MSNative Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 My goal for this summer is to go close to screen free. It won't totally work since they are taking some online classes but other than school I'd like to encourage lots of old school play. We have and love our trampoline. Can we share some ideas for fun, active games or equipment for kids and teens? What are some successes at your home? I'll start the list with tetherball. We got a set two years ago and it's still a hit. Water guns and light strike guns are also huge with my boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Target usually has nice sports sets at this time of year -- volleyball, badminton, bocce, croquet. The President's Challenge is something we did years ago. You can keep track of your dc activity hours and works towards various medals. Now my kids are older, they enjoy strength training, yoga, etc. Teens may be independent enough to do distance running themselves, or cycling. For all the above, we have found that using a book or online program helps with motivation. We liked the book, 7 Weeks to 100 Push Ups, although the title was way optimistic, lol. There is a challenge section and an easy start section. Similar books are available for other exercises. I like them because they have a number of variations. There are also good online programs. The Runners Handbook is another great resource. Swimming, obviously, if you can. My teens are not crazy about the usual backyard games, but they like basketball at local school playground, wherever there is a court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Here's something very simple. Chinese jump rope. I did it for hours with my friend. Officially, you need three people, but sometimes we set up with a chair. If I was alone, 2 chairs. You don't have to buy something marketed as a "chinese jump rope" you can get a length of elastic band. I don't remember boys playing, but I played it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Ultimate frisbee, kick ball, dodge ball, crack the whip, red rover if you have a large enough group. Four square and jump rope games are fun too and you can do those with fewer participants. We do a lot of hiking and swimming in the summer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Whiffle ball Hiking Swimming Jump rope Dodgeball Kick ball Baseball Play equipment we have collected over the years that my kids use all the time: Climbing dome Seesaw Slide Trampoline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeAndTheBoys Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 water play. My boys are fairly old, but we buy a new $15 plastic pool from walmart every summer and they splash around in it. And lots of foam noodles from dollar tree--those are fun in the pool as well as to whack each other in the yard. We have a croquet set from the thrift shop--those hammers are good for all sorts of things! Chalk. Nerf guns. Shovels and a corner of the yard that they can dig holes to China all day long. Sand and water table. Little tikes outdoor plastic roller coaster (so fun to see what the 11 and 9 year old set up--usually something flying off the patio). Their own patch of garden. All kinds of balls, bats, frisbees--soccer, football, wiffle balls. Lots of those pop-ice things in the freezer--keeps lots of neighborhood kids around! Paper airplanes (we have a couple of books and they get really caught up in them sometimes). I think my boys could stay outside all day entertaining themselves-- We have a swingset that is wearing out--one of the big wooden ones with a fort and stuff. They still like to sit on the swing and go across the monkey bars, so we may tear it down after this summer and just put up a couple of swings and monkey bars-- Tether ball is cool--we need to look into that :) Bocce (lawn bowling). Badmitton. Horseshoes. betsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 My guys love Bocci Ball and Ladder Golf (we built our own of the latter so it would last - the cheap sets don't). They also love target shooting with BB guns and arrows/archery. Youngest has sort of combined Bocci Ball with archery and will shoot arrows at a tennis ball he tosses out in the field. In their younger days they built forts from branches/sticks and enjoyed them. Frisbees are always good too. We have a Croquet set, but since our field/lawn isn't nice and flat/level - it has clumps of larger grass and dips, etc, they took to calling the game "Crocket" feeling it wasn't quite "Croquet" as it was meant to be. ;) It gives it a nice "home-game" feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I got a yflicker for dd9 that she really enjoys. It was kind of pricey but she is getting my money's worth out of it. I borrow it sometimes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 good quality hoppity ball http://www.amazon.com/Gymnic-Hop-66-Hop-Ball-Blue/dp/B00008J1AY/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1398964130&sr=8-9&keywords=hoppity+ball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aug17girl Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 My kids are younger. Water squirters like these from the dollar store are popular. http://www.kmart.com.au/product/water-squirter/122464 They are like a giant syringe. Even very little kids can fill them themselves and they shoot a lot of water at once. Have fewer parts so they break less often than cheap water guns (also good for people who don't like toy guns). We also have adjustable length aluminium handled golf clubs that get a lot of use. The kids design their own mini golf courses in the back yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Got my soccer kid the Pugg 6' portable soccer goals last year from Amazon. They get a lot of use. http://www.amazon.com/PUGG-Footer-Portable-Training-Boxed/dp/B001H31ULM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398964735&sr=8-1&keywords=pugg+soccer+goals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003QBGEXC/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1398990174&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70 I wish this spinner could hold my weight--my son and his friends love it! We hung ours under a shady tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Pogo stick! A good one. Keeps my boys entertained for quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 We love our Swingball set (similar to tetherball but with a tennis ball and paddles). We also have a soccer net and horseshoes that the kids sometimes play with. I think this summer we'll invest in a cornhole set and a ladder golf set.... (my parents have cornhole for when we go camping and the kids LOVE it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 We installed a basketball hoop a few years ago. It was, by far, the best activity/toy investment we have ever made. It was expensive (around $1000 or so), but gets used every.single.day by our kids and all of the neighbor kids (if not raining). Now that it's nice out and staying light later, they shoot hoops until we drag them back in for bed. It still looks brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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