It is common for spring and summer weather to cause Chicago residents, including kids and parents, to retreat inside. Storms and blistering heat are a norm in the Windy City during both of these seasons. But just because you’re inside doesn’t mean that being indoors can’t be both fun and educational.
1) Decorating
Having the kids inside during the spring or summer can be fun. One activity or idea is to have the kids decorate. One of the nation’s biggest holidays, the Fourth of July, is during the summer and kids can help decorate the house in red, white and blue for this patriotic holiday. Take your kids with you to purchase summertime decor from places such as Pier 1, Hobby Lobby or even general merchandise stores such as Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Here, kids can pick out some of their favorite decorations and help assemble and decorate the house. It’s a great way to get the kids involved and also keep your house looking lovely for the new seasons.
Gardening may seem like an outdoor activity, but it can easily start inside on a stormy day. Planting seeds will definitely entertain kids. It’ll allow them to get a little messy with dirt, but also teach them the basics of planting vegetables or flowers. Additionally, kids will love seeing their seedlings grow into plants throughout the whole summer. What’s even better for parents is that it is an easy way to teach kids responsibility, especially since kids should be encouraged to water their plant everyday and make sure it’s getting enough sunlight. Eventually, the plants can be transferred to a garden, which will provide another activity for kids on a nice spring or summer day.
The last thing many kids are thinking about during the summer is learning. However, you can still incorporate learning into simple indoor activities during the summer. Educational games will keep kids’ learning skills sharp throughout the entire summer and by buying or borrowing challenging games for kids to play, it may even give them a headsup when returning to school. EducationalLearningGames.com has tons of games, puzzles, and books for kids of many different age groups, anywhere from infants to seniors in high school. Keep in mind that you don’t have to buy games. In fact, many public libraries loan out educational games as well.
4) Fun in the Kitchen
It’s a fact that kids love to make and eat food. A great way to keep them busy is by letting them help prepare easy, delicious, and healthy snacks during the day. Not only will they love eating it, but they will love getting a little messy and then eating it. Some great snack ideas include “ants on a log” (celery with peanut butter and raisins), “bug juice” (their favorite flavor of lemonade or fruit juice/Kool-Aid), and banana toast (whole wheat toast with granola, raisins, a little bit of peanut butter, honey, and sliced bananas.
5) Indoor Camping
One of the best ways to keep the kids excited about being indoors is by letting them set up an indoor campsite. Allow them to use bedsheets and chair to make tents in a designated room of the house and to decorate the inside of their tents with pillows or plants. Also, encourage them to tell ghost stories, eat snacks, and play hide and seek.
