Collected from the expanses of Runet.
Unusual nearby.
This is a mindfulness game. Arrange competitions for who will find and notice more unusual things in a day: a bizarre cloud, a very large mushroom, an unusual bright butterfly. Each contestant at the end of the day talks about all the memorable moments. The one who noticed more unusual things gets a prize, the rest of the participants - well, of course, too!
Merry search.
This game, like the previous one, is aimed at studying the garden and the surrounding world. On a sheet of paper, objects that are on your site are drawn, it can be anything: plants or parts of them, tools, unusual stones, figures, and much more. The child must find them. The choice of subjects depends on the age of the child.
Herbarium.
Probably each of us made herbariums in childhood - a plucked plant was dried in a book under a load, and then bouquets and other pictures were glued on paper from the resulting flowers. Offer it to your child - he will definitely like it.
You can also make prints of flowers on paper - for this, a freshly cut flower should be lightly tapped with a hammer.
Associations.
For this game we need an egg container. In each cell you need to put a piece of paper of a different color, or just paint it with multi-colored felt-tip pens. The child must find and put in each cell an object of the color in which the cell is painted. Such a game will help little children to consolidate their knowledge of flowers, as well as a great excuse to explore the garden!
Well, where without water games! Make a boat with your child (made of paper, sticks or bark), let the child color it himself. Run together in a pond, or at least in a barrel.
If you have a birdhouse on your site in which birds settled in the spring, invite your child to keep a diary of observations: first, the birds will equip their home, then incubate eggs, then feed the chicks and teach them to fly. The child learns a lot of new and interesting things about the life of birds!
When dandelions fade and become fluffy - save this miracle for the winter! Carefully pluck and spray the head with hairspray and put them in a pretty jar. image
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Added after 2 minutes 52 seconds:
SANDBOX + HOUSE ON THE SECOND FLOOR
Everyone saw the sandbox under the roof. And the sandbox under the bed? Entrepreneurial parents can easily make such a miracle from bars and boards. In fact, this is the custom of a loft bed, only it is arranged in the open air. As a result, the sand play area is protected from the sun and rain, and at the top there is a cozy place to relax and play, which can be reached by a ladder. If you successfully combine the structure with a small tree standing next to it, you get a favorite children's game - a tree house, only lower and safer.
(from here - //new.vk.com/wall-34443093_48698)
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Added after 12 minutes 27 seconds:
We also made houses for fairies at my grandmother's dacha. The boys did. Here's what happened.
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Ideas for such houses and their arrangement - //new.vk.com/wall-34443093_48276
For a very long time, this fake construction occupies children, they become directly purposeful - they find a use for everything, solve technological problems ... Adults also imperceptibly pour in with their tips and help.
It's great to spend the whole summer with a baby in the country. How many benefits - fresh air, warm sun, greens, berries, juicy vegetables straight from the garden. During the summer spent outdoors, the child's body is capable of compensating for polluted city air, endless colds, and prolonged sitting in front of the TV and computer. But whatever you say, it gets boring in the country. What to do with the baby during the three long summer months?
1. Sandbox.
Children can mess around in the sand for hours, and even the most inexperienced dad in carpentry is capable. You can also purchase a plastic version at the store. Fill the sandbox with clean sand and stock up on a large piece of plastic to cover on rainy days. Don't limit yourself to scoops and molds - big cars, figurines of people and animals, colorful stones and glass are an inexhaustible source of new ideas.
2. Playground.
You do not need anything special for the construction. The "swing + slide" set perfectly satisfies even the most demanding fidgets. It's also a good idea to get a basketball hoop on a stand. It is placed directly on the grass, and the children are happy to throw the ball into the basket.
3. Pool.
Favorite of both children and adults in hot weather. The main thing is to follow the safety rules. Children should swim only under adult supervision. It is good when the pool has a special cover and can be closed. It's great to put a slide in a small pool - a bunch of delights are guaranteed.
4. All kinds of devices for blowing soap bubbles.
Large ones, whistling flying in different directions, delight children of all ages. Now there is a huge selection of such toys in stores, and in the country it is so cool to run on the grass, chasing soap balls.
5. Garden.
Give your little gardener your own, help dig and plant it. It is better to plant what grows and ripens not too long - radishes, lettuce, sweet green peas. Take care of the plants together with your baby, watch how the first shoots appear, how they reach for the sun, talk about why it is necessary to water, fertilize, loosen the earth - and then enjoy the harvest grown by yourself with the whole family.
6. Picnics and hikes.
Children just love to arrange. Take a large basket, fill it with all sorts of goodies and go on an adventure. Make a route with the kids, especially resourceful parents manage to organize a real treasure hunt according to a pre-drawn map. Such memories will remain with the child for life.
7. Bonfire.
For adults it's just a fire, but for children it's a new adventure. Remember your own childhood - bake potatoes, fry bread on twigs, tell magical and scary stories.
8.Collections.
Collecting all sorts of things is another favorite childhood hobby. Beetles and butterflies, leaves and twigs, pebbles and glass - everything is used. You only need to help the child organize the collected material.
9. Observation of nature.
The choice of research subjects depends entirely on the child. You can study insects, birds, watch the stars, explore the habits of animals. Get a special album and put there all the information that you managed to collect about the subject of your hobby. Returning to the city in the fall, compare the information obtained with those in your encyclopedias with your child and plan research for next summer.
10. Holidays.
Arranging one or more large summer parties is within the power of each parent. Fruit and vegetable kebabs, outdoor games, a lot of balloons and maybe even a big fireworks display in the evening - you can't organize this in a city apartment. Gather all the surrounding children - this will enable your child to make many new friends, and you will not worry that the baby will get bored and will ask to go to the city.
In the summer, as a rule, we strive to provide our children with a holiday outside the city - in the countryside, in the country or in the garden. In addition to fresh air and the hot sun, children, of course, need an interesting, exciting and, preferably, informative summer leisure. And organizing it, in principle, is not difficult at all with the help of items that are in every country house and the surrounding garden environment.
Obstacle course - an exciting outdoor game
First of all, we want to focus on outdoor games, because summer by itself implies a lot of movement and active games on the street. And in the country, like nowhere else, you can give free rein to physical activity and organize a lot of interesting mobile entertainment, even if the child is alone, without a children's company. For example, our favorite mobile entertainment in the country is an obstacle course in a variety of variations.
Most recently, I organized an obstacle course for my son from improvised items - logs, boards, ropes, balls. I picked up an open spacious clearing in a garden plot with grass so that I could complete tasks without shoes, prepared several obstacles and all the necessary items in advance - all the preparation took me only 5-7 minutes. My son did almost all the tasks at speed or up to a given score. The obstacle course consisted of the following tasks:
In general, a wide variety of country furnishings can be used to organize an obstacle course - in addition to the above, it can also be stones, bricks, chairs, buckets, hoses, ladders, a rope and many other items. With them, you can come up with a variety of moving tasks - no doubt, the kids will like everything, because the main thing is they will have to move a lot.
My son is always happy when I offer him a new obstacle course, and with great pleasure he takes on tasks. And, of course, when there is an opportunity to organize such a mini-sports event for several children - neighborhood children, then it is even more fun, dynamic and interesting.
In the summer in the country, you can try and master a wide variety of activities. The main thing is to have the appropriate inventory for different types of games, which, by the way, can sometimes be made independently from improvised materials. Together with our grandfather, we also made some sports equipment with our own hands:
Here are a few basic and affordable exciting sports activities that you can and should devote time to during your summer holiday:
And, of course, do not forget about hardening procedures that are simply necessary for the health of our children. It's great if on the garden plot there is an opportunity to put an inflatable pool for the baby, at least a small one, where the child can splash around, refresh himself and at the same time temper his body. Walking barefoot on the grass is also a wonderful hardening and wellness activity and, as a rule, is very popular with little fidgets.
I think that most families with children in the country must have a sandbox, and they are very loved by almost all the children. But as children grow older, as a rule, they cease to show interest in activities in the sandbox. So it was with my son, who is now in his seventh year, but he is still interested in one sand game - a lake in the sand. As our recent trip to the sea showed, this game was one of his favorite activities. What is the essence of the game?
First of all, you need to make the sand lake itself:
Well, the lake in the sandbox is ready. Now you can play - populate it with different marine inhabitants (we have these are small plastic and rubber figures), launch boats on the lake (you can quickly make small home-made ones from improvised materials), create interesting game situations with the search for marine treasures, rescue marine life, shipwreck, etc.
Such a game in the sandbox is still interesting to my son, and I think very soon we will once again build a new lake, only now not on the sea coast, but in our own country sandbox.
Unusual design
Designing in the country is also a very interesting and exciting activity. Any suitable items can be used as building material - mainly logs, stones, bricks and cut branches from garden trees. You can offer the kid a task to build this or that structure, or you can just give free rein to his imagination and let him build any invented structure. The main thing is that his hands are busy with an interesting activity, and a lot of thoughts and ideas arise in his head, where to define a new detail and how to make his structure unusual and beautiful.
By the way, my son is very fond of "working" with wooden material and uses it in the "construction" of many structures for role-playing games. In my memory, last summer he built houses from boards, a stove, tables and chairs, a bed, and then enthusiastically played with his buildings. It is always very interesting to observe how he imagines this or that object during its three-dimensional construction, how his thought works. 
And also during the summer, our grandfather traditionally makes cubes of various shapes, volumes and sizes from wooden logs for his grandson, and in the fall we return home with a full package of new building materials for an exciting home design. I think that many families who spend the summer in the country have such opportunities - and it is not necessary that a grandfather is needed for this, because dads can also be happy to take part in replenishing the collection of wooden cubes of their beloved children.
Experiences and experiments
Country rest is the most suitable place for carrying out mysterious experiments and incredible experiments. My son and I have a special passion and long-standing attachment to this type of children's hobbies, and even more so in the summer cottages there is where to turn around, and there is an opportunity to make the most daring and large-scale scientific discoveries, which is sometimes simply unrealistic in an apartment. Now I will not list specific experiments and experiments that we are conducting in the country - there are a lot of them. I specifically try to find new ideas in advance so that each time we are together surprised by new results, effects and discoveries. Yes, and on the website of the Club of Passionate Moms there is a separate section where a lot of materials are published with a wide variety of experiences and experiments for any inquisitive children's taste. 
Also, the son at the dacha loves to just “chemize”. First, he places various bottles, jars, bottles on the table, which we specially collect at home and bring in large quantities to the dacha. Then he lays out various materials for experimentation - this is grated soap, shampoo, salt, sugar, various spices and others (we allocate this to him in small quantities). Well, then the fun begins - the practical part, during which various ingredients are dissolved, mixed, shaken, etc. And all this is done by the son with such pleasure. Jokingly, I call his classes with various liquids and bottles "summer chemistry lab."
Tired of boring walks?
Creative country workshop
We do not leave unattended during a country holiday and our favorite creative activities from early childhood. After all, here, in the fresh air, the atmosphere itself simply invites children to show their creative abilities and not limit themselves in anything, without being afraid to stain, spill or spoil something. You can safely paint, glue, sculpt, craft on any available surface - not only on paper and cardboard, but also on boards, stones, metal, plastic, etc. You can also decorate the appearance of the garden, painting the fence, the walls of the house, benches, barrels, flower pots together with the baby ...
At the beginning of summer, we always immediately bring a box with various creative materials and accessories to the dacha, so that at any time, at the request of our son and his girlfriends - neighbor girls, with whom he spends a lot of time together, creative classes can be held. 
In our dacha, any waste material is usually used as creative materials - cardboard boxes for food and other items, bottles and jars for yogurt and cottage cheese, juice boxes, various lids, candy wrappers, candy boxes, etc. We gradually collect all these “wealths” in a separate box, and when it is noticeably full, we choose a fine day and arrange creative fantasy evenings in the fresh air, at which the contents of this box with the help of children's skillful pens, as well as glue / scissors / paints / felt-tip pens / plasticine, turns into amazing and unusual objects, crafts, paintings, models, buildings ... Everyone chooses from a box of junk materials everything that he likes and needs to realize his creative idea, and begins to create and fantasize. The results of such experiments are impressive! And how many positive emotions fill the children during these classes - the soul rejoices, looking at them.
Plant research and a young gardener's album
Now it's the turn to talk about our games and garden activities.
My son and I really like to watch the growth and change of plants, their flowering, to feel the aromas of various flowers and shrubs, to consider how they look after - we especially like to collect raindrops from them. 
He is always happy to participate in sowing, planting and caring for plants, herbs, and vegetables. So the son learns and explores the surrounding plant world. 
Of course, I try to introduce an element of play into our research activities, to give my son various interesting tasks. For example, we designate today as a day for observing raspberries. We have to carefully examine the raspberry bushes:
- check the leaves, do not turn yellow, do not dry and do not get sick;
- to study how they are formed - how many berries ripen on different branches, whether a large harvest is expected;
- check the tops of the bushes - is it not time to cut off the young leaves for drying;
- explore the soil under the bushes - they may need urgent watering.
On another day, we can single out the planting of some other berry or vegetable as the object of observation.
Also last year we made a "Young Gardener's Album" with a vegetable theme during the summer. First, we collected plant "material": we plucked the leaves of different vegetables and herbs at different stages as they grew - from small to large sizes, dried them in old books and magazines. Then they began to design the album: on separate pages, dried leaves of each vegetable or type of greens were glued in order of growth, and its name was signed in block letters at the bottom. Also, on the right side of the page, they left a place for sketching the vegetable itself - they placed it in front of themselves and copied it into an album, choosing the appropriate colors. It turned out to be a very interesting and very informative album.
This summer will pass with us under the sign of berries and fruits - we have already begun to collect "material" for our second album. 
Next year, I hope, it will be possible to do a detailed study of garden flowers.
Healing collections of berries, herbs, leaves
Another interesting “plant” activity in the garden is the collection and drying of various useful herbs, berries, and leaves. My son and I have been practicing this “healing art” for more than a year, and both of us really like this activity. Now he knows almost all the medicinal garden herbs and fruits - what they look like, what they are called, what is the use of them. 
We collect and dry flowers of calendula, chamomile and Kuril tea, mint and lemon balm leaves, berries and leaves of currants, raspberries, cherries, mountain ash, rose hips and strawberries. Then together we lay out the dried flowers, leaves and berries in separate jars and beautifully sign them. And upon returning home, starting from autumn, and throughout the year, we are happy to brew and make delicious healthy drinks, mixing different healing preparations.
Outdoor tea drinking
This lesson, as the sweetest part, I saved for last. Although there is nothing special about arranging the most ordinary family, but for my little son this activity always turns into some kind of fascinating and very beloved ritual. He sets the table with great pleasure, brings and arranges cups and cutlery, sweets and various sweets. And then solemnly invites everyone to tea.
Sometimes we arrange such tea ceremonies just on the garden lawn, spreading a blanket on the grass, spreading small pillows on it for comfort and cups of tea on saucers. Such a mini-picnic on the grass next to the house. It turns out very warm, cozy and unforgettable.
I think that memories of such family tea parties in the fresh air will remain in children's memory for a long time. And it also seems to me that this ritual unites the family very well, allows everyone to spend a little time together in a relaxed atmosphere, talk about something important and not so much, laugh a lot at something and, of course, deliver a lot of positive emotions to your baby. Great summer family tradition, right?
