Play Library » summer-activities

7 Fun Outdoor Activities For Families

Linette Gerlach — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:54:39 +0000

It’s time to get outside and enjoy the wonderful summer weather. The early morning, and evening are the best times to get your children outside, when the sun is not as hot, and there’s less need for sunscreen.

Exercise doesn’t have to be hard work, it can be fun especially if the whole family does it together. Summer’s a great time to get in shape and get some outdoor exercise. Here are some of the summer outdoor activities we do around our house to get moving.

Take an evening walk around the neighborhood. You can visit with neighbors, and enjoy a little family conversation while you’re walking.
Take a bike ride. Don’t forget to wear your bike helmets! We have a beautiful bike path near our house that’s loaded with butterflies during the summer. It’s a beautiful ride, and we get to enjoy nature while we’re there.
Let your kids help you in the garden. They can do simple things like pull weeds, help with planting, watering, and mulching, or let them just dig in the dirt.
Head for the local park. Many local parks have free summer activities and camps to keep your children learning and moving during the summer.
Play some water games. You don’t even have to have a pool to get wet and splash around in the water to cool off and get a little exercise at the same time, just set up a wet and wild water obstacle course.
Blow some bubbles. Bubble blowing is not just for kids, get in touch with your inner child and blow some bubbles!
Play a game of backyard baseball. Invite the neighbors, or some friends and relatives over for a game of backyard baseball.

There you go, no excuse not to get outside and get moving this summer with your family. There are many more summer outdoor activities, these are just a few of my families favorites. What are your families favorite ways to get outside and get moving this summer?

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It’s Picnic Time with the b5media Lifestyles Channel

Susan Gunelius — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:08:36 +0000

This month, the b5media Lifestyles channel decided to have a little fun with one of summer’s favorite pastimes – picnics. As we take a trip around the blogs in the channel, you’ll find recipes, tips and a few laughs as well. Enjoy!

Whether you’re having a picnic, a barbecue or just looking for a fun activity to do with your kids outside, here at PlayLibrary I offer a list of 50 outdoor toys and games that are perfect for summer.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch by Robust Cooking

Watermelon Raspberry Lemonade at All Holiday Cafe

Rice Krispie Treats at Keeping the Castle

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream at Chocolate Bytes

Cool Summer Snacking at Inside Motherhood

Baking Delights is bringing enough chocolate for everyone to catch a chocobuzz with her favorite brownies

Nothing like sweet tea on a hot, summer day…Wait..I taste lime..mint…is that a non-alcoholic Mojito? Kettle and Cup has the answer.

Blogfabulous is serving up a super easy, keep your butt out of the hot kitchen solution to Hors’ devours.

Weary Parent is serving Chocolate Puppy Chow, a snack that’s bound to be popular with the kids.

Offbeat Homes is sharing details on how to hold an offbeat picnic in four easy steps.

Tree Hugging Family shares 10 tips for an easy green picnic or green potluck

Just because you choose to live thrifty doesn’t mean you have to throw a thrifty picnic. Simply Thrifty shares tips for an elegant and inexpensive potluck

What fun is a summer BBQ if you feel disorganized and in disarray? Declutter It shares five tips to help you organize your summer BBQ.

10 Summer party ideas and themes for your next backyard barbecue, or potluck.

Add some backyard Olympic games to your next barbecue, in honor of the Summer Olympics

And speaking of games, Marriage Actually is bringing a fun game for the grownups. Life Stories – a fun way to find out more about your spouse, friends and extended family.

Cyndi won’t go anyplace to picnic unless she can grill, but she doesn’t want to spend all day doing it. Try her tips for Grilling Chicken Fast, and get a jumpstart on your next picnic!

Who says picnics have to be complicated affairs? Keep it simple with cheeses, meats and homemade bread. Brewha-ha.com has a few suggestions – including a recipe for Polish beer rye bread

This time of year there are bugs everywhere, don’t forget to bring the bug repellent along with your favorite dish to your next cookout.

Christine at Mad Cropper not only shares her favourite winter or summer recipe but also shares that you can turn recipes into creative works of arts. Find out how!

And while you’re out having all the fun and good food you can handle, don’t forget your pets – they enjoy special summer treats too!

At Quilting and Patchwork enjoy an array of potluck foods and memories from the Food Bloggers.

You never know what medical emergency could happen while your are picnicking…Marye at Simply Home Remedies is bringing the antidote for nearly ANYTHING!

Eliza at Babylune provides a checklist of tips to consider when taking baby picnicking.

Finally, when it’s all said and done – perhaps you can kick back with a nice frozen beverage. MomGadget prefers the Dominican Coco Loco

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Let’s Talk Kiddie Pools

Susan Gunelius — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:32:29 +0000

Spring is here and that means summer is on its way! Of course, I live in Florida, so it’s always summer, but I remember the anticipation for summer once April hit from my years growing up in New Jersey. In fact, before my husband and I moved to Florida, we bought a kiddie pool for the triplets to enjoy during their first summer. I spent awhile online trying to decide what would be the best kiddie pool for three babies who would turn 1-year old midway through the summer. Hard pool, inflatable pool, big, small – there were so many choices. Finally, I decided that I simply didn’t know what the best choice would be, so I went to Toys ‘R Us and bought the cheapest one on the shelf.That pool is now on its third year of use with us. The triplets use it year-round not just as a pool, but also as a hiding spot and more. It gets dragged all around our lanai and has only gotten one hole in it, which was easily patched with a Home Depot patch kit. What’s the name of this amazing pool you ask? It’s the Intex Crystal Blue Pool (it’s the one in the picture above). I have the one with three inflatable tiers (I think there is a two-tier version, too). It’s 58″w x 13″h, and the triplets can still all fit in it (although it’s more crowded than it was when they were 1-year old and my husband and I would sit in it with them, too). The best part is the price. At just $7.99, you can’t go wrong with this kiddie pool. I do strongly suggest a pump, or you might pass out trying to blow it up. We bought the Intex Quick Action Hand Pump (see the picture) for about $14.99, but any double air pump (meaning air comes out as you push down and pull up) should work well (and fast). We can pump our pool up in just a minute or two with our pump. Do you have a kiddie pool that you and your kids really love (or loved)? Any that you would not recommend? Leave a comment and share your experience.

Product image source: Toysrus.com

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Summer Festivals

Kerri Aldrich — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:33:20 +0000

The Midwest (USA) is nothing if not the land of festivals from the early spring months well until the pumpkins are ripe and ready for carving. I enjoy taking the kids to these types of events because it pulls us away from so much of the commercial activities that we get used to attending. Instead, it gives us a glimpse into the oddities, eccentricities, and unique features of our own neighborhoods and communities. It also gives us a change to meet our neighbors and to remind us of the many things that make our homes, “home.”

Here are a few of the festivals happening in our neck of the woods just this weekend:

Wright-Patterson AFB: Tattoo:

This year’s Tattoo will celebrate the “Heritage to Horizons” of the United States Air Force, and is a 60th Anniversary of the U.S. Air Force commemorative event.

The Tattoo will feature flyovers by various heritage and current aircraft, music and narration by the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight, on-stage performances and fireworks.

I can’t wait for the flyovers! We were taken to many Air Shows as kids, being military brats and all, so it’ll be fun to share this bit of our childhood with our kids. It’s interesting to read at the website to find out where the name “Tattoo” came from for this festival.

Dayton’s Cityfolk Festival: The last time we went to the Cityfolk Festival, Bald Man’s appendix exploded. Still, before that happened, it was fun and the kids enjoyed walking around and people-watching with us.

Southeast Festival: This one’s happening right near our home and I’m really looking forward to it. We have a group of friends meeting us and we’re all walking up together. This is the first year for this festival and I’m excited to see how it goes. I really need to get more involved in our neighborhood association and help out with things like this!

What are your favorite local festivals?

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Have you been to a spray park?

Kerri Aldrich — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:18:54 +0000

We met some friends this week at a new park in our area. A friend (hi, friend ) was so excited to share this find with us and all the kids. And the kids had a blast!

Have you been to a spray park (I’ve also heard them called a “sprayground”), yet? They seem to be popping up at parks in this part of the state, with one even expected soon at the park next to our house. With large, colorful structures shooting water out in all directions, they are an exciting attraction to the kids. I like the fact that I can go with all of my kids by myself to a place where they can enjoy the sunshine (make sure they have sunscreen!) and the water, without the dangers that I would face trying to watch them all at a pool. When they’re older, maybe, but not at these young ages!

The youngest was none too thrilled with all of the surprise blasts of water being shot at him, but the oldest two couldn’t get enough of the buckets of water dumping on them! I was wondering what happened at the park if there weren’t any kids around when another friend (hi, another friend! ) told me that the whole park was motion activated by a sensor near the center of it all. That was cool.

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Best Summer Yard Toys: The Sprinkler

Kerri Aldrich — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:26:57 +0000

After discussing some of the more expensive and seemingly over-the-top pool toys, I have to share some of my favorite summer toys, starting with the yard sprinkler. It’s not that expensive, the kids love running through it, it’s close to home (no wrangling wet kids into car seats and onto towels for the drive!), and your yard gets a nice watering as well. What could be better, or more refreshing?! So, go ahead, get the kids out in the yard, and take a run through yourself, too, mom and dad!

Is running through the sprinkler a popular summer activity at your house?

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