8 Summertime Play Activities for Adults and Kids #PlayfulTrends
Summertime is in full swing, literally, and that means kids are ready for some on-the-go fun and sun. While initially, they want to do nothing but sleep in and enjoy not having to go to school everyday, eventually, they get into a new, summertime routine.
I really think it is a great time for kids and adults to take advantage of some fresh, healthy outdoor fun, even if it is for a short time. Keeping their young minds sharp when they aren’t challenged with daily learning at school is important, but also keeping their bodies active and going is important. Summertime has always been a time of joyful play indoors and out for my family. 
Are you looking for ways to keep your families minds and bodies engaged all summer long? Voice of Play has identified eight of the most exciting PLAYFul trends for 2016, which include outdoor fitness activities, rough-and-tumble play, play for adults, nature play and several others.
My favorite trend is number one, “An Hour a Day!” While most schools are getting away from traditional recess time, what they don’t understand is that a healthy, playful break is really need to help keep kids engaged and active. My family has taken the Play Pledge, which is a personal pledge to spend one hour a day in playful activity. This could be playing at our local park, swimming in the pool, riding our bikes and more. 
While technology has become a daily, integral part of our lives, especially the younger generation, physical activity and play is also something that needs to stay prominent in all of our lives. It keeps our minds sharp, out bodies active and our hearts filled with joy. Be sure to check out the Voice of Play PLAYful Trends and tell me what ideas you have for your family to play this summer.
The Voice of Play is an education and advocacy initiative of the non-profit membership association, IPEMA, formed to educate and promote the benefits of children’s free outdoor play and playgrounds. Through the Voice of Play website and social media properties, IPEMA highlights the scientifically proven physical, social, emotional and cognitive benefits of play.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Voice of Play. All opinions are 100% my own.
I like the idea of an hour a day. We try to get outside with our grandchildren everyday that they are with us even if the weather is a bit chilly. I think it helps them get out some pent up energy.
My grandchildren spend lots of time at the park, pool and going for hikes. Great to have these nice summer days for fun activities.
I am always taking my grandkids to the park but I did something different last week, I packed a picnic for us last week and when we got finished playing at the park I took them to the river and we had a picnic and rested then went swimming, they slept good that night
It’s amazing what just spending quality time with your children will do for their confidence. My daughter is 25 & has a 5 month old but my Sister has two children, my nephew will be a Senior & works, both parents work & my niece is 10. She has been coming over and spending days with me and we have done things like painting, had a cooking day, a day where she went with me as a junior babysitter for my grandson, all things where no $ was needed, no phones were used other than to take her picture for the memory of it & at the end of the day, she doesn’t want to go home. I miss my own daughter being all grown up & having a child of her own and I remind my sister that time flies looking back, she doesn’t get a second chance to spend quality time. =)
Our kids have so much going on in their little lives they need breaks from all the day to day TV, computer and they need time to play in the park or in the pool, they need to enjoy life besides with electronics
Makes me wish my kids were still young and not in the Navy. *sigh*
Love the post ! summer time is fun time to get outdoors with the family and enjoy some playtime, stay active !
This summer my ideas for my grandchildren (two who live with us) are to keep them off screens! This means visits to the local community pool, cheap noon matinees and beach trips.
I also try and take my grandkids to the pool because it is very relaxing and it is great exercise for them and it keeps them off the electronic stuff
I agree ,need to keep kids active ! My kids love to play outside !
Makes me sad that we have to schedule our kid’s time outside. When I was little, I hated to be indoors
I think this is a very important article because so many kids never do any exercise but play with computers and such, thats why there are so many obese kids in our world, I know when I was in school we had 1 hour of PE everyday, this is very important
It is hard to get one of my granddaughters outside. I know the benefits of outdoor activities – thanks for sharing.
Great post and the message is clear…..get outdoors and enjoy the summer!!
The Purple Dino picture is my favorite!
I try to pledge to spend atleast one hour if not more to spend outside, running around, playing in the grass and just having fun with the grandchildren..
My granddaughter goes to the park with us every time we babysit. It’s always a lot of fun
My kids always played outside.They loved making up games to play.
We love taking the grandchildren to the park or the pool during the summer vacation.
i love the ideas presented in the article as they are things my grandkids love and they are free which is important these days. they are also something i can go with them since i’m handicapped and in wheelchair because i can sit and watch them and not have to worry about handicap access buildings.
I always take my grandkids to the park or to the city pool, we have to keep our children active and off of so much TV and computers, heck fire when I was growing up, we played outside from daylight to dark
I remember being a kid and being able to just play outside all day long! I used to build forts and just keep myself entertained. It’s sad that nowadays so many kids just sit in front of a computer screen, a television, or a phone.
I use to take my three young children to the park all the time, all of them would be so worn out at the end of the day. They slept like babies those nights.
There are a few areas around me that have a play area for the children and another at the airport close by, We love going there and playing and doing the different activities they have.
@tisonlyme143
We take the grands to the park near the high school. It is really nice. Lots of grass.
I remember when my sons were younger , we always had to find a playground and just play there for hours, I would fix a picnic and we would have such a wonderful day
My children enjoyed going to the playground often. We tried to visit some nearby playgrounds often whenever possible for them.
Great post! It’s so important to keep active & limit the screen time, especially during the summer!
I agree kids need that play time. I know at my daughter’s school she has recess for maybe 15mins. That’s definitely not alot of time. During the summer my kids never sleep in lol… and are up and ready to leave by 8am.
I always used to take my kids to playgrounds. If the weather was bad, we usually found an indoor place with activities to keep them active and busy.
My kids are adults. But, in general, kids are active. They can get bored over summer vacation. I always enjoyed swimming when I was a kid.
I love that purple dinosaur! What fun! It’s so important to take kids to play outdoors, especially nowadays when they just want to stay inside and use technology.
The benefits of play are long reaching and kids learn skills in interpersonal communication and through their senses learn about the world around them.
Nice to see outdoor suggestions,its hard these days to get kids put and about they want a lot of TV and video games etc
I think it is so important for families to get outside and play together! Too much time is spent indoors these days staring at TVs and computer screens. We need to exercise together in fun ways, in the outdoors.
I have no problem at all getting my 4-yo to be active. He’s just a very active kid. It’s the two teenagers who want to be lumps all summer. They wouldn’t set foot outside their rooms if we didn’t force them out!
I agree 100% we just went had a free day today. It was a blast
That is great! My son has never been very active. Sometimes it is hard to find things he will do.
only if it wasn’t so hot and humid outside. my kids love to play on the playgrounds 🙂
It seems during the summer that we find it harder and harder to find activity that doesn’t break the bank or require planning long before,these are some cool ideas!