7 Fun Summer Activities to Do While Social Distancing
Summer is a great time of year to spend time with family. Kids are out of school and there is more time to engage in fun outdoor activities. Summer 2020 is going to be completely different from the summers we remember.
The current pandemic has been difficult for many of us and it can be especially difficult for children with autism. Routines have shifted and each member of your family might be feeling a little overwhelmed. That doesn’t mean your family can’t have fun this summer! Aside from traditional summer activities, we have compiled a list of 7 fun activities to do while social distancing!
Go For a Hike!
Hikes are a great family activity! It also gives everyone a chance to get out for a bit after being cooped up for so long! A hike can provide auditory, visual, tactile, smell, and spiritual lifts. Hiking can expose your child to different bird sounds and the sound of the wind through the leaves. They can identify different plants and maybe even keep a hiking journal to draw and write what they see. Let them touch the rocks and compare textures. Ask them what they smell? Are they sweet smells, tart, woodsy?
If you’ve been hiking before, you understand that taking a little bit of time in nature, away from technology and from the day to day, can certainly change a person’s mood. In the summer, morning and evening hikes are best in order to avoid the heat. Hikes that follow a creek or waterfall provide the best sensory experiences.
2.What’s Cookin’?
A great activity to try is cooking as a family! Start with figuring out what your kids would like to make. Or maybe, just what they would eat! Maybe they are interested in making a cake or a smoothie. Or maybe they want to help plan a special lunch or a yummy breakfast.
Together, you can create a shopping list and go hunting for your ingredients. Allow your kid’s opportunities to participate by allowing them to measure and mix the ingredients. They can be the head chef and you the sous chef. This kind of activity can boost their confidence as well as work on so many different skills outside of the kitchen.
A fun bonus activity would be to make chefs hats together!
3. Create a Summer Scavenger Hunt!
Who doesn’t love a fun scavenger hunt? Let your child transform into a pirate and hide the “precious treasure”. Allow them to create an entire story based around an object, leave clues around the house, make a fun treasure map, and write directions of where to find the “pirate's booty”. Arg!
You can also create a sensory scavenger hunt. See an example below!
Find something…
To climb
To play catch with
To crawl under
That is heavy
That is smooth
That is squishy
To jump over
To walk across
To balance on your head
To use as a drum
That is rough
That is soft
That is hard
4. Family Game Night!
Game nights are fun at any time of the year! During this season, they can allow your entire family to forget about the pandemic and even get to know each other in a fun, new way. Not only do board games help in your child's development, but they are also another great way to be silly with your family!
Some family-friendly games include Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Hi-Ho Cherry-o, Battleship, and the classic, Go Fish!
5. Splishing and Splashing!
We love summer rains and well, who doesn’t? During the rain, there is so much going on around us and we can use all five of our senses. With hearing the rainfall, smelling the rain hit the hot ground, seeing the flow of the water down the streets, tasting the fresh raindrops, and the feeling of wet clothes or soaked hair. It's a wonderful sensory activity and a great way to cool down!
6. Recycled Art Projects
Those toilet paper rolls, bottle tabs, extra tissue paper, and whatever little nick nacks you find around the house can become a great masterpiece! Have fun by creating something new, creating a theme, or even just going with the flow!
If your child enjoys music, we recommend adding some fun background music. Maybe even spend a few minutes dancing around to get some inspiration for your art projects!
Special Mom Advocate has a HUGE list of wonderful art projects the whole family can enjoy! All of the projects are categorized by senses which makes it easy to find something that your child would love. Check out the list and let us know what you end up doing!
7. Movie Night
Oh how we miss the movie theaters! You can create a movie theater at home and even make it into a big event! We recommend a few days before the big event to decide on a great movie that everyone loves. Then, leading up to the event, you and your child can create movie posters to “advertise” the movie night throughout the house. You can make tickets that will be required in order to get into the movie and “sell them” to family members. On the day of, plan to make a snack bar with goodies that moviegoers would enjoy.
Just a tip! When choosing a movie, remember that some movies are great for one child while terrifying for another. If you are not quite sure about a new release movie or even a classic check out Common Sense Media. They have great descriptions of movies and ratings. Now cuddle up and enjoy your feature presentation!
Summer used to be all about trips to the beach, amusement parks, fun in the sun, and summer camp. Even though your child may miss their regularly scheduled summer activities, this unique season doesn’t have to take away all of the fun! We are confident with a little imagination, but using some ideas from this blog post, you and your family will have a fun summer and create lasting memories together!
For more ideas of fun activities to do together as a family, check us out on Pinterest!
