There are plenty of outdoor activities for kids to do in April. Here are some of them.
Spring is in the air and kids everywhere are ready to welcome long sunny days! After months of being cooped up inside and longing for the temperatures to warm up, their wait is officially over, and now it’s time to get outside and have some fun.
Given that obesity is one of the biggest problems of today’s childhood, spring provides us with lots of opportunities to tackle this issue. Parents should recall the moments from their childhood, spent in the magical world of play, and then encourage their children to go outside and have fun. They will be physically active, happy and, most importantly, healthy. There are plenty of fun things we can do with them that don’t involve the TV, video games, or anything else that takes place in the confines of our homes. They can fly a kite on a windy day, play hide and seek, have fun with marbles and other games…
There are plenty of outdoor activities for kids to do in April. Here are some of them:
1. Tag Game
A group of players (two or more) decide who is going to be “it”, often using a counting-out game such as eeny, meeny, miny, moe. The player selected to be “it” then chases the others, attempting to get close enough to “tag” one of them (touching them with a hand) while the others try to escape. A tag makes the tagged player “it” – in some variations, the previous “it” is no longer “it” and the game can continue indefinitely, (also, there is base, where the players who are not it can stay while the other cannot tag them and the ones who are not it are required to say “base” or else it is not official) while in others, both players remain “it” and the game ends when all players have become “it”. There is no set rule on when to end but it is a good idea to set a time limit before players become exhausted or disinterested in continuing the game. The younger the players, the shorter the game of tag should be.
2. Dodgeball
Players are divided into two equal teams. The playing area is a big rectangle, divided in half. Each team gets one half. All but one player from each team starts in that team’s half. The extra player starts outside the rectangle, behind the other team’s side. Thus, there is one player from the other team behind each team. The point is to try to hit a player from the other side. Any player who is hit must go to the outside, joining the original “extra” player from his side. The outside players can also try to hit people, but they must be behind the back edge of the rectangle. If an “outside” player hits someone, he gets to go back in for his side. Last team with any players “in” wins. The interesting thing is that all players are always active, and the “in” players spend a lot of time running forward and backward.
3. Blindman’s Buff
To play the game of blindman’s buff, one player is blindfolded and then disoriented by being spun around several times. The other players, who are not blindfolded, amuse themselves by calling out to the “blind man” and dodging away from him. A player touched or caught by the blind man takes on the blindfold, although sometimes the blind man must guess the identity of his captive before the blindfold is removed. If the guess is wrong, the captive is released and the game continues.
4. French Skipping
French skipping is popular girls’ game. The equipment for this game is a long piece of elastic around two meters or six feet long, the two ends knotted together to make a loop. Two girls step inside the loop stretching it tight at their ankles in the first instance. The skipper then executes certain hops and jumps using the elastic in various ways. When she finishes the elastic is raised to knees, thighs and waist, until she makes a mistake, when she replaces one of ‘enders’.
5. Frisbee
Frisbee is a great outdoor game for children. The point is to catch a Frisbee before it falls on the ground. Kids can spend several hours of running back and forth and have fun at the same time.
Apart from these games, children can also play hopscotch or games with a skipping rope. Flying a kite is great fun on a windy day, too. There are plenty of things for kids to do outdoors such as walking, exploring nature, or playing with a pet dog. The whole family can go on a picnic and spend enjoyable time together.
Play helps children to improve social communication with peers and teaches them to respect rules and authorities. They also learn to cope with different situations and find their place in the group. Moreover, they are inspired to engage in sports. They learn about fair play and team spirit while playing with other kids, but also how to control their emotions, especially anger and how to be socially responsible.
We believe there is no greater thing for parents than to see their little ones happy and smiling. While playing they are excited, and they constantly laugh.
Having in mind the importance of play, Nicholas of Cusa once wrote:
Both the bowling-ball and its movement proceed from the intelligence. For no beast makes a bowling-ball and makes it move toward a goal. Therefore, you see that these works of man are done by means of a power that surpasses the powers of other animals of this world.
Isn’t play exactly that – something special, something fantastic and something that children understand in the right way?! All they need to do to step into the perfect world, full of dreams and imagination is to play.
Spring has arrived and children are looking forward to spending wonderful time and having fun with their friends outside, playing with a ball, marbles, Frisbee, skipping rope…
