When temperatures rise, so can your electric bill as everyone heads inside. Encourage kids to stay cool with these activities that get them outdoors and don’t require cranking up the air conditioner.
Jump rope water challenge: Take turns spinning the jump rope while the person jumping holds a paper cup of water. Whoever has the most water in their cup after 10 hops wins.
Ice-age excavation: Take waterproof children’s toys and freeze them in blocks of ice. Use kid-friendly tools to chip and melt away the ice to expose the toys.
Cold sweets: Freeze fruit juice or fruit purée poured into ice pop molds or ice cube trays to make cool treats. Ice cream is also a summer staple. To enjoy this summer favorite sans electricity, use a hand-crank ice cream maker.
Plastic waterslide: Whether rented, purchased or improvised with a tarp and hose, a flexible plastic waterslide can provide hours of wet and wild entertainment for the whole family.
Water fight: Challenge your children to a battle with water balloons or squirt guns. Evaporation will help keep you cool! Just be sure to pick up all the balloon pieces when you’re done so the little bits don’t become litter or choking hazards.
Water table: A water table puts water and toys at toddler height for outdoor play. Create a “duck pond” with rubber duckies and a shallow plastic tub, or make a pouring station with various sized buckets and pitchers.
Water-gun painting: Take this art project outdoors and away from surfaces that you want to keep clean. Fill water guns with washable, nontoxic paint and use them to squirt a piece of paper set up on an easel.
