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With summer here, your kids will have long days to keep themselves amused. Here are some great ideas for kids outdoor play to keep them busy and happy.

Summer outdoor games and activities

Kids Outdoor Play Activities

• Mix colored sand in with regular sandbox sand for more variety. Encourage kids to be more creative than just building sand castles. Have them dig out a road, use a small tube to create a tunnel, and bring in mini cars.
• Hide some dinosaur bones for them to do a dig or get some small plastic animals from the dollar store to create a safari landscape.
• Set up an outdoor stage for kids to perform. Hang blankets over a clothesline to use as a curtain. For costumes, put out old clothes, kids’ old dance recital outfits or Halloween costumes.
• With chalk, sketch out a twisting driving course on the driveway for kids to navigate with their bikes, cars or scooters.

Fun Outdoor Games and Crafts

• A great outdoor summertime craft for kids is to let them paint and decorate an unfinished bird house. They can be purchased inexpensively at any craft store or here on amazon . Consider placing the finished birdhouse outside a child’s bedroom window so they can see the birds up close.
• Kids love playing with large cardboard boxes. Use them to make a pretend car or camper, a fort (they can cut out windows), or attach several together to make a train or a tunnel that they can crawl through. You can find FREE boxes at Lowes, Home Depot or other appliance stores, just call in advance and possible schedule a date for pick-up.
• Face painting is always fun for children. There are kits that offer safe non toxic face and body paints that wash off easily from companies like Snazaroo. Have the kids change into their bathing suits and they can have fun painting each other. Alternatively, for girls, put out some old makeup (make sure it is hypoallergenic) and a few hand mirrors and let them have fun.
• Introduce kids to popular games from your childhood, such as croquet and marbles (if they are over 4 years old).
• Have the kids try making a tee pee. Take four large branches and tie them together at the top with strong twine, then wrap an old bed sheet around the whole structure.

Water Fun for Outdoor Play

• If you have a kiddy pool, bring out the bath toys for extra fun. If your kids aren’t using their kiddy pool anymore, place it on a low table and use it as a water play table instead. They can have boat races or rubber duck races, make a fishing pond or use it with sand toys such as funnels, sifters and spinning mills.
• If kids want to cool off and you’re not crazy about water guns, instead fill up squeeze bottles with water or give them buckets of water with soft new sponges they can toss at each other.
• Believe it or not a fun activity for kids is to wash the car. They like to feel useful and washing a car is a simple enough job. If they are really young, let them wash their wagon or tricycle.

From face painting to water fun to sand digs, there are so many fun summertime activities for kids to enjoy.