Want a really fun, outdoor activity that your child and the whole neighborhood can participate in? Try organizing a large water gun fight. In addition to being fun, it can also help your child develop organizational and leadership skills at an early age.
==> Help Your Child Make It Happen
If your child is excited about the idea of doing it, make sure he (or she) knows that it’s his project, not yours.
That said, your role is to help your child make sure everything goes smoothly. Sometimes, you may need to lend a helping hand.
It’s important that even when you help out, your child still feels like it’s his project. This helps build a sense of success when the event goes off well.
==> Inviting Other Kids
A big part of developing social skills and later in life professional skills is the ability to get other people excited by your own ideas.
Later in life, that comes in handy when managing projects, finding a job, looking for investments or doing anything in the professional world. As a kid on the playground, it helps make friends and helps build confidence.
Some kids will be able to get others excited about a game without any help. Other kids might have a little trouble. If your child has problems coming up with how to get other kids interested, help out.
Tell your child to start with his or her friends. Contact other parents you know and ask if they’ll bring their kids. Together with your child, create a poster and post it on your school’s bulletin board.
==> Organizing the Game Itself
As for the game itself, help your child go through the process of planning out the day.
Some kids might just want to run around shooting each other with water guns. Other kids might want something more structured, like a “capture the flag” water gun fight.
If your child wants to do something more complex, help him figure out all the rules. Use the internet to help come up with game ideas.
==> Food and Other Aspects
If a bunch of kids are getting together for a water gun fight, that probably means a lot of other parents are going to be there as well.
Instead of just making it a water gun fight, it can also be a BBQ or a picnic in the park. It’ll be a great chance to get to know other parents, as well as your child’s friends.
Try to give your child as much independence to organize the event as possible; however, you should probably handle the food. Give your child the opportunity to focus on just one thing.
Co-organizing a water gun fight with your child is a fantastic way to cool down in summer, have a ton of fun and help your child develop social and organizational skills all at the same time.