What Have You Done to Really Wow Your Kids (And Their Firends) Lately?

Scavenger hunts! That would be a lot of fun for all ages.

Ice cream for dinner

Get some walkie talkies, and go to the park where there are trees and such. Split up into 2 groups (one parent each team) and play hide and seek. One group hides and the other tries to find them. It is a lot of fun.

Lazer tag is another good one if there is a place near you.

Go bowling!

Board games with fun prizes for who wins. Could do a big prize for the winner, and smaller prizes for the rest so no one feels left out.

Get a box, and have everyone help decorate it, then have each write what they would want for dinner if they could choose anything. Put it in the box and someone different gets to choose each night.

OK, I can't take credit for this, and you have to come up with the actual things to do, but...

A friend of my created a Kid-terest board for her family for the summer. The kids can look at all the ideas of things they could do and "pin" it.

I thought that was a cool idea.

M

i would recommend a book from the libary about 'wilderness' crafts. special little projects you can work with in an afternoon or evening, that gets them looking at the special things that already surround them.

this may sound a little more simplistic than what you are looking for, but when you consider each craft could be a special outing in itself, you may think differently. For instance, we recently did branch weaving. we don't have any trees in our yard, so we went to the local forest to collect good twigs/branches. the kids had more fun scavenging for the perfect stick we could have stopped right there. but we went home, used my scrap yarn sack and wove some cool yet useless branches. sand candles (using old candles from my moms house) was a big hit as well.

since then, my son has really gotten into honing his 'survial' skills and learning how to build lean toos, small traps, etc. there are tons of books about that as well. have you read the "Hatchet" books with them? my son was very excited to try to replicate stuff we read in that book! "My Side of the Mountain" was another good one.

on a similar note, try making your own playdough, slime, and moonsands. teach them how to dye sand to make inexpensive sand layered bottles. that could translate into a trip to the beach to collect sand and shells/rocks.

don't forget about fishing too!

Go old school...

Some of my favourite memories are playing hide and seek in the dark - black out a big room or your basement and try to keep it safe.

Wake them up at 2am to watch the stars - especially when there's a meteor shower.

Camp in the back yard.

Ice cream for dinner is classic

Let them "paint" themselves with pudding (you can add food colouring to vanilla to make lots of colours) outside and then hose them off.

I guess I can't think of anything "big" but you can do some things to make movie night more fun - maybe make some popcorn, turn off all the lights, grab favorite pillows and blankets, stuff like that.

Sprinkler - keeps them sort of contained to the area the water can reach.

We have a children's amusement park by us, maybe you have something like that too within driving distance....

How about the local pool - at 5+ years old they should be able to handle themselves in the water, right? only you know that one.

We rollerskate, ride bikes etc.

Let everyone pack their lunch and some drinks in a cooler and go to a larger park in your area, maybe a bit further away so it feels like you are "going" somewhere new.

Check your park district or towns recreation site (or a neighboring towns) and go to a neighborhood park you haven't been to yet.

At the beginning of summer, the kids played in the sprinkler, had ice cream bars for a snack, while we cooked out on the grill, then we made smores on the warm grill. My daughter told me it was the best day ever!

You could buy a bunch of cheap Nerf guns, and have a nerf war indoors! :) Just move the stuff that is easily knocked over/breakable, and go to town with them. You could even bust out your makeup and give them war paint. (mabe pick up some safety glasses too, in case of head shots...)

OR, you could use PVC pipe to make them some mini marshmallow shooters! They are VERY cheap and easy to make. Send them outside (you can join in as well...) and they can have a mini-marshmallow war instead. (I have 9 brothers... War is a popular game. lol.)

This link tells you how to make the marshmallow shooter, along with safety goggles out of 2-liter pop bottles. :)

http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/05/make-miniature-marshma...

There is horseback riding and even working on a farm if you are friends with someone.

Age 5-11? I wasn't the one to suggest things to the 5 kids - they came up with stuff themselves. The oldest boy loved dribbling the basketball and shooting hoops outside, and also building things. We got him electronic kits that kept him busy for over a month building a robot and a vehicle and a radio. But the rest made villages inside with sheets, umbrellas, overturned chairs, and even wooden blocks that turned into a "campfire". The dog at one point was a reindeer, at another time was an alaskan dogsled puller, at another time a horse pulling an old-fashioned buggy, etc. My husband always wanted stuff put away each night, but I found if we left it all up, one game could continue for days!

The old board-game of "Life" was full of pretending and there was much laughter.

I see a big difference between the TV-watching, video-game playing kids, and the non ones.

Oh, and then there are books!

And catching fire flies in the evenings, and caterpillars and then watching them spin cocoons, etc. We went on nature walks daily.

And we got the kids "creek shoes" and they caught stuff in the creek and they put some into a tank. That could keep them busy for days.

My husband and his dad built the kids a playhouse and even rigged it with electricity we could connect or disconnect. They spent some nights out there in it, and we used a baby monitor. The play house was up high so underneath it we could put a big hammock.

The kids helped with gardening and we grew vegetables, so early every morning the ones who liked that (the two younger ones) helped in the garden.

Doesn't sound too "wow"? By the time they were teens, their friends were quite envious and "wowed."

we have had such a bad heat wave here that we haven't been able to enjoy much of our normal outdoor activities (except our weekly trip to grandma's pool) so i did the vinegar/baking soda thing one saturday - i covered a cookie sheet with baking soda, and took several bowls of vinegar and dyed them different colors with food coloring, and gave him a spoon. it didn't last long (alas...) but i did get super big kudos. actually my 5 year old said, "this was a great project mom, YOU always have the best ideas for projects!!" lol. i have to give the accolades to pinterest :) check it out if you haven't there are tons of ideas on there...

We went to a farm and picked raspberries, then visited the farms petting zoo. We went mini-golfing, go-carting and to bumper boats. We went bowling. We went to the zoo. We go swimming at the Y and different city pools I've taken them to indoor play structures, and we visit different playgrounds. We've been to a baseball game. We drop by the library once a week. I take them to city drop-in programs at the community club. Today we are going to a water slide park. We have three camping trips planned in the next two weeks. We'll be going to the museum. We have tickets to a small amusement park. I bought a Groupon for zip-lining. We'll probably go to the movies once. The last week of summer holidays the boys and I are going to a family camp. At the end of the season we will visit a corn-maze. We stay pretty busy. I use coupons for most of our activities, and take advantage of all the free activities offered.

I'm pretty cheap in general so I don't like spending money on "fun" especially when it comes to kids!
My kids loved loved loved building forts. All you need is lots of cardboard and duct tape. They can do it inside or out. Blankets, sheets and towels make it more cozy and fun (but more laundry for you, I know.)
I always collected boxes/cardboard from big box stores like Best Buy, Costco, Fry's, etc, they are pretty happy to give it away. The bigger the boxes the better! Give the kids some paint and/or markers to decorate their "houses" and they will be happy for hours :)

Seriously, my kids' favorite thing is when I run around with them outside--playing tag, or kicking the soccer ball around at the park (and racing them to get to it first). Or if I race my son home while pushing the double-jogger. My mom NEVER played with us (I am the middle of 5 kids). It would have been awesome if she did!

Do you ever take them to a lake to swim? Build a campfire in the backyard and to Smores? Make campfire pies for dinner? Help them put on a talent show in the yard?

Can you make an outdoor theater in the back yard?
Place a TV out there and show a movie.. let them sit on blankets, serve popcorn, hotdogs and lemonade.

On Pinterest I saw an idea where you have the kids make "cars" our of Cardboard boxes.. They could each design their own and use them for the drive in. Even inside.

http://www.tipjunkie.com/summer-activities-for-the-kids/

We used to pick up giant Refrigerator boxes with tape and let them build a maze to crawl through with flashlights. You tape them side by side then cut crawl holes in there so they can crawl through them. ..

horseback riding.... they will love it.

Let's see so far this vacation I've taken my children aged 8 and 5 to various free in the park events such as concerts, tastings, & fairs. Yes, I've had to pay for certain things that I chose to however most of the activities were free as was the food more often than not. Not to mention I always bring a messenger bag full of all kinds of food and extras for the kids.

I also took my children swimming for their first time in an in-ground pool. I realize this isn't a big thing to most people but my children are water kids. I've made visiting the library a huge part of our summer and my eldest is involved in the summer reading program. We're looking into local clean up activities we can do in our community.

I honestly have no clue what your children would enjoy or what their interests are but I'm just throwing out what we've done so far this summer.

Get a summer pass for swimming at the local pool. Go to the Park and Rec center and join their crafting activities and see what else they have going on.

Our local movie theater during the summer has movies for $1 they are older ones but kids love them. Another theater has movie, popcorn and small pop for $2. Maybe something around you has that. I figure if you have to travel 30mins, then bring a lunch or something in the car in a cooler and have a picnic afterwards. Picnics are good, pick new places, go to parks. Always have a frisbee, ball or something like that in the car so they can play.
Have them go to a parking lot and draw pictures with sidewalk chalk, do you have a dollar store around there, get it there or buy at the end of the season. make your own bubbles and play catch with the bubbles.. I need some more ideas as well! Thanks for asking the question.
What about a walk to discover what is in the grass, on the beach, in town.
Make your own icecream, like this: http://crafts.kaboose.com/ice-cream-in-a-bag.html/