of the sides for an exercise where you can involve water, such as place a water drop symbol and tree on that side and when it lands on it, they have to run around a tree three times, for example, and pass through the lawn sprinkler on the way.

Get Wet n’ Wash

Have the kids throw on their swimsuits in advance and equip each of them with a sponge and fill up a big bucket of sudsy water for them to wash the car. Let them take turns with the hose and the whole family can have a chance to get wet while productively cleaning the car at the same time.

Summertime snack

When the kids are in need of a snack, there is nothing quite like a snowcone to cool them down. For this, you will need a machine that shaves ice, like a snowcone maker by Nostalgia. The healthy component is that instead of purchasing a syrup that is made using chemical dyes, you can use 100% pure concentrated juice. You can fill up mustard and ketchup dispensers with the juice for easy application, such as, pour the thawed orange juice concentrate in one and grape in the other, to provide a little variety. All you have to remember to do is let the frozen, concentrated juice thaw out in time for when you’re ready to make your snowcones. You should join in on the summer fun by having one too!

Water balloons add another layer of wet fun to trampoline time. Kids can cool off with snow cones made using pure juice concentrate, such as grape, pictured, and orange juice.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF COURTNEY DIENER-STOKES More water balloons for fun.