Summer Activities for Kids
Well, it’s almost that time of year again. School is about to let out and for 3 months your kids will be home, staring at the TV and playing Fortnite. Somewhere between staring at the phone, the TV, the Switch, and the iPad you’re gonna realize they need to get off their duff and do something productive.
With obesity running rampant across the nation, the best activities for summer are those that require lots of physical movement. As a parent, it can be difficult to find physical activities that:
- Keep your kid busy AND
- Instill them with values and lessons that can last
Here’s 5 ideas for summer activities you can have your kid do!
- Family Vacation: This probably goes without saying, but a family vacation is a powerful way for your children to spend their time over the summer. My mother used to tell me, and I believe it, that money is best spent on memories and not things. Vacations are a great way to do that.
With the way school is set up, your kids spend less and less time with you. So vacations are a wonderful method to show your kids how much you love them and a terrific excuse to spend extra time together. It’s also a great time to pass on your values and let your kids see how you handle different situations.
- Create a New Habit: From daily exercise, to bible study, to deciding on a summer project, this is another way to teach your child some powerful values as well as get some quality time in with them. The habits can be anything. Maybe you decide to wake up and make breakfast together. Maybe you work on a car together. Maybe you buy some bikes and go riding every so often.
The point is that teaching your kids to create a habit is a very strong lesson that they can take with them through life. - Summer Sports: Baseball/Softball and Soccer are great ways to keep your kids active during the summer. While these activities might not be teaching a lot of values, your kids will learn about hard work, physical fitness, and sportsmanship! Most important… it’ll keep em off the Xbox.
- Reading Challenge: While it’s not the most physically challenging thing, reading is a very important skill. Challenge your kids to a reading contest. Give them one or two assignments every couple weeks and reward them for completing them. It’s best to have rewards that grow as they accomplish more and more difficult books.
Maybe something small like an extra 20mins of game time or a great desert for the first few and then build it up to something big… a trip to Cedar Point or Kalahari. - Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: Martial arts, in general, are a fantastic activity for kids to learn. They are physically challenging, often requiring many hours of practice to master. In addition, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu taught at Top Level Martial Arts is also a powerful character development course.
Your child will learn about goal setting and discipline, Integrity and honor. They will learn to interact differently with people around them. They will stand up for themselves without being hostile or violent. In short, the role Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has on a kid is absolutely profound. This is why school counselors all over the country have been recommending martial arts as an activity for kids for years now.
Better focus, more respect, and the ability to defend themselves physically are all powerful side effects of training in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at Top level Martial Arts.
There you have it! 5 activities that will get your kids off their duff and more physically active this summer. You’ll be thankful that they aren’t getting amazing at Call of Duty and, instead, are choosing to build actual skills that translate to the real world.
If you’re interested in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu training for your kid, just visit our kids’ martial arts website at Top Level Martial Arts and enter your information. We’ll get back to you right away!
