As sunny days and warmth are heating up our summer, it’s no secret moms and dads around the globe are spending more and more time at home these days.

Children and families everywhere remain challenged more than ever before with trying to find healthy balances between texting, technology-based apps, social media, YouTube, Netflix, Instagram, TikTok, among other things. And since new technology is always surfacing, many of the young kids growing up today are spending way too much time on the couch.

Here at Happy Camper Live, we’ve put together a few helpful tips and tricks. Indeed, there are 10 Creative Tactics to Get Kids Off the Couch this Summer 2020

It starts with you, mom and dad. Encourage your kids to stay active with both mental and physical exercises, and it will become an unbreakable healthy habit they will take into adulthood.

 

They Will Love These 10 Creative Tactics to Get Kids
Off the Couch this Summer 2020

 

#1 – Hour-by-Hour Trade-Offs

Kids are so much more sedentary since just a decade ago, am I right? Make a trade-off by exchanging the number of hours they are behind the screen for a different kind of activity.

For example, trade-off one hour of smartphone and other technology gadgets for:

• An hour actively running with the dog.
• A 60-Minute Scavenger hunt with an older sibling.
• Playing a Hopscotch game with painter’s tape or interlocking mats for exactly one hour.
• Better yet, an hour of chores!

 

#2 – Try The Worlds #1 Virtual Summer Camp

Our Happy Camper Live Virtual Summer Camp is packed to the rim with hundreds of activities. You can truly feel what it’s like to go to summer camp with your friends – but virtually.

Allison Miller, Director at Happy Camper Live, is the brainchild behind the world’s best camp staff. She has transformed the lives of more than 10K campers with her 20+ years of experience as owner and operator of the country’s most popular summer camps.

 

#3 – Plan the Day

Most pre-pandemic structures are gone right now, yet it is important to keep a routine going. Routines are important in establishing a sense of security. Help your kids adjust by implementing the following into your lives:

Coordinate a calendar packed full of structured rules, meals, snacks, fun activities, chores, down-time, and even excursions. Although we are in a pandemic, make use of those walking trails that are open in your local area. Go rock collecting. Plant some flowers. Get out in nature and stay inventive.

Bear In Mind: Routines decrease anxiety and stress in children. Schedules help kids to:

• Cooperate
• Have Something to Look Forward to
• Connect With You.
• Maintain Stability
• Understand Expectations

 

#4 – Play Board Games With Your Child

The best board games for families with young kids in 2020 are:

• Twister
• Charades
• Connect 4
• Guess Who
• Disney’s Eye Found It!

 

#5 – Learn Spanish (or another language!)

Hop off that couch and learn a new language. Children are sponges and can learn so quickly. There are online services such as Rosetta Stone and Duolingo that offer the opportunity to learn at least 24 different languages.

 

#6 – Take an Online Cooking Class

Take that Spanish language to a new level and learn how to make Mexican Grilled cheese.

 

#7 – Tour a National Park or Museum – Virtually

There are healthy ways to have screen time. National Parks (and museums) are more fun to visit in person, of course, there are some that offer virtual tours. Get off that couch and sit outside with your laptop to virtually vist:

• Yellowstone National Park
• Hawaiik Volcanoes National Park
• Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida
• The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
• You could even attend a Virtual Baseball Camp.

 

#8 – Attempt a New Recipe

Grab a brand new kids cookbook off Amazon and pick one recipe weekly that the entire family can enjoy making together.

 

#9 – Start a Bucket List Conversation

Get your kid off the couch by taking a walk and encouraging a conversation about fun places the family can visit together after the pandemic. For example:

• Theme Parks
• All-Inclusive Resorts
• Grand Canyon National Park

 

#10 – Freeze Dance

Pick a rockin’ song and crank the music. Only dance when the music plays and freeze when it stops. The one with the silliest pose wins a prize.