Getting your kids away from their screens and engaged with the real world has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. It can be challenging to compete with the bright, constantly shifting digital world their devices offer, though. Fortunately, summer in Florida is also filled with amazing sights, sounds, and experiences that can distract your gadget-addicted girls away from their ever-present screens.
Here are some of our favorite activities certain to reveal the endless joys of real-life summers in Florida.
Explore the outdoors
Being active outside provides obvious benefits to kids’ physical health, but recent studies show that exposure to nature is exceptionally beneficial for mental health. Children exposed to green spaces are less anxious and more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors, including sharing, empathy, and cooperation. According to the Child Mind Institute, the average American child spends over 7 hours a day in front of the screen but only 4 to 7 minutes playing outside.
Ensure that your girls get all the benefits nature offers by getting them outside. If you’re staying close to home, outdoor games like capture the flag, ring toss, or soccer can be played in your backyard or a nearby park. On more adventurous days, consider taking a family-friendly hike or visiting a local natural spring.
Engage in aquatic activities
Water play is a fantastic way to beat the heat while enjoying the summer sun. Spend an afternoon running through the sprinklers in your backyard, or pack the kids into the car to go to a local swimming pool or water park. Not only does water play cool kids off, but it also offers a fun way to inject physical activity into their summer.
Another way to encourage aquatic activities is to take your kids to a beach. Paddle boarding and windsurfing are exciting water sports, and family snorkeling excursions can uncover amazing discoveries. Don’t forget to bring your sunscreen, and consider investing in UPF 50 swimwear to protect your girls’ skin from the intense UV rays.
Investigate the beach
Florida beaches offer plenty of activities to keep your girls entertained and off their gadgets, even on days when water play isn’t an option. Bring along fishing gear and let them catch a supper of fresh fish, or a sand pail and beach toys to create amazing sandcastles.
Plan a trip at low tide to explore the tide pools at Lowdermilk Beach, Red Reef Park, or Washington Oaks. The variety of sea creatures found in tide pools, including sea snails, starfish, and even the occasional octopus, will keep your kids enthralled. Spots like Sanibel Island, Fernandina Beach, and Venice Beach are littered with an abundance of seashells, offering treasures like cockle shells, sand dollars, and shark teeth.
Delve into history
Learning about history provides an essential array of advantages for children. Understanding history creates a more well-rounded view of the world, improving empathy, judgment, and an appreciation of what it took to get us where we are today.
Visiting museums and other historic sites gives your kids a clearer understanding of their history and the history of people who lived long ago. Explore Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, a massive fort built by Spanish settlers over 300 years ago; Chinsegut Hill Historic Site, with stories about remarkable people with multifaceted backgrounds; or Dade Battlefield, the site of a confrontation with a complex and multi-layered story that provides a unique view of rights and might.
Experiment with new looks
Kids of all ages thrive when they have the freedom to express themselves, whether through artistic endeavors, food choices, or how they present themselves to the world. Many kids gravitate towards expressing themselves through unconventional combinations to define their individuality. While the online world offers many hair and clothing options, social media can also lead to a homogenization of looks.
Summer is a great time to encourage your girls to put down their digital devices and find the unique style that represents who they are right now. Let them lead when experimenting with different clothing, hairstyle choices, and trying new cosmetics, including kid-friendly makeups and nail polishes like Barbie nail polish. Supporting their choices, even if the result looks a little silly to you, is key to supporting their confidence and unique perspective in life. It might even nurture a career in the fashion industry.
Promote scientific discovery
Promoting scientific discovery keeps your kids learning throughout the summer. Florida offers many opportunities for ongoing education. Engage in simple science experiments at home. Visit local planetariums or natural history museums to learn more about the world around us. Science and discovery camps can also help keep your girls entertained and often cover a wide range of scientific studies, including space exploration, chemistry, biology, and engineering.
Learn about living things
One of the great things about this state is the wide diversity of life it supports, and the many organizations happy to share information. Explore zoos and aquariums to learn more about animals from around the world, or visit research or conservation centers to delve more deeply into a single type of animal, including alligators, sea turtles, dolphins, and butterflies.
Florida has a plethora of botanical gardens with local and exotic plants intriguing enough to tear even the most gadget-addicted eyes away from their screens. For kids who prefer to be more hands-on, try visiting fruit and vegetable picking farms. These offer your kids the chance to harvest their own food, which could include sweet corn, spicy peppers, or an abundance of sweet and juicy fruits.
Encourage hands-on creative outlets
Digital gadgets can inspire great art projects, but hands-on creativity engages a different part of the mind and encompasses more options. Creative projects like sculpting, finger painting, and cooking require hands-on participation in a way that no screen can replicate.
Whether you choose to enroll your child in classes focused on teaching kids new creative hobbies, spend time at home designing construction paper and glue stick masterpieces, or work together to create delicious desserts from fresh fruit puree, indulging your girls’ creative side provides a multitude of benefits.
While digital gadgets have their place, some things can’t be experienced on a screen. Engaging with the real world helps your child connect with nature and with other people, while teaching them about who they are and who they want to be as a person. Encourage your girls to get off their gadgets, and both you and they will reap the rewards of lasting memories and stronger, more rewarding relationships.
