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outside activities for kids
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I am curious what y’all do to keep your kids active outside the home? Not so much sports but clubs, volunteering, ect. I watchbthe duggers and i see how much they do. Could you ladies/ gentelmen share some ideas please.
We do very little. In our country most things are connected to schools, unless you live in a big city. Any private activity such as Kindermusik, is costly. We’ve never had much money or opportunity to do much.
When the weather is right our HS group has swimming in the river. Compared to most HS’ers and all public school children we know, we’re not active outside the home. I used to feel really guilty about it. This is one area where CM’s writing has set me free from a bit of guilt. Due to finances, and my illness, I just can’t run around taking my children all over. Now we live out of town, so there is petrol costs to consider as well. I now consider this quiet, unrushed childhood a blessing to the children.
That said, my children are healthy enough: swim in our pool, run around outdoors, climb trees, go to the beach, swim in the lagoon, roll around with the dogs and climb sand dunes. We try to go for walks when I feel okay.
I try to expose them to all sorts of cultural things, music, art and such in our home, but I am no expert. An older HS teen is about to start giving them speech and drama, I am quite excited.
I am trying to get involved in a volunteer reading program at our local disadvantaged school and my children would like to help.
And then there is church.
And that’s it.
Thank you for starting this topic. We live in western New York and this winter has been brutal, as it has been for much of the US. Cabin fever is seriously here. Our 9 & 11 year Olds can go out & play in the snow. But our 1 & 3 yr Olds get too cold very quickly. A friend suggested bringing a bucket of snow inside to a sink or tub & letting the Littles play in that. But we cannot wait to go outside to kick a ball or make forts or just walk around town & have adventures again! I would also love to hear what you all do for outside time in winter. Thanks!
Our boys are involved in Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts, which keeps them busy with meetings, campouts, hikes, and volunteer opportunities.
Also, three of my kids take TaeKwonDo. There are classes every afternoon, so we are able to choose a couple each week that best fit our schedule.
Finally, our homeschool co-op that started two years ago gives us opportunities for field trips and some service projects. This past year we did Operation Christmas Child, we helped to stock a homeless shelter, and we are now collecting used shoes to send to third-world countries.
That sounds busy, but our kids are home every day until at least 4:00, and they only have activities one or two evenings a week. Since school is usually done by 1:00, they get lots of time in the afternoon for free time and playing outside. Now if the weather would just cooperate!
We have a homeschool store that has classes, my dd4.75 does ballet once a week ($20 for 12 weeks! It is an older homeschooled girl that teaches) and we will probably do a lil’ sports class through our city with ds3 this fall.
We do not do a lot out of the house. It is expensive and between church on Saturday nights, Bible study on Thursday mornings and regular grocery shopping and errands we are busy enough.
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of thinking that busy is better. But for us, it is a constant battle to stay UN-busy. All the running around can really take a toll on your health, schoolwork, and the overall peace of your home.
We seem to do best with just one or two things a semester – outside of church. In the winter, we did piano and violin lessons and a monthly 4-H meeting. This spring we will drop 4-H and violin and have piano and baseball for my boys – an ASL class for my daughter. One thing that helps is to consolidate lessons and errands (and grocery shopping, if possible) into one day.
It’s been a looooooong winter! I am just ready for some fun outdoor time and nature walks!
In he Winter months we Ice Skate. Our skating rink is about 30 miles away but we are there a couple times a week. They have free skate everyday except Monday and Thursdays. We joined the figure skating classes here because they can skat longer then the free skate. I also count it as my PE class. LOL. We also DownHill Ski. Kids love that. Next year we are buying a season Pass. We may do this instead of lessons but not sure yet. they all like to ski and skate. We also go tubing and that is free. I need to take the snowmobile though because I don’t like climbing the mountain. 🙂 I can only do it a few times and I am exhausted and end up skating. 🙂 We also go Ice Fishing and usually go to the derbys. That pretty much does it for winter.
For Summer we usually go to the beach and swim. Go hiking out to the waterfalls or go boating, canoe, fishing, or whatever event is going on in the surrounding towns. Those usually are all free. We also go to the firing range and the kids target practice and take lessons. We go to the Library alot. They have reading programs and those are free and they usually get coins for reading and particiapating in their program. We also like festivals. Even if it is just to look to see what they have. Free to look 🙂 It is a good thing the Ice Skating rink is indoors because it is so cold out this week that I am thankful that I dont have to sit outside. 🙂
We also avoid as many outside activities as possible. Our son plays baseball each spring, and our daughter has piano lessons one evening per week for 30 minutes during the public school year. That’s pretty much it as far as the kids’ extracurriculars go. Our family hosts a life group in our home on Thursday evenings, and this is something we all enjoy. Every family brings their kids to play, and the adults gather in the living room for a video teaching and discussion. It’s been really good.
Every evening has a theme for us, so that we always know what we’re doing at home. For instance, Monday is Game Night, Wednesday is Family Movie Night, Thursday is Life Group Night, etc. We leave Friday evenings open so dh and I can have a date night or if the kids spend the night with grandparents. Sundays are truly Sabbath days of rest for us, and we use that day to do a whole lot of nothing. Occasionally, we’ll go over to friends’ house for dinner or something. We also like to get together with friends on Saturdays if possible.
So, we do keep our schedules pretty clear, and we’re not constantly running from one activity to the next. I think it’s very important for all of us to have time to just be.
Blessings,
Lindsey
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