5 reasons to take your kids on an adventure

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine.

With summer here and school out, finding ways to keep my kids busy and constructive is at the top of my list. I sat down and made a list of over 100 activities that we WILL do this summer (I will share them next week), and one of the things on the list is going to the mountains to have a hot dog roast. We love the outdoors, we are always planning camping trips and enjoying hikes and adventuring, so my kids have so much fun. It is one of the places where they can be free and have fun and I can sit back and relax and we can all forget about the dishes, and the laundry and cleaning and the million other things that occupy our days. When you take your kids on an adventure, it is good for everyone and you learn about new things and grow together as a family.

This last weekend, my kids were getting a little stir-crazy and so we decided to go up into the mountains and have a hot dog roast and make s’mores. It was a good thing I had gone to Kroger the day before and picked up some much needed picnic supplies. A few things I knew we would need were wet wipes (for cleaning up after s’mores), paper towels and eating utensils. I also got watermelon, chips, veggies, buns and some Beef Ball Park® Hot Dogs. We packed everything up in the cooler, got everyone into the car and headed out. While it took a while to find an open spot (I guess we weren’t the only ones with that idea 😉 ), we finally spotted the perfect place and we were all happy as we piled out of the car and got everything ready. The kids loved helping setup the camp, getting the food out, helping dad build the fire, and play with the dog. We even brought some fun coloring and activity pages that we printed, for the kids to do while we were getting things ready. They loved them! You can make your own adventure and get the printables here.

My kids were having so much fun that they even made their own nature scavenger hunt up. Once the Ball Park® Hot Dogs were cooked, we loaded our plates with all of the yummy things we brought and had a fun meal with stories and memories. My kids even put out some bread in a trail in hopes of “catching a squirrel”, or rather being able to watch it eat. We did not see one while we were there, but we did spot a deer up on the mountainside, which was cause for a lot of great entertainment. Our dog Jake even loved coming along and exploring with the kids. They all talk about how they can’t wait to go back and have more cookouts. We are looking forward too it as well!

Because I know how important it is, I want to share with you 5 reasons to take your kids on an adventure:

You will grow together as a family, friends and understand each other better
Explore new places, make a book or map or journal and picture books to remember your trips
By going on adventures, you are instilling in them the importance to venture out into the world and learn and explore
It gives them the abilities to learn new things and discover the world around them on their own, bring what they see on the TV and games to life
It let’s you unplug from this busy world and focus on what is really important in life

What other ways can you connect with your family by going on adventures?

It doesn’t even have to be out in the world, you can do at home adventures and bring the outside world in! There are a lot of fun and creative ways to have an indoor camp out, go exploring, and more! We have used chairs and other furniture to build forts or tents and put sleeping bags in them and slept the night there. We have gotten lanterns and flashlights, books, games and any number of other things we could find and had a great time. If your kids want a campfire, you can make one with things you have around your home, like a flashlight, paper towel tubes and more, and cut out flames with construction paper. Create and indoor “outdoor” scavenger hunt where they have to find things around the house or your yard that remind them of camping. Have you done this before? What did your family love?