I made up this list a few years ago for a local social service agency and thought I’d share it here in honor of Father’s Day. They’re all pretty simple activities but sometimes it’s nice to have a list to get you thinking. Obviously, these are things that moms, mentors, grandparents & others can do with kids too!
30 Fun Things Dads can do with kids
1. Build with legos or other building blocks.
2. Go to a matinee.
3. Play basketball.
4. Make a birdhouse or other woodworking project together.
5. Have a "dad & me" supper night where kids and dad are in charge of cooking (very little kids can help stir, cut herbs with safety scissors and such).
6. Go for a walk or bike ride.
7. Read favorite books from dad’s childhood.
8. Go rock hunting for fossils and other cool rocks.
9. Visit a park you haven’t been to before.
10. Go for a drive and talk about life when you were a kid.
11. Go looking for animal tracks.
12. Take a free class together at a home improvement store.
13. Go to a neighborhood ball game.
14. Volunteer together at a nature center, humane society or other organization.
15. Build a fort out of appliance boxes — or for real!
16. Teach the kids something — from how to play golf to how to play guitar to how to make Grandma’s famous spaghetti sauce.
17. Do home improvement & maintenance projects together. Even cleaning gutters can be fun if you do it with dad.
18. Build or paint models together.
19. Play catch.
20. Go mini golfing. No course nearby? Make one in the back yard or living room.
21. Draw or paint, even finger paint.
22. Go hiking. Carry little ones in a back carrier or by piggy back.
23. Do magic, and then teach the kids how to do almost all of the tricks (save one or two for mysteries). Libraries and book stores carry lots of magic books.
24. Make paper airplanes. Forget how? Look it up online to find lots of great model plans for free.
25. Go boating.
26. Play cards.
27. Go to an arcade and play pinball or other games.
28. Shoot pool.
29. Go to some garage sales and look for deals and diversions.
30. Just sit and talk.
Here’s to all the great daddies, grandpas, uncles, stepdads, teachers, coaches, neighbors and friends who are helping make kids’ lives more magical.
Happy Father’s Day!
~Alicia
Alicia,
Your site popped up when I did a search about getting children “unplugged” while doing some publicity for my newest children’s book with Farrar Straus & Giroux (yes, authors have to do their own publicity these days, and it’s all online).
Because of your interest in getting kids unplugged, I thought you might like to take a look at “Too Much Flapdoodle” (http://us.macmillan.com/toomuchflapdodle). It’s a chapter book, aimed at 7-12 year-olds, about a boy who is completely “plugged in” until he has to go spend the summer on the farm of his eccentric Great Aunt and Great Uncle. If you’d like more information, or possibly a review copy, just let me know.
I’d love it if you could consider it for recommendation, if you have a way to do it on your web site.
Sincerely
Amy MacDonald
10 Winslow Rd., Falmouth, ME 0410
http://www.AmyMacDonald.com
“Too Much Flapdoodle” is a “read aloud treat” (Kirkus). In stores now.
Aunt MAttie and Uncle Philbert now have a web site
of their own! http://www.mattieandphilbert.com/