Staying cool (when the weather isn't)
Ouch! The mercury is rising, the forecast is a searing 40+ degrees, and we’re bracing for another hot spell.
I’m so grateful to now live in a spot that catches a seabreeze, but when my 4 kids were little we lived in a old, small, stuffy house in a hot concrete suburb where sea breezes were just a fanciful dream.
Hot days call for cool ideas. Here are some that require very few resources and an easy set-up, but can brighten up a hot and bothered crew.
Paint with water
Surely this is the simplest way to cool off hot littlies. On a shady decking, lawn or path offer water in a sturdy stable pot, something like a saucepan or a big yoghurt container. Include a big paintbrush or two, nothing fussy (a hardware brush is fine, a toothbrush or pastry brush will suffice). Invite your child to paint a cool masterpiece on the fence, the decking, the path, themselves... whatever. They can even paint their own shadow.
Add some colour
For more colourful outdoor masterpieces tape some pieces of paper or cardboard to the fence or wall - a flattened-out box is perfect for this. Add some washable paint to a tray along with the water and use brushes, fingers or sticks to paint. Clothes are optional for minimal cleanup!
Offer a few sticks of chalk along with the water - wet chalk makes bright marks on wood and concrete, and water erases the drawings.
Freeze the colour
This activity needs to be prepared the night before, but it’s worth it… dilute some washable paint in water and pour it carefully into an iceblock tray. Once frozen offer the colourful iceblocks in a baking tray (along with some old cloths) to make marks as it slips around and melts. Add some paper into the tray, or use flattened cardboard laid on the ground.
Ice tubs
Children can find ice fascinating. Place ice cubes or a bag of ice into a large shallow tub, in a sandpit or onto the grass in the shade. Add plastic animals, cups, scoops and anything else you can think of and watch a child’s imagination go wild!
Freeze the toys
Try freezing plastic toys, blocks and animals inside ice cubes or small containers of water, and let children play as the melting ice sets them free.
Freeze water in a balloon. How fast does it melt? How does it feel?
Bathe the toys
If the kids are feeling hot you might ask if their toys are feeling the same way. Encourage them to give those waterproof toys a refreshing bath in a shallow tub on the lawn. Add some soap or a dash of shampoo, a facewasher and towel, and let the splashy good fun begin.
Create a backyard laundry. Let the children ‘wash’ the dolls clothes and peg them out on a string or clothes horse to drip dry over the lawn.
No dolls clothes to wash?… try facewashers, and a clothes horse to hang them out to dry.
Safety is cool
Remember to always be sun smart and water safe.
If you’re using water in tubs don’t fill them too deep… it’s safer to keep topping them up as needed. All containers should be emptied when the play is finished and always watch your children when playing around water. Supervise kids with ice too, especially if they are inclined to pop it in their mouths. Play it safe to play it cool, and have fun.
