Memorial day is over! The school year if not finished, is on its last leg. Now begins the annual fight of how to get your kids to do something other than sit in front of the TV all summer. If they are old enough for a summer job that works out, but if they are too young for that it is hard to get them to not spend it on the computer or video game console. I thought I would offer a few helpful hints on how to get them to go outside.

1. Make sure they don’t have a house key, then send them to take the trash out to the curb and lock the doors. I would suggest changing the locks while they are out but you may not have enough time if they don’t get distracted on the way to the curb.

2. Bury five dollar bills in the yard. Don’t tell them where just let them know about them and tell them that if they find them, they can keep them. This can also prove entertaining for you. Watching them scramble about the yard like a dog looking for a place to hide a bone is funny and if you film it you might go viral!

3. Tie their cellphone to a string and put it up in a tree. Make sure you text them a few times so it is buzzing a lot while they look for it. If they ask you to call it so they can find it make sure you are close to a screen door so they hear it in the tree. I would also explain that it is not a piñata. Brooms and bats will just make you have to replace it, and the goal was to not give them something new and shiny to play with.