The summer can be filled with endless hours of monotony and self-stimulatory behaviors for those kids who aren’t in camp or Extended School Year (ESY). To offset the times of less structure, there are a variety of activities that parents can do with their kids that won’t break the bank.
1. Have a Scavenger or Treasure Hunt: Create a list of 10-20 items that you know your child can identify. It would be great if you can gather siblings or neighbor kids to play along to make it a social activity. Each child can have their own list to keep it less competitive.2. Visit the Library: Tons of free entertainment can be found at the library. There’s story time for the younger kids, computers with web access and DVDs and CDs for check-out if you have a movie kind of kid. Movies are great for those stormy summer days.
3. Nature Trails: There’s bound to be trails at local parks that you didn’t even know existed. To get into the mood, find some old boots to wear, transform the school book-bag into a hiking backpack and load it with a few snacks and lots of water.
4. Water Play: What kid can turn down running through a sprinkler on a hot summer day? If your kid is a swimmer, check out local water slide parks, beaches and public pools to make it even more exciting. Call first to make sure a life guard is on duty for extra protection.
5. Put on a Play: Dig up old Halloween costumes, 20 year old clothes still hanging in your closet, and some of dad’s oversized work shirts and get ready to ham it up! Kids with autism are super talented at memorizing lines from videos, so here’s their chance to use them functionally.
6. Visit a Local Playground. Since most, if not all, of the school playgrounds in your area don’t have swings due to safety hazards, and we know kids with autism LOVE the sensory input found from swinging, countless hours can be enjoyed at the park down the street.
7. Cooking Day: Plan out a meal, with your child as the one with the ideas. Find a recipe online, shop together for what’s needed and mix and measure your way to a fabulous entre or dessert. It’s a great way to learn a life skill and have fun at the same time.
8. Family Game Night: Be sure to have high interest games on hand. Games that involve cause and effect are generally more interesting to kids with autism than basic board games (Cookie Cop, Don’t Spill the Beans, Rockem Sockem Robots)
9. Neighborhood Ice Cream Sundae Party: If you don’t know your neighbors, this is a fabulous way to get acquainted! Buy a big tub of ice cream and have each of the neighbors bring a favorite topping. Who wouldn’t want to play with the kid whose mom buys the ice cream?
10. Build a Fort: Remember those days when you would grab the sheets from your mom’s linen closet and string them across the living room by wrapping their ends around chairs and tv cabinets? Well, forts, tents and tunnels are a sensory kid’s dream… and other kids (big and little) love them too!
