5 Simple Ideas to Kick Start Your Spring Play

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Let’s Play, but all opinions are my own.

Excitement in the air as Daddy Mojo is a Let’s Play Ambassador for Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Let’s Play initiative. With two kids who need to get out and  play, a very good understanding of where our local parks are and a curiosity to discover new places to play, we’re all pumped. Let’s Play is an initiative by Dr Pepper Snapple Group that provides kids and families with the tools, places and inspiration to make active play a daily priority. Through Let’s Play, Dr Pepper Snapple Group partners with two non-profit organizations – KaBOOM! to build and improve playgrounds and Good Sports to provide grants for sports equipment – to help make active play possible.

Playing is a very important tool in how kids learn. It helps build teamwork and assists in those lessons that books just can’t teach. Plus, it helps young students get the exercise that they need, considering that only a third of kids take gym daily.

May! Let’s face it, May is everybody’s favorite month of the year. It’s not that the other months are bad; it’s just that May is perfect, and it’s a great month to get active. The kids can play longer due to more daylight, and are frustrated when they have to go to bed before the sun sets. All of this means that the kids can enjoy new things in the spring and summer. Think about it, the last time it was this warm in some of their young lives they couldn’t do some of the things that they wanted to do.

Here are five things that our family does to get the kids active and make the most of this fabulous season that will hopefully give inspiration to you and yours to get active:

1. Planting in the garden:

Our garden is a hodgepodge of activity. There are a couple blackberry bushes, some blueberry bushes and a revolving assortment of new plants each spring. This year, the kids and I planted some basil, tomato plants, edamame beans and catnip. We planted the catnip in an effort to (hopefully) get the chipmunks out of the garden. Regardless, we’ve also put up cages around the plants to ensure that the red fruit will become best friends to lettuce in late July.

Once a day the kids and I walk around the area. We look for weeds to pull and put in the compost, note the growth of everything and get just a little bit of exercise. This usually leads to more activity outside, like finding friends in the neighborhood, soccer or trying to hit the tennis ball.

2. Simple cycling goals

Our children are 4 and 6. Last summer one was on a tricycle and the other had training wheels. The older brother was not a fan of riding the bike. He’d had the balance bike for two summers previously so we thought he’d be eager to jump onto his big boy bike. We were wrong. It was like pulling teeth to get him on that bike and the only way we got him warmed up to it was by establishing some very simple cycling goals.

For every 10 times he went through the bike course that we had set up he got to go to the dollar store and get one thing. This scale of rewards lasted for about four weeks, then it got too easy for him and we had to increase it to 20. Fast forward a year, and he’s cruising around without the training wheels with ease. We now have his brother that we’re trying to teach the system. His goals are to be determined, but the fact that he sees his brother doing it will hopefully make the process much easier.

3. Clean out the toys

File under: spring cleaning. However, this is one spring cleaning task that can get the kids moving. It’s a chance to donate the sports equipment that they no longer play with, recycle the broken plastic parts, organize the gloves, bats and mystery items that somehow accumulated over the winter.

We get the kids involved with cleaning the garage and their play room because that way they know where their stuff is, or at least they should know. A reasonably cleaner storage area will result in kids that can play quicker and hopefully get them on the lifelong habit of picking up after themselves.

4. Pick an activity and finish it

Every winter, spring and summer since the oldest was 5 we made the kids pick an activity. It could be swimming, basketball, ball class, tennis or anything that they were interested in. Once they picked their sport or activity we’d find a class at our local recreation center. The rule is that they can pick whatever they want but they must finish it. Each class lasts six to ten weeks, so it’s not a big time investment and gives the kids a nice overview of something that they might possibly want to do more of.

Our oldest loves basketball, which is a bit surprising given his height relative to his peers and our non-basketball persona. But, he loves it, so he practices dribbling after school and looks forward to his class every week. The youngest is still testing the waters with his latest experiment being tennis.  My gut tells me that this sport will be a keeper for a long time.

5. Pick a new park

We know where the local parks are located and drive to them frequently, however, with spring’s longer hours we started exploring new areas and parks that are further away. We always have a fun time exploring with the kids, they are always enthusiastic and curious to find new places to play.

For more tips to help your kids and family get active, check out my post on LetsPlay.com.