Here we are in the middle of July already! The summer is flying by, isn't it? We have been blessed with awesome weather so far, other than some pop-up thunderstorms and a couple of days of high humidity. But, thank the Lord for central air!
Are your young children getting bored yet? Do you want to limit their video viewing and computer game playing? Are you getting bored taking them to the towne pool, the local lake or the backyard pool? Here are some fun alternative activities that I have actually played with my own 2 daughters and sometimes their friends when they were younger. I still do some of these activities with my 8 year old. Try them and let me know how you liked them. Let me know if you have other outdoor activities that don't require spending money! I would love to hear from you!

• Fitness Stations: this is a great gross motor activity for ages 3-10. You can modify it as needed, depending on the skills of your elementary child. Basically, set up your backyard into sections by using sticks or jumpropes as boundaries. Each section is a different "station". Players run from the starting point to the first station where they will do something that you yell out such as "8 jumping jacks", or "hop on 1 foot 4 times". Keep in mind that hopping on 1 foot is often hard for 3-4 year olds but that they should have this skill mastered by kindergarten or age 6. This is a perfect time to practice! Then, they run or skip to the next station where, again, they perform a gross motor skill that you yell out. At the last station they can lift "weights". Make these from toilet paper tubes filled with pebbles and taped at the ends. Duct tape works best. Have them do 10 curls in each arm. HAVE FUN!
• "red light/green light": this is also a gross motor game for outdoors. This is appropriate for ages 4-8 and teaches the skills of a red vs. green light. Explain to 4 year olds if you haven't already, that a red light means "STOP" and green light means "GO". Teach them the alliteration of the 2 "G's" Green/Go. Have children stand in a line on one end of your backyard. The parent or oldest child yells out "green light" and all children begin to walk until you yell out "red light". All children must stop and freeze. A child who keeps going is "out". You can vary the movements by saying "run backwards, green light". Other ideas include: crawl, hop, skip, tiptoe, walk backwards. The child who reaches the leader first wins and becomes the leader.
  
• Pebble Art: this is a great fine motor and creative art activity for all ages. If you have a toddler around you will want to avoid very small pebbles or occupy the toddler with a different activity. Pebbles could be a choking hazard for toddlers. This activity is best for ages 4-10. Give your child a bucket and have her collect as many stones, pebbles she can find. Try to find interesting shapes, colors and textures. Give your child a shoebox lid or paper plate and a bottle of non-toxic glue. Have your child glue the stones onto the plate or shoebox lid. She can create any design or like my own children, an actual picture of something. The best way to do this is by having the child "draw" with the glue first. Another option is to offer tempera paint and paint a background first and then glue the stones. Be creative!

These are 3 of our favorite activities. Check back soon for more "fun in the sun" ideas!