Indoor Summer Activities: For When It's Raining

Copyright Flora Breen Robison

SUMMERTIME:

Ah, the Dog Days of Summer. This conjures up images of the beaches, parks, sprinklers and sand castles. What if the weather doesn't cooperate? It is quite often raining here in B.C., but there are plenty of places where the temperature is so hot, that you might get sunstroke. Either way, you need to find something fun to do during your summer holidays indoors. Don't sit in front of the computer or watch endless reruns on Television. There are plenty of indoor summer activities you can enjoy alone or with the whole family.

Board Games and Card Games

I have always thought that the term "board game" had an unintended and unfortunate double meaning through a homonym. A board game is a game that uses a board, but it is not boring. Rather, it is something you play not only to keep yourself from being bored but to have lots of fun with friends and family.

Some board games are quite complicated and require mental concentration and memory such as Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit. Others rely on a combination of luck and skill such as Monopoly or Clue. Still others require you to show creativity and imagination: Pitcionary and Charades-technically not a Board game but involves topic cards-can work up a sweat with players drawing and acting to help their team members win a round.

Card games are great choices, especially for two or four players. Perhaps introducing children to games like Poker or Gin Rummy is best left until they are older. There are still family friendly games like Hearts, Uno, Old Maid, Go Fish, or Cribbage.

Performing Music

Do you have a musical family? I do. Plenty of us can sing or play musical instruments. Why not turn off the stereo,mp3 players, etc. and make some live music? Every time my family visited my grandmother before she moved near me always involved at least one impromptu sing along of folk music. Voice, ukulele, guitar, drums, keyboard-all instruments were welcome. No Christmas get together is complete without singing all the popular carols-why not sing during the summer time as well?

Swimming

Swimming is an option year-round. There are indoor swimming pools and/or wave pools available in every major city and small town. If you are lucky you might even own a hot tub and prefer to soak while eddies of hot water soothe and relax your muscles.

Reading

Just because school is out doesn't mean reading is over until September. There are plenty of titles that are fun to read and a wide variety of genres for everyone. Personally, I love mystery and suspense. Other popular genres for teens and adults include science fiction, fantasy, romance, and westerns. Children's literature is a booming business, and there are current and classic authors to help instill a lifelong love of reading even in the youngest of readers.

Go To a Show

Your home or local YMCA are not the only indoor locations suitable for family activities. Why not buy tickets to a live show? There are family friendly plays and musicals in most major cities and some small towns. I live in the Fraser Valley and there are a large number of theatre groups, several choirs, bands, and orchestras in the Fraser Valley. I am very lucky to live where I do. Are there any live performances where you live? Why not see a performance of live music instead of using headphones or local play instead of television?

Of course, if there is no local production near where you live, you could always go to a movie matinee. There should be movies that are appropriate for the whole family, or at least titles where the children can watch one movie while the teens and adults see another in the same movie theatre. This could be a once per week activity and many blockbusters are released during the summer.

In Conclusion

My cousins grew up in Prince Rupert, B.C. It is one of the rainiest places in the whole province and the whole country. I'm not suggesting that they went outside during a thunder and lightning storm, but there was an attitude that if you wanted to wait for the sun you will never go outside. As a result, my relatives would play outside with light mists and sprinkles even up to a warm steady rain. Prince Rupert does not breed skittish couch potatoes.