Observe your children as they play
Remember that the game is important and we need it because the game is:
- Not an obligation, children choose the game on their initiative, voluntarily they start and get involved in the game. They do not need to be reminded or additionally motivated to play!
- Is something that keeps kids busy. There is no better way for them to develop attention and concentration and learn to fully dedicate themselves to what they are doing.
- Children are active in the game. Children explore in play, make assumptions, try, imagine, and discover new possibilities and solutions as the greatest researchers!
- In the game, children show the greatest capacity of a human being to present our experience as something we are imagining and change ourselves and our environment following that idea. It is the capacity for flexibility that is the basis of all inventions and discoveries in human civilization, and it appears for the first time in a child’s play!
- The child in the game combines imagination, thoughts, action, experience, and expresses them in a hundred ways: voice, movements, sound, making constructions, combining and fitting shapes, painting, shaping, …
- Children in the game exchange ideas, learn to understand others, to accept and belong, to see themselves in different roles, to face power relations and learn to deal with difficult situations, to negotiate and agree.
- The game is fun and enjoyable, even if someone gets angry in the game, then the children gain experiences about the behaviors they will meet in later situations. You heard a child say “We’re just playing!” Countless times. Children without fear of consequences, having fun, check their powers, and the world around them to better understand and build it.
Something unexpected and unusual
Ask yourself if we ever learn like in a game: voluntarily, with a lot of attention, concentration, enjoyment and having fun at the same time. We would say rarely. Therefore, when we play with children and nurture their play, we nurture their exploratory relationship with the world and develop relationships with peers and adults, their engagement and attention development, mastering countless ways to express their experiences and enjoy what they do.
The game is always more than an activity with which time passes faster! For a child, play is an essential part of life, the basic way in which a child gets to know the world, gets to know himself, and builds relationships with other people. When scientists asked children what the definition of happiness was for them, most children said: “to work what I want ”, “to get what I want” and “to experience something unexpected and unusual”, and when asked how you can do this, the children said – through playing with their friends.
Play can help children and adults alike feel powerful. Activities and creativity, exploring, creating, trying, change us, teach us, and push our boundaries of the possible. When we play together, we understand each other more easily, support each other, and create valuable shared experiences that are a bigger lesson than any textbook.
Safety of summer activities
- All water activities are popular and you need to learn how to create conditions that are safe for children. Water quality and purity are always important. You can check for yourself and some agencies deal with it.
- In younger children, drowning is the leading cause of death, so always monitor the children, teach them to swim, teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and provide a four-sided fence around home pools.
- When sailing on a boat, safety should be a priority. Wear equipment properly, a life jacket and make sure everyone wears it.
- Heat and sun are closely related to the summer period. Organize yourself so that cold water and shade are close to you, drink plenty of fluids. Use a sunscreen with the least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 and ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) protection every time you and your child go out in the sun.
- Protect children and you from bites and diseases, such as Zika, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease, which can be transmitted by insects. Use insect repellents, check your child’s skin more often, as well as the grass where the child is playing.
- Injuries are frequent and inevitable in the summer because children are more active and are more often outside. Make sure the playground is safe. Keep an eye on your child. Provide the child with appropriate protective equipment for sports such as rollerblading and the like. Train yourself how to react in case of head injury, spine … because in those situations they have to be collected. Always have an emergency number stored in your phone, because, in stressful situations, memory can fail.
- If your children are left at home alone, without adult supervision, provide all household appliances so that children are not injured. Also in case of fire, children must be educated on what to do. And of course, the computer must have restrictions in search engines and TV in the choice of channels.
SUMMER GAMES
A picnic in nature brings a good mood, a nice company, a relaxed lunch from the basket. When the weather is nice, bring sports equipment, a book to read, etc. And in rainy weather when the rain is warm, jumping on puddles and playing in the mud is fun, and catching frogs is even more. Make your rain by attaching the garden hose to a watering can and here are the winning combinations for squeaking, screaming, and happiness.
Visit a museum or a gallery and learn something new about a historical event or artistic direction. Choose a setting that the children will understand or you explain to them what it is about. It is always the right time to enrich your children with either a cultural experience or some new knowledge.
Visit natural or historical landmarks such as caves, excavations, rocks, waterfalls, springs, springs, fortresses… There is certainly something valuable, and that you have not yet visited your area.
Pajama party is every child’s dream. The children may have already asked for it, but daily commitments kept you from letting them go. Summer is ideal for long evening gatherings and pajama parties will enrich children with a new experience, and you will give them an experience that they will remember for a long time.
Grow the plant in your yard or garden, and you can plant the plant in a pot on the terrace. Let the children choose a flower or a vegetable, and monitoring their growth and development will bring them special pleasure.
Harvesting fruits, vegetables, flowers in season. Take the children to pick raspberries, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, apples, tulips, lavender, or maybe wildflowers. Children like to do “important” jobs, so this type of activity will give them mental maturation.
Joint preparation of dinner gives great importance to every child. Older children can prepare more serious meals, and smaller ones can certainly arrange the prepared ingredients on bread according to their abilities and thus make a sandwich.
Visit a nearby city that certainly exists near your city that you have not visited yet, and a trip like this would be great for changing everyday life.
Family watching a cartoon in a relaxed atmosphere. Choose a cartoon that suits the age of your children, create a cinematic atmosphere in the living room, and enjoy the (cartoon) movie with the obligatory popcorn.
Fishing in nature is a special experience for everyone. The conditions are different and children learn patience and silence.
Walking through the forest is a good choice in any period. Going to a dense pleasant forest is a real refreshment for the body and the mind.
Visit an open-air concert or theater play because summer is the time for outdoor stages, so take advantage of this convenience and the informal circumstances of summer.
Make a birdhouse or feeder. It is warm now and birds can easily find food all around them. Teach your children to take care of the animals in the forest by making a birdhouse to use during the cold winter months.
Watch the stars that are especially fantastic in the clear summer sky. They are even more beautiful and brighter outside the city environment, where they are not endangered by artificial light. Children will enjoy it if you prepare at least one evening like this for them.
Catch bugs, squat in the grass, see, unite with nature. If it’s evening, you can use the privilege of flying by catching a scroll.
Look for shapes in the clouds, lie on the grass, and rest your eyes in the endless blue of the summer sky. Fluffy clouds hide various shapes, so let your imagination run wild with the children.
Organize a tournament in playing a game. Spend a rainy day at home, and entertain the children by organizing a real family competition in playing their favorite game.
Build a fortress in the yard, on the terrace, on the stairs, in the park, in the bedroom or living room… From pillows, blankets, cardboard boxes, twigs, and leaves…
Visit a farm or stable and spend the day with the animals. Feed them, cuddle them, and take part in their daily routine. Your children will enjoy and learn a new skill along the way.
Compose music or better to say create music. And the instrument can be a lid of a sherpa, a cooker, a comb, a tap with released water, a sheet of paper… Let your imagination run wild!
Making family homemade ice cream is always a good idea. Listen to your children’s suggestions for personalized ice cream, if you need to write them down, then adjust, skim, and finally sweeten up. Real enjoyment!
Camping is always a challenge for families. Organize a day or short vacation in nature with all the advantages and disadvantages that such an environment provides. Making tents, making campfires, camp stories, dining in nature.
Filling the bucket is a summer game in which everyone finally bathes and laughs. Two teams are participating. One team needs two buckets and one sponge. One bucket is full of water and the other is empty a few feet away. The task is to use a sponge to transfer water from one bucket to another. Who will be faster?
Melt the ice is one of the summer games that children adore. Freeze small rubber or plastic toys with water in bags or larger molds. The task of the children is to melt the ice with their handles as soon as possible and win a toy.
Sponge shooting is a summer game in which the child stays “drier” or “less wet” after the game is the winner. A sponge in a target is a game like shooting in a target. You need to draw a target, mark points and the game can begin. The child who wins the most points gets a prize!
Glasses as targets is a summer competitive game. You needed plastic cups and a water gun. Arrange the glasses as a target and the competition can begin.
Mini Lab is a creative summer game in which you color the water with food colors and experiments can begin. Ideal for learning about colors and combining colors through play.
Balloon racing is one of the games that is a challenge for adults as well. Fill balloons with water and tie. Be careful not to spill water when transporting to an agreed destination. The mode of transmission is a choice adapted to the age of the participants.
Playing with soap and water is the most beautiful thing in childhood and children adore it. Be careful because the soap on the floor is slippery.
Have fun on hot days. There are rare opportunities to let children get wet, summer days are the right opportunity for that. The bigger the company, the more laughter and fun there will be. Enjoy!
