By Stephanie Pool.
Summer is in full force in Central Texas with unforgiving heat waves that drive us indoors. By mid-morning, those of us with kids feel like we are locked in a mental institution with inmates bouncing off the rubber walls. Ideally, I love to take my five and seven-year-old sons outdoors to ride bikes, skate board, or go to the playground, but at one hundred degrees we can only survive the outdoors for about twenty minutes. To be outdoors in the summer you have to be in the water, but even then you will be fighting sunburn and heat exhaustion.
It seems like the only option during the heat of the day is to stay indoors. However, our society’s kids are already sedentary and fighting obesity. Our kids spend too much time in front of the TV or computer when indoors, so what do we do with kids inside to keep them active?
Here are some fun ideas our family has found for indoor activities that you can do with your children to burn off energy, keep them active, and stave off cabin fever.
At Home:
Play indoor games that do not require large spaces:
•Freeze Tag
•Hide and Seek
•Hopscotch: use floor tape or painters tape
•Spider Game: Give your kids a roll of yarn and let them string it through the house. Then let them crawl through it for hours.
•Active Video Games: Wii Sports, Kinect Dance Central (limit this to 30 minutes per day)
Blast your favorite tunes and shake your rump for a living room dance party. For more fun, add colored lights and a disco ball.
Build an obstacle course using cardboard boxes, chairs, toys, and anything else your kids’ creative minds can use. Then, chase them through it, over it, and under it.
In the Hays Community:
Go on a treasure hunt inside Dollar Tree. Choose a theme and have your kids search for an item with that theme. And it only costs one dollar to buy them their treasure!
Let your kids bounce their energy off at a bouncy house or gymnastics center. The Jumpy Place in Kyle has air conditioning, free wifi, clean bouncy houses, DirecTv, and coffee! It’s a parents oasis, and the kids like it too. For older kids, drop them off for open gym or a lock-in at Olympia Hill Gymnastics in Buda or J&R Gymnastics in San Marcos.
Take your kids to a dance class! If you fan them on Facebook, Dance Unlimited in Buda, Shock Dance in Kyle, and Go 2 Danz in San Marcos all offer free kids dance classes sporadically, in addition to their normal tuition classes.
Take your kids out for an educational or historical experience. In Kyle, visit Sustainacycle, the Katherine Anne Porter House, and the Claiborne Kyle House. In San Marcos, visit the Nature Center, the Texas State Fish Hatchery, or Aquarena Center. In Buda, visit Cabela’s to feed the fish and then stop by the Buda Soda Fountain for a delicious root beer float.
Indoor sports facilities like Power Alley Indoor Batting Cages in Kyle and the South Austin Rock Gym are great options for older kids.
Travel out of Hays County for a daytrip to the McKenna Children’s Museum in New Braunfels or the Austin Children’s museum.
Our first inclination is to burrow inside of our house during the summer heat. However, with 44 percent of our children already obese and childhood diseases on the rise, we cannot afford to let them sit around all day. Let’s keep them active, moving, and healthy.
