Summer.

A time for hot days by the pool, swimming, camping, beach vacations, and BBQs. Children spend the better part of the year counting down—first to the winter holidays, and then to the summer one.

Our summer fun often falls into a routine. And, a routine can sometimes become a rut. One way to shake up the summer is to host a Family Field Day.

Remember those field days as a child? I do.

I remember the excitement of an entire day of fun, games, and competitions. They always felt like a celebration. Instead of focusing on learning, we focused on showing off our skills, and strength, and speed. We worked together in groups or competed as individuals for prizes or just plain recognition.

We enjoyed ice cream and hours of fun outside.

What if we were inspired by those days and created a Family Field Day each summer? We could cookout, make homemade ice cream—or, sure, use store-bought—and create our own ribbons or medals as rewards. Pinterest is filled with fun games and activities.

Here are just a few activities to make Family Field Day the highlight of our summer:

Sack race. This is still a thing. Grab a sack or even a garbage bag, and hop your way to the finish.

Three-legged race. This is a classic—and it’s an easy activity to add to the day.

Twister. Use colored shaving cream on each circle, and have a fun (and messy) game of outdoor Twister.

Obstacle course. Set up an obstacle course using hula hoops, pool noodles, sprinklers, and more! Get creative to make it fun.

Water balloon baseball. Have a little batting practice with water balloon baseball.

Wheelbarrow race. The classic wheelbarrow race where you hold someone’s legs and they run on their hands is always fun, but take it up a notch and play Hungry Hungry Hippos by adding balls or water balloons and a laundry basket to capture them in.

Water balloon toss. Tossing water balloons to each other is always fun! Start out at a certain distance and then take a step back after every toss.

Family balloon fight. Host a water balloon fight or shaving cream balloon fight with your family.

Water gun war. The only kind of war you’ll ever hear me endorse is with water guns or nerf guns. So grab a water gun or nerf gun and battle it out with your family for some summer fun. Set up safe zones for water gun refilling stations.

Pizza delivery relay. Collect pizza boxes from each family (empty ones, of course), and have family members complete an obstacle course while carrying a stack of pizza boxes.

Fill the bucket. Have teams compete to fill up a sand bucket with water using only a sponge. Race back and forth from the water source to the sand bucket to see who can fill it up the fastest.

Human ring toss. Use donut pool floats to set up a human ring toss. See who can get the most rings on their teammate.

There are so many other games that can be played—croquet, corn hole, badminton, and horseshoes.

What’s important isn’t what we choose to play, but that we play with good sportsmanship and a spirit of fun and adventure.

Summer vacations don’t have to be routine. We don’t need to find ourselves stuck in a rut. We may just need to consider looking outside the box for family-friendly activities to spice up the summertime.

After Family Field Day wraps, why not host an outdoor movie using a plastic sheet and projector? Or have a backyard campout, make s’mores, and tell ghost stories.

There are so many ways to enjoy time with our friends and family and to have a truly spectacular summer.

~

Author: Crystal Jackson
Image: Wikimedia
Editor: Lieselle Davidson