We want to help YOU nurture family relationships this summer with your kids. It is incredible how quickly the summers go, so we decided to team up with Kerri and Christina, child play therapists from Love Play Grow, to find toys we would BOTH recommend! Together we came up with a list of 11 toys and games that will surely bring your closer to your kids and family for EPIC FAMILY FUN!
1. Giant, Inflatable Bowling Game: Just like the smaller toys get the cuter they are, the larger toys get the funnier they are! This giant bowling set is great for family fun nights. Play bowling the traditional way, or set up the pins in different ways to create challenges!
2. Sink N Sand Game: Sink and Sand is a unique game that involves every kids’ favorite, kinetic sand! This game is easy to learn, fun, and great for families. Encourage kids to come up with a storyline for their characters, or create a family story that involves all the characters to level up the game and add creativity and connection!
3. Giant Connect Four: Giant connect 4 is a great game to keep out every day on your deck or patio. A great game to develop strategy, critical thinking, and turn taking in your child! Smaller kids can connect 3 and older kids can try to connect 5!
4. Uno Splash: UNO is the perfect card game! Easy to learn and a huge crowd pleaser, this splash version is great for summer family fun nights! Great for pool or beach play and barbecues where cards can’t get wrecked! UNO is also an easy game to modify, one of our favorite ways to play is where players pick a feeling for each color and share something that “goes with” that feeling when they play the color! You can be as silly or as serious as you want, though we recommend silly for laughs.
5. Water Blasters: Water blasters are a great pool toy, but you don’t need a pool to enjoy the fun, fill up a plastic tub with water from the hose and get to blasting! Play games like who can blast water the furthest, set up targets, and definitely plan a parent vs child blast fight!
6. Lawn Skee: Your favorite carnival game is now your favorite lawn game! Skee-ball is a classic carnival game that evokes nostalgia and is good old family fun. Unfurl the 7-foot ramp and secure it to the ground with the included stakes. Adjust the angle to match your skill level, then set out the scoring rings just beyond the ramp into any configuration you want. Players take turns rolling the balls up the ramp to launch through the air and land in one of the rings.
7. Inflatable Art Easel: Art is a fantastic way for kids to explore their imagination and inner world. Paint in particular is so therapeutic but so messy! Bring the paint outside with this inflatable easel. Double sided and easy to hose off when the fun is done, this easel is a great way to encourage creativity in nature-a double dose of calm for kids (and adults)! Play our favorite, the squiggle game with your kids! Each person takes one side of the easel and creates a “squiggle”. Then, switch sides and create a picture out of the squiggle. See if the other person can guess what you created!
8. Riwi Blocks: We love open-ended toys that have endless possibilities, and these foam blocks are no exception. Soft, machine washable, and perfect for outdoor family fun. We can imagine obstacle courses, forts, and the most epic game of The Floor is Lava with these.
9. Zip Ball: Retro and so fun, this fast paced football game is great for big belly laughs. Perfect for two players, this game is great for connecting with kids of all ages.
10. Throw Throw Burrito OUTDOOR Game: We love this game as it was originally created and this outdoor version is a great addition to your family fun nights! Throwing burritos at each other is sure to create laughs and hilarious memories for your family. Collaboratively setting boundaries (I.e. “can’t be thrown at someone’s face”) before play starts is also a great way to develop family rules/culture.
11. Giant Jelly Ball: This giant balloon ball is a hilarious and fun way to play outside! Picture the biggest bubble you’ve ever seen, that can’t be popped! Perfect for kicking, throwing, a new and interesting way to keep kids playing outside, these Giant Jelly Balloon Balls are great for a family fun night in the backyard. Fun hack, fill with water when its really hot out!
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