As wonderful as technology can be, it’s important to include a bit of offline fun in your children’s summer.
Pack a snack or a picnic lunch and head outdoors. If there are no nearby parks, visit a local school playground.
Borrow a few nature guides from your public library and identify some of the flowers, trees, birds and bugs in your neighborhood.
Have a backyard camp out, complete with tent, sleeping bags, and flashlights. Watch the fireflies dance, identify the constellations, and sing silly songs. If the weather won’t cooperate, construct tents from chairs draped with blankets and improvise indoors.
On a hot day, make squirt gun designs on the sidewalk or walls. When rain keeps children inside, hold an impromptu cooking class, then get out the card deck and board games, just like you would in a Northwoods cabin.
Don’t just preach exercise and fitness - make it interesting, make it fun and maybe your kids will start requesting unplugged days!
Diane Cordell is the mother of two adult, married children. In her position as a K-12 teacher/librarian, she interacts with students of all ages on a daily basis - good practice for future grandchildren! You can read more about Diane here. Diane also blogs at Journeys and can be found on Twitter as dmcordell. Click here to read more of Diane’s posts.
“Is That a Plug Tree?” by B. Cummin
“IMG_7185″ by eyeliam













