Author Archives: Family Magazine

In this video you will learn all about adult day care centers. Sometimes, as people age, it becomes difficult to care for them and necessary to get some extra help.

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That’s where adult day cares come in. This video will show you what it’s like to spend a typical day at an adult day care so that you can have some peace of mind knowing that your elderly family member will be cared for. It can be a fun and peaceful experience.

At adult day care centers, you can find such activities as exercise, physical therapy, and games. Whether your family member will be spending the whole day there or only part of a day, there will be plenty of activities to keep them occupied. All of them are enjoyable, and some even help to improve physical and mental health, which is especially important as people get older. Meals are often provided, and so you really can leave your family member in the capable hands of the day care staff. It’s truly a fun place for all!

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Moving can be a stressful time for you and your family. From handling all the necessary paperwork, organizing all of your belongings, to getting the proper moving supplies, it will test your patience. However, if you give yourself enough time to adequately prepare for your move, it can make your life a whole lot easier.

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In this video, you will see just how to properly prepare for your move.

First, you need to make an estimate for your materials. This includes beds, chairs, tables, desks, televisions, any type of larger item that is used regularly and will be coming to your new residence. Creating this estimate will make it possible for you to gather the proper moving supplies such as boxes and bubble wrap. A neat trick that can help to organize better is using color-coded tape to decipher what items are in each box. This will make things much easier when the inevitable unpacking happens.

Moving is always stressful, but you can take these steps to make it a bit easier for yourself.

Americans are always looking for ways to heat and cool their homes more efficiently. A 2021 Annual Energy Outlook from the EIA suggests that 31 percent of the total electricity use in the country is being used for heating and cooling. In this episode of Undecided with Matt Ferrell, an alternative to electricity use for heating and cooling is explored through geothermal heating and cooling. Despite the widespread use of electricity for heating and cooling, the global geothermal market is now a 9.

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5 billion dollar industry, with residential heating and cooling comprising 49.5 percent of that.

The advantages to geothermal heating and cooling are numerous, and these systems have been heating America since the 1940s. It works well in every climate and lasts longer than other systems with a life expectancy of 20 to 25 years. This is on average 10 to 15 years longer than a furnace or boiler heating system would last. Geothermal heating also saves homeowners money and is easier to maintain than any other heating and cooling system for your home. Matt Ferrell walks you through the science of geothermal heating and cooling here.

The Chrysler Pacifica was originally introduced as a sport utility vehicle, but it later became a van. Most mini vans were not created to be stylish but more for efficiency.

The 2021 Chrysler Pacifica has been designed with a lot of style in mind.

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This is the only mini van with all-wheel drive.

The Chrysler Pacifica has a sleek outward appearance with LED lighting for both the headlights and taillights. This mini van has been given a completely new, modernized look.

The interior is luxurious, with leather, carmel-colored, heated seats that are memory controlled. These seats are so comfortable you could drive for days. Even the steering wheel is luxurious. It is thick in design giving one a good grip. The analog gauges give the new Pacifica the look of classic elegance. You can customize the display screen. It has wireless capabilities and a navigation system by TomTom.

Come give the Chrysler Pacifica a test drive today. You will fall in love with all its fancy new features. The Pacifica gives new meaning to the old term “mini van”.

Having children requires consistent communication and the sharing of valuable knowledge at every stage of their lives. You should teach them how to be independent and to navigate the complexities of life the best way that they can. Life skills are an essential part of developing into a well-rounded individual whether they become dentists or accountants. They have a positive effect on how an individual can assimilate into society and improves their employability and problem-solving strategies.

Modern life has changed significantly and continues to do so. To ensure that your children can meet the demanding realities of everyday life, they ought to have a sufficient amount of life skills to help them deal with these demands. Moreover, the increased pace of technology and economic development has had an impact on every sphere of our lives. Meaning that even education has been changed to fit this new narrative of life.

As a result, there are several good things to teach your child that can help them to maneuver the intricate details of life without paralyzing anxiety. This is why we have created this guide for you. Below are some valuable life skills that we believe every parent should teach their kids. Keep on reading to find out more.

Problem-Solving Skills

To ensure that they can practically navigate through a highly competitive world, children should be taught how to think critically. This includes the ability to observe and analyze situations to come up with solutions to complex situations. To do this, you should teach your child how to answer higher-level questions with thought and exploration. This means that the type of questions that your child should ask is ‘why?’ and ‘what if?’. This can be achieved by turning the questions that they ask into minor research projects. For instance, if your child asks why the sky is blue, you can turn around and ask them why they think so.

These good things to teach your child while they are still young can determine if they will end up being an electrician or an aeronautical engineer one day. The best part is that you do not need to wait until they are bored to invent something new for them to learn. You can create different activities for them to do. Research shows that when children are equipped with fundamental problem-solving skills, they can solve mathematical problems with less difficulty.

Moreover, problem-solving can be fun while remaining educational. Let’s say that you had a tire with a blowout that you wanted to fix. You could get your child involved in fixing it. This way you are teaching them a practical lesson that can also enhance their mathematical skills.

Team Building Skills

If you are asking yourself about the good things to teach your child that can benefit their lives, you are not alone. Many parents understand that raising a child requires the utmost care in everything, especially in what they learn. Learning to work with others is an essential life skill that can help them when they are in a working environment. When children learn how to work in a team, they learn what it means to work towards a common goal with others. The value of teamwork is not the only thing that they learn, they should learn self-control, empathy, diplomacy, and time management amongst other vital things.

There are different ways that you can find at home that should help make the teaching easier. Below we have listed these good things to teach your child about teamwork at home.

• Board games are excellent for developing imperative skills such as collaboration, compromising, negotiating, and giving others a chance.
• Cooking teaches kids how to plan, patience, and it reintroduces mathematical and scientific concepts.
• Playing musical instruments should enhance creativity, planning, understanding of patterns, and multi-tasking.
• Incorporating outdoor activities such as going to the local swimming pools or playing basketball with other children should improve healthy teamwork.

While team building is part of the significant good things to teach your child before they become a teenager, there are a few things to remember. Children are still learning to understand the world and how it operates. This means that there should be more troubleshooting when teaching them to integrate with a team in comparison to teaching an adult. Sometimes your child is an introvert who may not want to be part of a team. It is important to ensure that as a parent you emphasize the significance of being part of a team and the skills that you will achieve from that.

The best way to get your child involved is by boosting their self-confidence and demonstrating what teamwork means at home. However, children are not the same. You may find that your child is still reluctant to socialize even after your support. If you suspect that your child has any social difficulties, seek professional help.

DIY Skills

Should DIY be part of the good things to teach your child while they are still young? Definitely. There is a wide array of invaluable and practical skills that children can learn from collaborating with you on a DIY project. Not only are you providing them with ways to improve their analytical and problem-solving skills, but you are allowing them to explore potential outcomes for a single problem. Scientific research also reiterates that when kids engage in DIY projects, they exercise their minds and gain lateral and logical thinking skills.

It also enhances the way that your children should use their imagination to promote creativity. The movement and dexterity from a DIY project are essential for developing fine motor skills and enhanced physical activity. Let’s say that you had a minor garage door repair that you were busy with. Should you involve your child in this type of DIY project, you require patience and concentration to ensure that you achieve the desired outcome. If fixing a garage door is too much for your little one to handle, you should try out these ideas.

• You can try to redesign their bedroom. You can listen to their ideas, help them with the design process and planning.
• If your child is younger, there are various toys and kids designed to mirror real-life construction models.
• Create opportunities for them to assist. If you have a plumbing issue to fix, ask them to help you out.
• Teach them basic environmental DIY solutions. You should consider building a compost heap to teach them about the importance of recycling.
• If you enjoy doing craft projects such as refurbishing old shelves, you should get them involved.

If you do not feel confident enough about your DIY skills, there is a good deal of DIY blog sites and Youtubers who can teach you a thing or two about how to unblock a sink or change a fuse. Part of the good things to teach your child is using equipment safely.

Technology Skills

There is no denying that technology skills are part of the good things to teach your child before they start school. The world is constantly changing and reshaping the way that technology works. Our lives are molded by the latest gadgets, and we spend our money trying to keep up. Years ago, parents would worry about the consequences of technology and how it would affect their children’s development. Nowadays, technology runs everything that we rely on, from road signage to the cars that we drive. Even schools have incorporated technological advances to improve their methods of instruction.

Withholding your child from learning how technology operates should be counter-productive. You should consider digital media as a significant source of information. The best thing about technical skills is that you can incorporate them into your child’s daily routine with ease. This helps to take away the formal teaching aspect of technology. It also makes it easier for your child to practice without feeling pressured.

The following are some reasons why you should teach your child technology skills.

• Nowadays, jobs require technology skills.
• They help kids to think of ways to succeed in the future.
• These skills are essential to bridge the gender gap.
• It helps to enhance an inquisitive mindset.
• These skills nurture determination in young children.

Finance Skills

As a parent, you are always thinking of good things to teach your child because you want the best for them. Part of the ways that you can ensure that your child has a safe and secure future is by instilling better financial sense into them. Lessons about money are a key aspect towards a future with possibilities. A lack of financial literacy can affect how a person navigates financial transactions such as healthcare, tuition, and how they apply for loans.

However, there are still many parents who are not helping their children to become financially literate. As a result, these children grow up to be adults who struggle to make seemingly basic sound financial decisions. If you are having trouble with knowing where to start, you are not alone. This is why we have come up with a few suggestions that you can try.

Start With the Basics

When you want to instill these good things to teach your child about money, you can start from an early age. Starting with the basics should help them to process the financial processes easier. Kids form money habits and their attitudes from a young age. You can start by explaining what money is and how it functions in the real world.

Teach Them How to Save

If you are teaching your child about ways to use money, the next logical step is to teach them effective ways to save. Incorporate various means of saving until they can find the one that works best for their financial goals. There are other valuable lessons that they can gain from learning how to save. For instance, you can instill discipline and teach them ways to set goals.

Create Opportunities to Earn Money

Once you have taught them how to use money and how to save it, you should consider teaching them ways that they can use to earn money. To do this, you should categorize their chores to include those that they can earn money once they have completed them. You can find creative ways to improve this system. You should also teach them ways to negotiate their finances.

Teaching your child the importance of smart spending and saving decisions can help them understand the way that money works and effective ways to improve its flow as they get older. However, it is essential to teach your child about the value of giving to those that are less fortunate. Knowing how money works should include lessons about those that are less fortunate to be afforded opportunities to make money.

First Aid Skills

The more that your child grows means they are spending more time outside the home and this can expose them to tricky situations. It is important to teach your child about first aid and ways to ensure that they are safe in everything that they do. Your child needs to know the skills that are associated with remaining calm if they have been injured while playing. They should also know how to assess their situation and to know when and how to get help.

You can teach your child how to take care of minor injuries that can require urgent care. For instance, you can teach them how to care for their scrapes and cuts, how to treat minor burns, and how to handle a twisted ankle.

The Bottom Line

There is no limit to the number of good things to teach your child to prepare them for how real-life works. Not only will you be able to equip them with essential skills such as problem-solving and analytical techniques, but you will also help them to navigate complex situations throughout their life. Raising a child is not an easy task to do. It requires a lot of patience, time, research, and having hope that it will all work out. But when you give your child essential life skills and knowledge, it should make the journey a lot better to handle.

You don’t need a lot of money to have your home looking fresh and clean. Whether you are looking to make some functional upgrades or you just want to enhance the look of your home, there are several cheap DIY projects around the house that are easy and do not require a lot of time. Read on to find out more.

Simple Bathroom Updates

If you are looking for cheap DIY projects around the house, your bathroom is a space where you can perform easy updates. Many bathrooms come with glass mirrors. Rather than removing those mirrors and installing new ones, you can just update the section of wall they are attached to. You can add a wooden frame to the mirror to add a fresh look. The possibilities of styles and colors for your frame are endless. All you need to do is get the proper measurements and have fun with your frame designs. You can also buy new bathroom storage for your vanity to organize all of your toiletries and orthodontic treatment supplies.

It can be quite costly to buy new fixtures for your bathroom. You can, however, paint the old ones and have them look new. With a little paint, you can turn your shiny chrome into any color that you want. This is an easy and cheap way to have things looking fresh in your bathroom. You will be pleased that with the small amount of work you will put in, the results will be very impressive.

Another way to update your bathroom is to paint your tiles. You don’t have to paint all of them, just get some chalk paint and a stencil design for a few of your tiles. This way you will get a nice new look without spending too much time or money on a bathroom remodel project.

While you are at it, this is a good time to repair any leaks in your bathroom. Leak repair can be quite easy, just ensure that you have the right tools and materials for the job.

Get Organized

Organizing your home is one of the best ways to get that new refreshed look. If you are thinking of cheap DIY projects around the house, don’t leave this one out. One thing you have to note about organizing your home is that you should do it regularly. There is no way you can maintain order if you organize once in a blue moon. Have a schedule and space management system for regularly organizing things in your home and it will stay neat and tidy all the time.

When organizing your home, it’s often best to start with the storage space. This will enable you to get some free space as you do away with items you don’t need anymore. It’s important that you do this before you tackle the rest of your home.

Refresh Your Garage Doors

There are several ways you can refresh your garage door without having to buy a new one. We can all agree that pulling up in your driveway to a beautiful garage door is a pleasant feeling. Apart from that, curb appeal is a crucial part of home styling, and it will greatly increase the value of your home. Freshening your garage door is undoubtedly one of the best cheap DIY projects around the house.

The first step to refreshing your garage door is to plan. Consider what you want your garage door to look like when you are done before you go in search of garage door accessories. Once you have figured it all out, prep and clean your garage door.

The easiest way to have your garage door looking fresh is to apply a fresh coat of paint. Start by removing all the dirt from the door and scraping off or sanding loose paint on it. When you are done sanding it, spray the entire door with a degreaser and scrub away all the grime. If you notice any cracks in the door, you may need to call a garage door specialist before you start.

After you are done with the initial phase, rinse the door with clean water to remove the degreaser and dirt. Repeat this cleaning process until you are convinced the door is clean enough. When you are ready to paint, lay down a cloth to protect your driveway from paint. It can be quite difficult to remove paint from your driveway, so it’s best to avoid it getting there in the first place.

Choose the paint you want to use and start the process by brushing your paint onto all the recessed areas on the uppermost parts of the garage door. Once you are done covering these areas, move on to the flat areas on the upper part as well. When you are done with the top parts, lift the door so that you can paint the bottom part. This will save you from bending down for a prolonged period while you paint.

Repeat the painting process until the entire door is covered. Once you are done, leave the paint to dry. Now that the door is dry, it will be time to add the hardware. Decide where all the new pieces will go on the new door and get to work fitting them. By the time you are done, your door should look as good as new.

Give your Backyard a Makeover

There are many ways you can give your own backyard a makeover without consulting a landscape design specialist. For instance, you can create a garden or add a simple deck. These are all things that you can do yourself in your spare time. If you are looking for cheap DIY projects around the house, this is certainly one that’s worth considering.

Before you start trying to fix things, decide what spaces you are going to need. For instance, you can have a cooking area, a shady sitting space, and a play area. If you manage to clearly define these spaces, you can transform your backyard successfully in no time at all. Sometimes all that’s needed is to move around the furniture you already have. If you have a garden, you can add a DIY garden path. This can give a nice, polished look to your simple garden. If you don’t want to use pavers, you can even get crushed rocks to create a meandering path.

Adding some paint is another great DIY project to add some life to your backyard. Paint the back of your house with a color that’s different from the other sides. Try to find a shade that goes well with your garden. Usually, neutral shades like beige or gray work well, and they can even blend well with your garden path.

If all you have in your backyard is a flat lawn, adding some positioning boulders can inject some life into an otherwise boring space. This is one of the cheap DIY projects around the house that can have a big impact. Boulders can be arranged in clusters or you can place them individually all over the lawn.

Fake a Kitchen Remodel

For a lot of families, the kitchen is more than just a space where you cook and store your food. Nowadays, with kitchen space becoming bigger, kitchens are becoming the heart of the home. It is therefore important to ensure that the kitchen is beautiful and nicely designed. You can achieve this with a few cheap diy projects around the house.

The best way to get the kitchen you have always wanted is to renovate. This, however, can be a very costly project. Most kitchen remodeling projects can cost about $12,000 and that’s not money everyone has in their pockets. Fortunately, there is a way you can get the space of your dreams without spending a lot of money. There are lots of clever hacks to make it seem like you have renovated your kitchen.

One of the most stylish DIY upgrades is to design a handcrafted hood. A range hood is one of the hallmarks of an expensive kitchen and can be quite expensive. To make your own hood, get some plywood and tools, then find a video you can follow. It can take you about a day to make your own handcrafted hood without being charged for home remodeling services.

Another simple kitchen hack you can employ is changing your cabinet doors and hardware. Installing new cabinet doors is quite easy and it will change the way your kitchen looks significantly. All you need to do is find doors that are nicely textured and will fit with your overall design plan.

Improve Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency means making use of less energy while still managing to do everything you want and need to do. To ensure that you don’t waste energy, you need to be aware of the ways you are using energy in your home. This is how you can spot where energy is being wasted and decide on the moves you can make to cut back and save. The following are some energy-saving tips you can employ in your home:

• Start using LED lighting.
• Use cold water to wash your clothes.
• Install insulation and seal your home so that you don’t lose heat.
• Clean all the filters in your home. Try to replace the old ones as well.
• Do not place your freezer or fridge near a heat source.
• Do not open your oven when you are baking, it will lose heat.
• Buy Energy Star certified appliances, they use less power.
• Use natural light whenever you can.
• Install solar if you have the budget for it.
• Ensure that your HVAC is working at peak efficiency by regularly maintaining it.
• Don’t leave fans running unnecessarily.
• Switch off all the lights when you are not using them.
• Do not leave chargers plugged in wall sockets when they are not being used.
• Turn off all appliances that you are not using.

Never Get Locked Out Again

If you have been locked out of your home before, you probably know how frustrating it is to lose your keys. To avoid this, you can install keyless entry on your doors. This is a simple way to ensure that you are never locked out of your house again.

Compared with standard locks, keyless entry systems are more secure and one of the easiest and cheap DIY projects around the house. You do not need any keys, therefore thieves cannot copy your keys and get into your house. Additionally, these gadgets can be fun to operate and they give your home a fresh modern look.

Easy Decor Updates

There are many cheap DIY projects around the house and decor updates that you can do in your free time to freshen up the look of your home. Shadowboxes are one such project. They are a cool, simple, and cheap addition to your decor but the results can be amazing.

There are a lot of cheap DIY projects around the house that can improve the look of your home. They are cost-effective and most of them are quite easy and fun to do. In your free time, you can get together with your family members and decide on ways you can improve the look of your space. It’s nice to do things together, and it will give you an opportunity to work together and bond. There is no reason to stay in a house that looks old and boring, and sometimes you don’t need to spend too much money to get that fresh new look.

If you want to significantly improve the health of yourself and your loved ones, science overwhelmingly agrees: stop spending so much time indoors. Make time to get outside and get your blood pumping while you are out there.

According to the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University (DCU), even short walks around the neighborhood can be enormously restorative. “From the neurons in your brain to the blood vessels in your small toe, there isn’t a body part that isn’t positively affected by even a 15-minute walk,” Professor Niall Moyna tells RTE. “The impact [of] exercise on mental health is incalculable.”

It is important to weigh the effects of our everyday activities on our mental health — and particularly on our children’s emotional well-being. Countless studies show that children are struggling right now and that the rates of depression and anxiety amongst young children and teens are higher than ever before. Spending time outside can change that.

Consider these simple outdoor activities for families. Spend more quality time as a family and ensure the well-being of all family members, young and old.

Why Is it Important for Kids to Get Outside?

For children and teens, getting outside is just as important as regular visits to the family physician. Learn how simple outdoor activities for families improve mental and physical health.

• Spending time outdoors lowers cortisol and improves mood. Spending time in nature reduces the stress hormone cortisol and boosts the feel-good hormone serotonin. The effect is having more energy, feeling calmer, and lowering rates of anxiety and depression.
• Being outside promotes better health and wellness. Did you know that spending time outdoors can literally improve your immune system? Time spent outdoors increases your exposure to vitamin D, and vitamin D plays a key role in maintaining your immune system. The great outdoors also expose you to more oxygen — important for thriving white blood cells — and a greater number of phytoncides, a chemical from trees that naturally fights germs.
• Time outdoors is correlated with regular exercise and stronger bones and muscles. Finally, being outside encourages you and your family to take part in healthy outdoor activities, like hiking, swimming, cycling, gardening, and more. These activities use and strengthen multiple muscle groups, increase bone density, and improve balance.

Try a Unique Activity

Simple outdoor activities for families do not have to be a bore. Mix things up this spring by choosing a unique activity that is accessible to all members of the family. Examples of unique activities include jumping on a trampoline, slacklining, and archery. See below for a more in-depth look at each activity.

• Jumping on a trampoline. Jumping outdoors on a trampoline has several benefits. Children learn more quickly and attentively when they are surrounded by nature. Use jumping as an opportunity to teach kids how to count or use a timer and teach them to share and take turns. The activity also boosts cardiovascular fitness, builds strong bones, and improves mood. For safe jumping, look into outdoor trampolines with special features, like springless trampolines or trampolines with safety nets.
• Slacklining. When it comes to slacklining, one of the most common questions that come up is, what is it? A slackline a thick strip of fabric, like nylon, suspended in between two supports. Many include a rope or support, called a training line, above your head to help you balance and stabilize. To slackline in your backyard, many families secure them between two trees. Slacklining is a full-body workout. It improves focus, balance, and may even help children recover from injuries. Perhaps one of the best advantages of slacklines is that parents are able to position them however they like. If you are more comfortable starting your child off low to the ground — with just a few inches of clearance — do it. As their skills improve, you can move the slackline up slightly if you wish.
• Archery. Archery is an ideal sport for you and your family because it is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. The activity can be adapted for all types of weather. Begin teaching your children archery now, spend plenty of time outdoors this spring, summer, and fall, and bring it indoors during winter. Archery teaches kids valuable life skills, including confidence, focus, and hand-eye coordination, and it is surprisingly safe. In fact, archery is 15 to 25 times safer — meaning there are comparatively fewer injuries — than basketball and baseball, according to the National Safety Council (NSC).

  Of course, this depends on the type of archery in question. Run-of-the-mill archery is very safe. If you plan to combine archery and hunting or use a crossbow, follow the recommended safety guidelines for those activities at all times.

Garden and Fix Up Your Home’s Landscaping

There are also simple outdoor activities for families that get you moving but do not feel like a traditional workout. A simple way of working up a sweat while outdoors is to garden and work on your home’s landscaping.

The Washington Post describes gardening as “excellent physical activity. There’s activity in tilling the soil, carting fresh compost by wheelbarrow, seed-planting, then weeding and watering, and maintenance of the garden.” To successfully introduce kids to gardening, keep it age-appropriate. Outdoor Living Today recommends starting with large seeds, like sunflower seeds, that are easy to handle and to see or, for especially young children that are prone to being impatient, visit your local nursery to purchase already growing fruits and vegetables. Begin by teaching kids to plant seeds or growing plants and water them. Over time, introduce more steps, like weeding and harvesting.

While you supervise your children, you and your spouse can take part in activities to improve your landscape. Use tree trimmers to cut back small branches and prune trees. Look out for any bald spots on your lawn, and plant new grass to fill them in.

Go On a Hike

For other simple outdoor activities for families, don’t forget about hiking! Hiking is an extraordinary workout for adults, and — with the right preparations — your children can easily benefit from it, too.

It is always important to stay well-hydrated and safe while hiking. It is even more important to be prepared while hiking with children. The National Park Service (NPS) recommends bringing along 10 essential items. These include water, sun protection (sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses), food, navigation, a flashlight, matches, a first aid kit, an extra layer of clothing, repair tools, and an emergency shelter. While it is true that we are living in The Digital Age, it is always wise to bring along a compass and/or a paper map just in case your phone loses reception or runs out of battery.

With the essentials in tow, hiking is an extremely engaging and fun family activity. Hiking is a great workout, it teaches your children about local wildlife, and it can easily be an opportunity to teach your child about leaving the park the way you found it. Teach your children to respect nature and never litter or leave trash behind.

Have a Picnic In a Local Park

Sometimes, simple outdoor activities for families can be just that: simple. Pack the family up, and enjoy a picnic in the park. If your children want to play and run around, all the better. If not, getting outside is much better than not getting outside at all.

Keep your kids happy with child-friendly pasta salads or quesadillas with cheese and vegetables and fruit or homemade trail mix to snack on. Keep the trip dentist-friendly. Make sure your children thoroughly brush their teeth when you get home.

Bring bubbles, a Frisbee, or gloves and a softball to encourage active play.

Make Your Driveway a Fun Space

With some precaution, your driveway can be much more than a place to park or to drive over on your way to the garage. The driveway can also be the perfect spot for fun and simple outdoor activities for families. To transform your driveway into the perfect place to play:

• Buy a basketball hoop. A trip to the local basketball facility can be enriching and fun, but why not bring the fun home? Invest in a basketball hoop to shoot some hoops, and play games, like H-O-R-S-E, Knockout, and Around The World.
• Two words: sidewalk chalk. Sidewalk chalk is the perfect excuse to get your kids out the door. Head outside with a bucket of chalk and simply let your child be creative. Liven things up by playing games. Draw a line or swirl, and challenge your child to draw a picture using that as a starting point. If you and your child grow tired of being artsy, use the chalk to draw a maze, hopscotch board, or four square onto the driveway and get a more active game started.

Wash Your Family’s Vehicles

For the adults in the family, washing the car may seem like a chore. However, get young children involved, and you may be able to transform the item on your to-do list into a day of family fun.

Start by setting the stage. Talk to a paving company about finally paving your driveway before taking on the task. A driveway made up of pebbles, stones, and dirt is going to get muddy fast — and that makes it a less than ideal environment to wash the car, particularly with children.

Make it fun by playing music, talking to your kids, and directly involving them in the process. Give them big, soft, soapy sponges to help clean the car or have them put socks on their hands and dip them into buckets of soap.

After putting the finishing touches on the family vehicle, park it in the garage to ensure it stays clean. If moving the car in and out of the garage becomes cumbersome due to a malfunctioning garage door, stop parking the car in the driveway and simply living with it. Call a garage door service to get the problem resolved.

Rent an RV For a Weekend Camping Getaway

Don’t overthink simple outdoor activities for families. Camping is the perfect outdoor retreat for the family, and it is one that families have enjoyed for years and years. Introduce your child to the well-loved activity by easing them into it.

Start by searching for a used RV for sale. A used RV comes with everything you need, often at half the price of a new one — or less. Having a source of running water, a toilet, and a place to cook should it rain will make it easier to camp with young children. Camping helps children learn how to unplug from devices. You can also use the opportunity to teach children basic survival skills and to instill a love of nature in them from a young age.

Go Swimming

To fully enjoy the benefits of the great outdoors, stick to simple outdoor activities for families. Staying active and spending time in nature can be as straightforward as spending a day near the pool.

Swimming is a great activity for all members of the family. It is low-impact, which is important for family members — likely the adults — who may have bad knees, achy joints, or arthritis, it builds muscle and greatly improves cardiovascular health, and it is an essential skill for your kiddos to learn. If you have a pool in your backyard, it is critical that your children learn to swim at a young age and that they are strong swimmers.

Keep your swimming experience as carefree and comfortable as possible by keeping up on routine pool maintenance. Should you notice a tear or rip in the pool liner, a faulty pump, or other common problems, call a pool repair service to fix it right away.

Are you looking for simple outdoor activities for families this spring? Stick to the list above, and you are sure to find something for the entire family. Get outside to improve mood, boost your immune system, and encourage children to regularly exercise.