Vogt’s Notes: There’s no lack of summertime fun for kids – Pine and Lakes Echo Journal

We are now a few weeks into summer with kids out of school enjoying their break from the classroom.

While the school year offers endless learning opportunities, so does summer with the added element of lots of fun.

The list of things to do is nearly endless. You can:

• Check out your community’s library programs for kids to keep them reading, learning and having fun through summer.
• Take your children to the multitude of parks and splash pads in our area communities.
• Splash around in a lake and build a sandcastle at a beach.
• Take a walk or bike ride on the Paul Bunyan Trail or through your neighborhood.
• Walk the Veterans Trail off Crow Wing County Road 16 in Jenkins Township, or take a guided tour of the Uppgaard Wildlife Management Area on the south side of CR 16 at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays through summer.
• Enroll your child in a Vacation Bible School or an area camp. The Lakes Area Music Festival offers an Explore Music! camp the first week in August in Brainerd. There are many youth sports camps going on all summer long; let your child experience a few to find out what they might be most interested in doing.
• Take a Wednesday afternoon to participate in Turtle Races in downtown Nisswa. You can’t grow up in the lakes area without racing a turtle!
• Try Duck Drop Bingo, a new Friday afternoon event starting June 27 in Pine River to replace the former Duck Races event.
• Check out Happy Dancing Turtle offerings for children at their Pine River campus.
• Spend a day at a zoo.
• Visit a county park. Climb the fire tower at the Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park in Pequot Lakes.
• Visit a state park for a day or spend a weekend exploring one.

This is just a short list of opportunities for learning and fun in our communities, and all are affordable or free.

Summer should be a time for relaxing and recharging for all ages after a busy school year. But that shouldn’t mean three months of screen time in front of cellphones, computers and TVs.

Get your kids outside. Take advantage of what our communities offer in the form of outdoor activities and fun yet educational programs.

Every week while compiling news releases to publish in the Echo Journal, I learn about cool activities for kids. It makes me wish my 5 year old granddaughter lived closer so I could experience some of them with her.

I have such great memories of my childhood summers that include friends and the outdoors. Whether it was playing creative games in my best friend’s pool, building forts in the woods and climbing trees or riding our bikes around the neighborhood, we were always outside having fun.

I came across this enlightening information in an email from the University of Minnesota. Katie Schuver, a lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, shared why physical activity is important for kids.

“While it might just seem like a way to burn off energy, regular movement plays a powerful role in child development and has the potential to impact everything from physical health to emotional well-being and academic success,” she said.

“Regular physical activity helps build strong muscles and bones, supports a healthy weight and improves cardiovascular health. Additionally, studies show active children tend to perform better in school, as it improves concentration, memory and behavior outcomes,” Schuver said.

Encouraging kids to be regularly physically active at a young age lays the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases later in life, she said.

So what are you waiting for? Exciting summer opportunities abound for your kids right out your front door.