How we get our kids playing outside #LetsPlay

We’re a Let’s Play Ambassador and were compensated for this post. This post is brought to you by Let’s Play, 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 by building and improving playgrounds and donating sports equipment to groups in need. All opinions are my own.

It’s the dog days of summer and the kids just got back from school. They still need to play outside. When they get enough play they sleep better and function at school in a manner that’s much more appropriate for learning. Playing is a win/win, even if the kids don’t see it that way.

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room. It’s hot, humid and kids would rather be inside in the air-conditioning. That goes for everybody; parents don’t get a heat voucher that encases us in an air-conditioned bubble, which is quite unfortunate actually. I mention that because the best way we’ve found to encourage our kids to get outside and play in the dog days of summer is to go outside and play with them.

Its radical thinking isn’t it?

Our neighbors have a badminton net in their front yard. More times than not the neighborhood kids will yell at me to see if I can play. Occasionally, I’ll take them up on that suggestion and it’ll be me against a gaggle of kids for the first couple of points. After they win a couple of points (and according to their rules…); one or two of the kids will take pity on me and transfer to my side of the net.

If it’s not badminton, then I’ll jump in for a kick or two in soccer, break out the sidewalk chalk, race the oversized cars down the driveway that the boys outgrew or anything to shake up this kid’s world of play.

We’ve got some other tips on how to get the kids outside to play during the dog days of summer at our post over at LetsPlay.com. As a parent, what are your tips for getting the kids outside when they don’t want to go?