Three Family Fun Activities For The At-Home Covid-19 Summer

We’re all probably in a similar boat—at home, and trying to find fun things to do with our kiddos this summer.  There are so many ideas out there, and I’m so grateful for all of the sharing on social media of the myriad ways we can have fun and make this experience a positive one for our littles.  As parents, we have so much to worry about right now, most of which we shield from our children.  As we all do our part by staying at home to stop the spread, a silver lining for many is the increased family time, and the hope that our kids will look back and remember this time as one of family dinners, game nights, and exploring new activities at home.

Here are three fun things we did today that eased our bodies and minds, and stimulated our creativity and taste buds!

1.  Family Meditation

I have a 3 ½ year old and a 6-year old, so our family meditation sessions are brief, and I’m pretty sure my littlest keeps her eyes open and watches us, but it’s still a wonderful opportunity to sit outside on these beautiful summer days, connect with our breathing, and remind ourselves to appreciate the quiet moments.  We love using the “meditate with kids” meditations on Headspace.  They are just a few short minutes, so they’re appropriate for the littlest of littles, and they guide the family through breathing and visualization, which are such valuable skills to teach our kiddos at a young age.  Headspace is currently offering a free trial that includes certain meditations, sleep, and movement exercises to support people through covid-19 (check out https://www.headspace.com/covid-19).  Check it out!

2.  Healthy Homemade Popsicles

Homemade popsicles help us to beat the heat, and are an uberhealthy alternative to many of the store-bought popsicles with loads of added sugar.  And they couldn’t be easier!  There are endless recipes for homemade popsicles, but we usually just use what we have at the moment.  Today, that was 2 cups of organic frozen fruit blends (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana, mango, pineapple, and cranberries), and 2/3 of a cup of organic orange juice (no added sugar).  Blend it up and voila! You could also add low or no-sugar yogurt for a creamy popsicle, or some fresh herbs like mint for a little flair! We have these adorable bunny popsicle molds (check them out here) that are bpa-free, and which are flat (unlike many of the vertical molds), so they’re easy to store in a full freezer.  Simply scoop the blend into the molds, insert popsicle sticks, and freeze!  And if you make them in the morning, they’ll be frozen by the time you need some relief from the late afternoon heat!  My kiddos are so excited to eat them, and I love that they’re getting “treats” that are made from organic, whole fruits and no added sugar.  And here are some other delish recipe ideas for when you’re feeling fancier!

3.  Build a Birdhouse!

I’m always looking for inexpensive but unique ways to stimulate my kids’ creativity.  In the spring and summer, we see so many animals, bugs, lizards (how cute are their little pushups?!), tadpoles turning into frogs, butterflies, and birds.  In our home, we love animals, and I think it’s fun to leverage that and create learning opportunities.  So I found these adorable birdhouses for the kiddos to paint and assemble (grab them here!).  They teach the kids how to use and have fun with paint (learning how to mix colors to create new ones!), and how to handle a kid-friendly hammer and nails to build something.  Awesome!  We painted them yesterday, and are assembling them today, so it’s also a bonus lesson in patience.  And we will get to (hopefully!) see the birds who make them home, and can look up and learn all about our local bird species.  So much learning and fun from an easy little activity!

I hope a couple of these ideas resonate with you, and that you and yours are staying safe, healthy, and enjoying this time together.  And please share your own at-home summer fun ideas!