When Its Hot

And this is why I have a pool. Before that my kids played see who can make mom's veins pop first. Always fun. :p

I'll also take my son to a McDonalds play place - BUT, we eat at home first so we don't eat there. We'll just get a drink, or maybe icecream, but no full meal.

When we can't go outside or they don't want to...which is more than likely the case. (My oldest daughter hates the heat and doesn't care for playing in the extreme cold either)

We play puzzles, card games, board games, and/or do crafts/color pictures.

Check out the blog, No Time for Flash Cards http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/.
There are HUNDRED of creative and fun activities to do, mostly inside.
Another website, linked cited on the one above, is this one: http://momandkiddo.blogspot.com/ More awesome activities!

Warning! Only go to those sites if you are prepared to feel like a slacker mom for not doing all that stuff to start with, and then making a blog about it!

Also - its HOT here (107, anyone?). I give my kids *2 and 4)a bucket of soapy water and some rags and tell them to go outside and wash their toys. They come in, 30 minutes later, soaking wet, happy, and ready for a popsicle.

In the HEAT, we swim. ((Seattle, in general, doesn't have air conditioning ... But growing up in SE Asia, SoCal, and other deserts and jungles... We lived at the beach or the pool. Both before and after school... And from breakfast to bedtime.))

Seattle, however... RAINS about 10 months a year. (Not heavy, just constant and intermittent drizzle... Puddle jumping only twice a year, maybe).

So what we do when its RAINING (;

- Movies
- Videogames
- Kinnect
- reading
- Dancing
- painting (as in DIY, more than art, but art, too)
- school work (homeschool)
- filming
- Legos
- imaginary games
- gymnastics
- wall climbing (my son used to looooove stovepipinhbthe corners in our house)
- chess
- other board games
- Face painting
- Google earth
- Map making (real or treasure / scavenger)
- haunted house (gingerbread)
- gingerbread
- cooking
- cleaning

Outta the house indoors
- community center (basketball, air hockey, etc.)
- bounce place ($3)
- indoor play areas (zoo, McDonald's, etc.)
- aquarium & museums
- book stores
- movie theatres
- ice cream & arcade
- quirky restaurants (Seattle has a LOT, one we sat in a cow... Very strange)
- theatre (opera, ballet, childrens theatres, rep theatres, community theatres)
- 'field trips' (observatory, science center, Seattle underground, Microsoft studios, fire stations, police stations, hospitals, court houses/state Capitol, newspapers, construction, center for wooden boats.)
- water park (great wolf lodge is an indoor one here)
- concerts (rock to classical to drum circles)

N other stuff. There's usually a lot of free stuff round and about, but at home even shaving cream and a sliding glass door can eat an hour or two.

We spend a lot of time at the library and pool.

They have toys, they play in their room most of the time. In the afternoon when it's rest time a movie is a good way to get them to lay down, Make some popcorn and lay down with them. It is a special time that is making memories.

When it's hot I let my son run through the sprinklers, arts/crafts, go to the library, read books, puzzles, and make homemade popsicles!

It's been in the 100s here for, well, forever. This week we are getting a cool-down with temps in the 90s! But so far, my four year old has really enjoyed the summer.

Outside things - yep, we still play outside every day. Lots of water, sunscreen and shade breaks keep us comfy and safe. Some things we do include the backyard blow-up pool (so convenient and cool!), sprinkler, neighborhood pools, the zoo (with plenty of breaks in different indoor exhibits along the way), botanical gardens, spray grounds, parks in the early morning, ride bikes to a fountain that we can play in, bubbles in the backyard, going to a bridge where we can watch a lot trains pass, walking to the ice cream shop or toy store, etc.

Inside things include trips to different libraries, plus the usual stuff like museums, children's areas, even target. He is in something called Safety Town for 2 hours every day this week, too. We've done a lot of little camps this summer for new activities. He loves to ride the bus downtown so we plan day trips to the farmer's market and other things that incorporate a few rides for the air conditioning, novelty and to eat up time.

At home things are puzzles, craft projects, activity books, tons of legos, cooking/baking and best of all, play dates! Now that he is old enough for drop-off play dates, I am actually able to get things done (out of the house if he is gone or even at home since he is entertained with someone else).

Of course, I love the heat and he doesn't seem bothered by it so we really don't let anything affect our summer plans.

We go bowling, indoor mini-golf, library, movies, the YMCA (ours has an indoor play structure), the museum, or we do outdoor activities that involve water, such as go to the wading pool, the outdoor pool, splash pads, or sprinklers and water guns.

Indoor playgrounds, walk around inside the mall, or go to Target :)

Inside the house: My daughter received a hand-me-down Little Tikes Cozy Coupe car recently. I think it's meant to be played with outside. It's the kind you have to push with your feet to make it move. Anyway, since part of our house has wooden floors, we let her ride the car indoors..we never let her ride it outside so it stays clean. Otherwise, she likes to draw, play with her dolls or play dress-up.

Maybe your child likes to be creative? How about lego sets, play doh, or building blocks? Or a play tent/tunnel? Play pretend kitchen?

My kids like board games.
We paint.
We play music.
We clean up. they like when I give them short chore to do like dusting, make it a game...
We exercise to a DVD, theirs or mine, they have kids yoga CD, and they like to do mine also.
You can do a picnic lunch on the floor inside they will do whatever to have that fun.

Usually if i know it will be hot that day we will go out early in the morning and do some sort of water play for as long as we can, come in wash up, do lunch then maybe settle in for popcorn and a movie (usually my little one takes a nap and the older one will watch the movie, then they will have snack, and play with each other till dinner...if it cools off we go back out that night with bug spray and sun screen...

I agree with Jo. Even a small pool in the shade is the way to go!

You have some wonderful ideas already.

You were looking for a walking partner. If you found one with kids your child's age, then you can have play dates involving water outside. Running through sprinkles, small inflatable pools, water parks, water balloons, and indoor activities and games like "candyland".

Good luck to you and yours.

I love this question. I hate keeping my son in front of the TV all day as well.

tbh, we are out the door by 7am riding bikes or taking a walk. Its only about 70-80 degrees at that time, so being outdoors isn't too bad.

Sprinklers are a lifesaver.

Playdates. Your house or someone else's.

Paper goods. My son loved playing with a package of straws. He learned to stick the ends together and build long strands and usually tried to drag it around the house. Buy a few packages of paper cups and see what kinds of towers he can build. I also kept juice box package boxes (not the juice boxes themselves) like Capri Suns and Minute Maid, and food boxes...excellent building blocks.

I did buy some workbooks and did some preschool homeschooling with him. I started him on dot to dots and maze workbooks, to work on fine motor skills for handwriting.

Don't under estimate the power of a blown up balloon. Tape a square on the wall and see how many times he can volley the balloon in the square. Or give him a cheap plastic child's tennis racket or golf club and have him toss/hit around a balloon with them.

@ 4 my son loved loved loved playdoh, so I invested in the little machines, like Playdoh Breakfast or Playdoh Dessert Bar. I either bought playdoh (those little cans and when they got too gross I just tossed them) or we made our own (not as much fun).

Fill a big tub with popcorn kernels (you can buy a 20 lb bag at Sam's for $20). He can play in it like sand, only less grainey and messy. Keep it in one corner and stray kernels can be kept at a minimum. That kept my son busy for HOURS!

Have fun and I hope I've given you some good ideas.

We go to:

-science museum
-community pool
-indoor playground

at home we:
-take a bath and he plays till his hands are wrinkly
-play with legos, cars
-build a fort in the living room
-make a fruit salad for dinner; bake a no bake pie; use cookie cutters to cut cheese, fruit, bread, etc. for lunch
-draw, paint, craft, play the games in the Highlights magazines
-pretend we're superheroes
-dance
-clean the dishes (we have a double sink - he gets one side filled with bubbles and plastic dishes, I get the other side)
-put on old socks, spray non-toxic floor cleaner on the bottoms and skate/slide around the floor 'cleaning' it (we have wood floors)
-use the juicer to make smoothies
-make popsicles out of juice or smoothies

Okay, I love this question. I'm off to read other people's suggestions.

Best,
S.