Sizzling Summer Family Fun

Hey families! It’s Broc, the MA SNAP-Ed mascot here with another special blog for you. We have waited all year for the heat of summer to warm our faces. With kids out of school and full of energy, parents may wonder how to keep them active and engaged. My favorite thing is to go outside and safely enjoy the sun, the balmy breeze, and the sounds of summer. Read on for some ideas to stay physically active and to keep learning while on summer break.

Get Outside!

Try a New Park

Before you go anywhere, lather your family in sunscreen, pack nutritious snacks, and fill up all the water bottles. You are now ready for a day trip to a local state park to get walking, swimming, or climbing on the jungle gym. Keep your kids engaged by preparing an “I Spy” checklist specific to where you go. For example, if you are hiking through a forest, have your children look for butterflies, mushrooms, berries, ferns, or rocks the size of their hands. Try the newest activity on the MA SNAP-Ed website—Summer Bucket List. This printable sheet offers plenty of physical activities and summertime tasks to do as a family. If you are not sure where to go, here are a few local park ideas:

North: Amesbury/Salisbury Rail Trail
South: Pilgrim Park and Trail, Plymouth
East: Frog Pond & Playground, Boston Commons Free yoga on Thursdays!
West: Mount Greylock State Reservation
Central: Doyle Community Park, Leominster

Find Free Activities

There are plenty of ways to participate in events or activities across the state with free or reduced-price admission. Check out The Trustees or sign up for a library card in your town to access these discounts. Most libraries offer local and regional passes for museums, parking at state parks, aquariums, zoos, and gardens. Check your local library for their specific procedures and policies around utilizing these passes. You can also use your EBT card to enjoy other no or low-cost activities. Check out the EBT Card to Culture page for more details.

Additionally, many Massachusetts farms offer animal viewing and feeding during the summer. While visiting, kids can help you stock up on local fruit and vegetables, especially if they are one of the farms that accepts HIP. Check out which farms participate using DTAFinder. Here are just few farms that offer free educational opportunities:

Green Hill Park Farm, Worcester
Parlee Farms, Tyngsborough
Great Brook Farm, Carlisle
Chip-In Farm, Bedford

At Home Adventures

It occasionally may be too hot to safely play outside or it may be raining. There are still plenty of ways to stay active indoors. We have ideas for kids of all ages.

Infants

Tummy Time: Do some floor exercises with your baby, like sit ups, knee bends, and toe taps.
Living Room Dance Party: Bring in the whole family for this. Babies love to watch older siblings dance to their favorite songs.
Sensory Bins: Fill any sort of bin with rice or beans and set it on a low table; this encourages babies to pull up and stand at a table while reaching for and exploring new tactile objects.

Toddlers

Soft Obstacle Course: Offer a series of tasks, such as rolling over a pillow, climbing over a cushion tower, balancing on a tape line, tossing stuffed animals into a laundry basket. Be creative—toddlers love to run, jump, and roll!
Tea Party: Design your own invites, bake tea biscuits, and pretend to mix up some “tea” using water or milk. Once that is ready, set the table and serve the snacks to neighborhood friends or teddy bears.

Preschoolers and Older

Dig for Treasures: Fill a bin with oats, cornmeal, or actual dirt from outside and let your child dig around to discover little surprises. They can be figurines, pom poms, cars, or other small toys.
Fruit and Vegetable Charades: Write down a bunch of fruits and vegetables on strips of paper. Have everyone pull a strip randomly from a hat. Each person takes a turn acting out the fruit or vegetable for everyone else to guess.
Bubble Wrap Hopscotch: Instead of using chalk outside, write numbers on paper and stick the numbers to bubble wrap. Tape the bubble wrap to the floor and hop from number to number while popping the bubbles.
Broc Yoga: Try out different stretches as demonstrated by me!

Make-At-Home Summer Treats

Another way to keep kids busy indoors is to cook with them. If you are nervous about that, give your child simple tasks. They can locate the strawberries in the refrigerator, find the largest spoon in the drawer, or gather up bowls for mixing. Depending on your comfort level, let them complete steps of the recipe as you deem appropriate. Try out one of these tasty, kid-friendly, summer recipes: