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Summer is a wonderful time of year when
children can enjoy lots of fresh air and outdoor play.
There is certainly no shortage of excellent activities,
toys and accessories to entertain and inspire children
of all ages. Some of the favorites among kids include;
bubbles, inflatable bouncers and play sets, kites and
wind spinners, outdoor furniture, playhouses and play
tents, pools and water fun, and sandboxes and beach
toys.
Bubbles are one of those outdoor activities that can be
enjoyed by babies to adults. Blowing bubbles has never
had quite so many options to choose from as it does
today. There are plastic bubble lawn mowers, bubble
catchers, bubble vision glasses, bubble wands, bubble
lights, wands for small to super huge bubbles, no spill
bubble buckets, monster bubble blowers, bubble blizzards
(that blow nonstop bubbles) and bubble blowers available
in popular fictional characters and a myriad of colors
and styles. Blowing bubbles is an inexpensive way to
have hours of outdoor fun.
One of the most exciting types of play for young
children involves using the wide variety of inflatable
bouncers and play sets on the market. Your backyard will
be the center of activity if you set up one of these
wonderful toys. Inflatable
bouncers can be purchased in several different sizes
from large (9 feet by 9 feet by 6 feet high) able to
accommodate several children to small bouncers that only
hold two children. Deluxe bouncers offer a fun and safe
play environment with continuous air flow for safety and
puncture resistant heavy gauge vinyl. There is a wide
selection of designs such as castles, popular fictional
character themes, inflatable fire engines, school buses,
climbing walls, inflatable cars, inflatable play centers
and playhouses. Several of the inflatable toys come with
soft balls included for tossing, kicking and pushing
around within the structure.
Kites, wind spinners and windsocks are a wonderful way
for you and your child to interact and enjoy a lovely
outdoor activity. The beautiful colors, designs and
sizes available will surely be remembered for years to
come. Kites can be purchased in an endless array of
designs to include; airplanes with spinning propellers,
helicopters, birds (flamingos and parrots), sharks,
dolphins, butterflies, hummingbirds, fish, dragons,
cellular box kites, dolphin kites, sailboats, cellular
kites, diamond kites, parasail kites and tri-planes to
only name a few. Wind spinners and windsocks come in as
many designs as do the kites, in an assortment of
fantastic colors and patterns.
Children can enjoy the same comfort that adults do when
it comes to outdoor furniture. Whether it be having
lunch at their favorite plastic or wooden picnic table
or lounging back in their adirondack chair, it’s always
fun for them to be just like mom or dad. Other adorable
pieces of children’s outdoor furniture can include;
playhouses (complete with doorbell and motion detector),
patio sets (with umbrella, table and chairs), fabric
patio chairs, plastic mushroom tables, play lemonade
stands, plastic mailboxes, plastic stone benches and
folding armchairs.
Playhouses provide children with hours of imaginative
and pretend play. There is nothing more special to a
child than having their own little imaginary home to
dream and role play in. Playhouses will often be a part
of backyard outdoor toys
in either plastic or wooden designs with climbers and
swings. Some of the plastic playhouses are available
with sounds such as doorbells, phones and motion
detectors. Plastic playhouses can be purchased in
pirate, cottage, log cabin, mushroom house and camper
styles.
Similar to playhouses, play tents are usually made with
nylon or plastic and also come in a wide variety of
designs and styles. The biggest difference between the
two is that play tents are usually much easier to
assemble, disassemble and portable if needed. Play tents
are available in tunnels (for crawling through), dome
play tents, lady bug tents, tents with tunnel addition,
school bus, fire engine, bulldozer, playhouses,
camouflage tents, popular fictional character theme
tents, four tunnels joined by tent in middle, tee pees
and castle tents. Fabric parachutes can also be used as
tents draped over objects in the home or used for
throwing up toys with children in a circle.
It truly feels like summer once everyone has gone for a
swim. Pools offer wonderful relief from the hot weather
and a refreshing way to have some fun. There is a
mountain of pools and pool toys to choose from, whether
it be a kiddie pool or a pool lounger there is no
shortage of options. Above ground inflatable pools can
be found in different sizes to accommodate the kids or
the whole family. Kiddie pools are available in sunshade
cover designs, popular character themes, different
colors and activity pool styles. The pool
toys you select will only add
to the enjoyment with water guns and canons, kick
boards, lifejackets, inflatable water wings, retrieval
toys, rafts and loungers, inflatable sharks, tubes,
inflatable basketball hoops, seat rings and beach balls
to name a few.
Lastly, playing in the sand can provide both learning
skills and entertainment for any child, whether it be in
their backyard sandbox or at the beach. Building
sandcastles and sand play is particularly helpful in
teaching social skills (sharing, interacting and
cooperation), cognitive skills (measuring sand and
mapping out roads) and physical skills (pouring,
dumping, pushing and gathering sand etc.). Sandbox kits
can be purchased to set up or you can select from
several designs such as; turtles, castles, water and
sand tables, ladybug, dinosaur and frog sandboxes.
Sandbox and beach accessories might include;
wheelbarrows, pails of all sizes, rakes, shovels, molds
and beach chairs.
Outdoor play is a great way for the kids to get out of
the house and use their imaginations. All forms of
outdoor activities easily promote well-being and
physical development. Children love to play outdoors as
it allows them the chance to freely explore their
environment while developing muscle coordination,
flexibility and motor skills while decreasing
restlessness and stress. And don't forget . . . always
remember to put sunscreen on your child whenever they
are outside.
Valerie Giles - owns and operates
Toys-4-Kids (
http://www.toys-4-kids.com ) Educate your child
through play. Toys-4-kids is a web site full of resource
information and online toy stores. Purchase the right
educational toys for every child
throughout their growing years. The site focuses on many
categories of toys from baby toys, to outdoor toys and
bikes for kids, as well as Barbie Collectibles.
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