Page 29 - North State Parent June 2020

for community By Dolores Smyth
Seven Budget-Friendly Backyard Activities Your Kids
Can Enjoy ThThThis Summer
“M
any parent, especially during the summer months when a child's daily schedule is wide open while your schedule is cresting to its fullest.
If summer camp isn't feasible, you don't have to resort to letting the kids get glassy-eyed in front of a screen. Instead, look no further than your backyard for these seven affordable activities your kids can enjoy from the first to the last day of summer.
Set up an obstacle course.
Backyard obstacle courses are loads of fun, can be easy or elaborate depending on your child's age, and can consist entirely of objects you already own. For younger children, an obstacle course can include:
• Hula hoops to hop in and out of
• Buckets to weave around slalom-style yoga mats
spread on the grass for forward rolls
• A low balance beam to walk across
• An inflatable pool to jump into at the end of the
course
For older kids, a more challenging course can consist of: • Folding tables to crawl under
• Planters to jump over
• Water balloons to transport by spoon without
dropping
• A hose to knock down items lined up on a table
• Newspaper pages to place underfoot with each step
while racing across the yard toward the finish line
Paint a classic with a game of lawn Twister.
To make a grass-version of this classic game, pur- chase cans of marking paint in red, blue, yellow and green from your local hardware store. To create the game grid:
Water play Jack Drake age 11, Emma Drake age 9
Use a plate to trace a Twister dot on a piece of card- board or poster board. Trace a small circle for the small- er hands and feet of young children or a large circle for older players. Cut the circle out to create a hole in the cardboard or poster board and, voila, you have a Twister dot template.
Place the cardboard or poster board template on the grass and spray paint through the hole in the template to create rows of dots. Be sure to place the dots close enough so that children can easily reach over from dot to dot and be sure the game grid area is large enough to accommodate the number of children playing.
Once the dots are all painted onto the grass, grab your indoor Twister game spinner, and start playing! If you don't have a Twister spinner, write down each of the four directions—left hand, right hand, left foot, or right foot—for each dot color on separate index cards or slips of paper. For example, one card will read, "Right hand. Green." 30
om, I'm bored!"
Those three words strung togeth-
er can trigger waves of anxiety in
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Photo by Katie Drake Photography