Summer is finally here and the weather is remarkably good and ideal for outdoor activities. The question is “which activities will you enjoy with your kids in this season?” Summer is even greater fun for the kids. School is out for most of them, and even if there is summer school, the pressures are lighter. Most extended summer school -programs include more outdoor activities” my own summer occupations have been fun oriented as well as educative in nature. To begin with, these are some of the activities that I was enjoying during the summer seasons.

1. Travelling and adventure.

I have been traveling widely and wildly visiting family and friends as well as exploring new areas of interest. Some of these areas include: The Amazon rain forests in South America, Antarctica regions, some parts of Africa and midland Asia, the Himalayas among others. It has been fun traveling to these regions with my kids showing them different parts of this wonderful world as well as increasing their knowledge base about these places. I must say that the Amazon rain forests remain best of all times to my kids as they got a practical view of what they had earlier learned in school about the different types of creatures that inhabit this region. One of the tour guides showed us what is believed to be a species of extinct animals such as dinosaurs and dragons which marked an indelible ordeal in our memories. The Antarctica tour also exposed us to different species of penguins and seals whose survival in the cold climate surprised us all. In Africa, we explored the Sahara deserts where we learned more about the sand dunes, the oases there in the “ship of the desert” and the dominant plants such as the Acacia, Euphorbia and the Cacti. Himalaya’s tour gave us a hint on how herbal medicines are obtained as well as formation of seasonal rivers which originate from the melting of the snow.Ice skating games were also evident from the snow that covered the mountain. The midland Asia tour was mainly meant for cultural interactions giving, us an overview of the Chinese culture as well as the Philippines.

2. Scouting and camping.

Scouting and camping have been one of my favorite activities during summer since time immemorial. Scouting games such as hide and seek, maze games, mountain climbing and building structures have been great fun during summer seasons.My kids enjoy building structures most as they obtain satisfaction in learning how to do “adult things” as well as increasing their practical skills which they can challenge the other kids when they go back to school. Building a summer vegetable garden is really great fun. You can plant seeds or buy seedlings such as spinach, watermelons etc. When you involve the kids in activities such as watering the seedbed, they become excited and the father figure in u becomes evident in their person as it becomes a good excuse for splashing around either with a hose or a sprinkler.

3. Water games.

Summer is a perfect time to play water games . This is great fun where the children line up behind the other in two lines forming teams. A bucket of water with sponges is placed in front of each line and the first child takes the sponge out of the bucket one at a time passing to the next child in line. The process continues over and over until the last child is reached who squeezes the sponge into another empty bucket. They continue over and over until the bucket is empty of sponges. The team with the most water at the end bucket becomes the winner. This teaches the kids handling procedures and hour to use water sparingly without wasting.

4. Cooking Recipes

It is always enjoyable when one is with his or kids in the house showing them how to cook some food stuffs or simple procedures for food preparations.Kids become excited when they eat the products for their brain activity. One is advised to find simple recipes in cookbooks or on the web, divide the kids into groups of four or five, and then give them the procedure required for each of the foodstuffs provided. Each one of them should be actively involved in the process either preparing or cooking. It is always fun inviting a third party to award marks rather than you to avoid favoring some kids. The judge should taste the food from all teams and reward them accordingly.

5. Writing and online research

Summer holidays are always ideal for teaching your kids new skills. During this summer, I taught my kids on how doing research and compiling a thesis and it was great fun. I gave them a topic to research on and then compile the results for consideration. Topics such as anacondas are interesting to kids who become anxious to know how these creatures live and how they harm human beings. It gives them a personal exposure to the animals and it’s a story to tell to the other kids when they are having kids challenges or debates.

Some other summer activities am thinking of exploring this summer include visiting animal orphanages in the region that I have never been to before. My kids had suggested that they too would like to visit such places to expand their knowledge on animals as well as having fun during their summer holiday and I feel that it’s my duty to quench their thirst for adventure.

Fishing, boat racing and other water sports are also some of outdoor activities in my schedule this summer. Whether these activities are familiar ones and new methods need to be learned, they are important to those who may be interested in exploring them. One should first of all list all the activities, then he or she thinks are important to him and if you are familiar with the activity you will figure out a way to make this summer memorable.