Dig It Up

Kids love digging, sweeping and raking so get them helping with their own set of gardening tools (a lot safer that way) or give them their own patch of dirt to be creative with. Planting something that is fast to flower will show them the rewards of their labour quickly and be bright and colourful. 

Create a shapely garden

If you have enough space you can make the garden in the shape of a face with different colours and textures, why not add some culinary herbs that have great aromas and they can help you pick them when adding to your meals 

Obstacle Course

Gather some safe & fun obstacles for your kids to roll along, jump over, crawl through or ride around your backyard. For example a step stool to step onto & jump off (or chair for older kids), fit balls can be rolled along or raced around the clothes line, a soccer ball can be kicked, basket ball bounced etc.

Our obstacle course is as follows; Roll the fit ball around the top garden to the opening of the tunnel, crawl through the tunnel, down the 3 garden steps to the next level, step onto the stool & JUMP off, go down another 3 steps where the bikes are waiting to be ridden along the gravel and parked near the cubby house, off the bikes & down another 3 steps to the bottom grass where the hose is snaked around to make 3 lines to jump over, then to the imaginary finish line at the clothes line and back the other way to do it all again finishing at the top garden.

With some practice the kids will become more co-ordinated, faster and more confident with their new skills while practicing the art of following instructions and concentrating on moving from one activity to the next with minimal distraction.

Free play is essential but it is also important for children have some structured play in their day, this activity is a nice mix of both.You could also do this inside on a smaller scale if the weather is bad.

Road-Trip Run

One of our readers has sent in the following idea for making a road trip less stressful and more fun.....

Before you leave do some research on what kind of animals and plants/trees you might see on the way, find some pictures (internet or magazines) and stick them onto a piece of paper and laminate it. Get the kids to find them along the way and cross them off as they see them. They can take it to school for show-and-tell on Monday. Entertaining and Educational.