My family lives in central North Carolina. The American South is known for its heat and humidity, and our home town is certainly no exception. Just this week, the coolest temperature has been 84 degrees, with almost 100% humidity. We love to be outdoors, but it’s not very pleasant these days. We’ve had to get a little creative when trying to find entertainment.
1. Buy a big enough kiddie pool you can all fit in!
Who says just because you’re a parent and an adult, you can’t have fun too? And while you may feel a little silly getting in a kiddie pool, your kids are going to love it, and you’ll cool off. There are a number of inflatable “family pools” on the market. This one is a H2O Go! Lagoon Family Pool from Dollar General. It was $25 and is surprisingly durable and large for the price. There are a number of family sized inflatable pools available at Target, Big Lots and Walmart for $20 to $50. Our pool easily fits my husband and I and both our kids. It’s also deep enough that the water comes up to my ribs when I sit in it.
2. Play in the sprinkler!
We have an agricultural sprinkler we use for watering our vegetable garden, but we also have this:
My kids love playing in the water and running and turning cartwheels through the sprinkler. It’s a blast and it waters our yard, too 🙂
3. Have a movie day
Maybe water play isn’t your thing. Visit a local movie theatre, or rent or buy a few movies and have a movie day at home. Pop popcorn, take turns manning the remote, and enjoy the air conditioning.
4. Visit a museum
If you live near any museums, visit them when the weather is too hot to be outside. If you have museums within an hour drive, make a day trip of it and make the drive.
5. Take a class at an art gallery or museum
We have a sizable population of artists in our community, and all sorts of art galleries. Sometimes these galleries offer classes or camps for kids. If you don’t have galleries or artists, check with your local recreation department, or your local library. They often carry a list of summer activities for kids.
6. Make popsicles.
Did you know you can make your own popsicles? Popsicle molds are inexpensive and you can really get creative with them. You can find them almost anywhere, but we really love this one from Amazon:
We’ve put yogurt into our popsicle molds. We’ve put ice cream into our molds. We have even put water mixed with those Crystal Light packs. Then, you just pop them into the freezer for 12 hours and you’ve got yourself some popsicles.
I hope you have enjoyed this list for beating the heat! Stay cool and have fun!
I hope you
Leave a Reply