Dog Days Unleashed

 

If you want some ideas on how to squeeze the most fun you can out of these last days of summer, check out these ideas.

Water Water Everywhere
Playing with water is easy, relatively inexpensive, and fun for all ages. Turn your church lawn into a water park, or invite a smaller group to your backyard. Put together one of more of these water activities, add some super soaker water guns, and drench yourself with end-of-summer delight.

Water blob
Think huge plastic bag filled with water. This idea is an incredibly easy and clever way to make a DIY slippery good time.

Water balloon piñatas
Hanging balloons of water. Plastic baseball bat. You get the idea.

Pool noodle sprinkler
You know those long, tube-like foamy things at swimming pools? Poke a bunch of holes in one. Block one end with a soda bottle cap and stick the hose into the other end. Let the fun begin!

PVC sprinkler
You can make one as complicated or as simple as you want, but you basically put together PVC pipe, connect it to a hose and let the water escape wherever its not blocked.

Water bombs
Cut strips of kitchen sponges, tie some strips together, and put them in a bucket of water. Same result as playing with water balloons: you get wet!

By the Light of the Moon
Late summer evenings offer opportunities for more laid-back, relaxed family entertainment. Plus, if you live in a really hot part of the country, outdoor activities are much more enjoyable once the sun sets and the temperature cools.

Outdoor movie night
Hang a white sheet. Grab your laptop and portable speakers. Hook up a laptop projector. (If you don’t have one, someone you know does. Ask around.) Pop some popcorn and handout boxes of Raisinets. You’re in show business.

Bonfire/campfire party
You can search the Internet for ideas, but you know how this works: fire pit, hot dogs, marshmallows, bug spray, maybe a guitar, and definitely “Kumbaya.”

Glow-in-the-Dark Party
Glow sticks have come a long way, baby. Now you can get glow-in-the-dark beach balls, paint, duct tape, flying disks, footprints—you name it. And the Internet is full of creative ideas on how to use them for a great after dark get together.

(Note: An Internet search of any of the suggested italicized terms above provides detailed “how-tos” on any number of sites.)

The Five Ws
If your family or group would rather go on an adventure in a nearby city, explore the great outdoors, or become tourists in your own hometown, how do you find the who, what, where, whens and whys about what’s going on? Oh, you already know—there’s an app for that! Check out these two examples of apps that’ll help you find out what’s happening almost anywhere at anytime.

Eventbrite
Event organizers use this app to promote and sell tickets to events everywhere. Type in your location and dates, and you’ll see an amazing number of things to do in your immediate area or another area of your choosing.

Yuggler
Made by and for parents, Yuggler touts itself as the app that helps you “discover kid’s activities in seconds—anytime, anywhere.” Once you download the free app, you can click on “near me” to find events in your area or use the search box to specify another location.

What does your church or family have planned as a last hurrah of Summer 2015? Please share your ideas.

Judy Bumgarner is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee. She also works at Brentwood United Methodist Church in the church’s Caring Ministry.

I’m Booored

Now is about the time kids are going to start whining that familiar, mid-summer refrain: I’m booored. You stifle the urge to say, “Well you could help me fold the clothes/clean out the garage/empty the dishwasher/trim the hedge/(fill in the blank) and then you wouldn’t be so bored!” Instead you . . . well, what do you do?

Boredom is Scary

“For many young people, ‘I’m bored!’ is a complaint about uncertainty, about not knowing what’s going to happen next, about what should be happening next, about what’s worth doing next,” says Nick Luxmoore, a psychodrama psychotherapist in his online column for Psychology Today. He suggests that boredom might be an opportunity for parents to have a philosophical discussion with their child.

“What if we saw boredom as a transitional experience, as an interesting lull? Then we might begin to talk with young people about how scary it is, not knowing what’s going to happen next,” he continues. “We might share our own experience of the panic boredom sometimes precipitates, of how addicted we can become to things new, unusual and exciting. We might wonder with young people about whether being able to be bored is a sign, not of being a boring person, but of maturity.”

That Means You

In her blog, “Thinking about Kids,” Dr. Nancy Darling writes, “Oddly enough, one of the reasons that many kids and teens have trouble with knowing what to do in the summer is that they haven’t been bored enough. From a developmental perspective, kids have very little experience learning how to find things to do for themselves. They might know what they like to do, but they have little experience figuring out how to make good things happen.”

“And if they don’t have a friend available to play with, and they don’t have a sibling who wants to play with them right then and there,” she continues, “that means they want to play with you.”

Play Takes Practice

Darling acknowledges that it’s hard for parents to find time to play, but sometimes ten minutes is all it takes to get a kid engaged in an activity. She suggests getting them to talk about a toy, what they like best about it and what it can do, and she says to make sure you respond with lots of “oohs and ahhs.”

“Kids show what they love to the people they care about. The more they care about you, the more they want to show you what they’ve done,” Darling explains. “And the more you share their experience—ooh and ahh—the more they care about you. You can do this from across the room or wandering in and out.”

She says that spending time with younger children, teaching them how to play, will help keep boredom at bay when they get older and find they have no one with whom to play. “Play may be natural,” she says, “but it takes practice.”

Darling says there’s an added benefit that comes from playing with your kids. “You may find that you get better at—and more interested in—playing, too.”

Where do you start? We’ve shared a few ideas of our own:

• Family Fridge Fun
• Press Here game
• Endangered Animals puzzle
• VeggieTales Seek and Match game
• Promise Box
• 31 Days of Drawing Through the Bible
• Busy Board for Toddlers
• Scripture Scraps
• Sole Hope Party

So now it’s your turn. How do you practice play with your children?

Judy Bumgarner is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee. She also works at Brentwood United Methodist Church in the church’s Caring Ministry.