Family vacations and gatherings have taken a different turn during this summer of living with and adapting to Covid-19 issues. Fortunately, pursuing various fishing and boating activities is not only possible but recommended, meaning that there are many family outdoor activities that you can enjoy while keeping your family safe, healthy, and happy. Let me tell you how I just spent a week of family outdoor activities, and perhaps you can adapt some or all of this to find things to do outside with kids.
For the second summer in a row, my distant-living daughter and her family were able to spend a week with my wife and me at our coastal home. We focused on fishing and boating activities with our 5- and 7-year-old grandchildren.
1 Playing a Nature Game. I love the idea of doing an outside nature-themed activity such as a scavenger hunt or filling up an identification list of critters/birds/fish, especially if there’s an educational component. My wife and I devised a game we call “Nature Bingo” to entertain and educate our grandchildren. It involves a 5×5 box of squares and list of things to accomplish and/or discover. Those range from observing different animals, birds, amphibians, crabs, and the like, to helping fillet a fish that they catch, learning to cast a fishing rod, and paddling a kayak. It gets the kids interested in, and educated about, different outdoor flora and fauna, and filling up the entire bingo card is rewarded with an ice cream cake.
2. Crab Catching. The kids and their parents went right to our dock, which sits on a tidal creek, soon after arriving, and in no time we had them working baited handlines to catch blue crabs. Dock fishing for crabs can be done off most accessible piers and is something young and old alike can enjoy, using chicken parts or fish heads as bait. We also put out larger crab pots, and the combined catch helped contribute to an seafood feast.
Continue reading, Summer Family Outdoor Activities for Boaters and Anglers, from our friends at Take Me Fishing here.
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
