Facebook pages where neighbors can engage with one another.  Below is a list of ideas that will get your entire neighborhood involved with staying connected.  

We've been doing these fun activities in our own neighborhoods and the joy it brings to, not only the children, but the adults as well is tremendous.  It is giving people something to look forward to and is making their daily routines a lot more fun.  Many neighbors who don't have children, or whose children are grown, have commented about how they too have enjoyed looking for the items on their daily walks.  They rave on Facebook about the happiness they feel seeing the children light up in front of their homes when they find the items.

  • Teddy Bear Hunt -  this is a popular one around the globe right now.  Teddy bears are popping up in people's front windows as children walk through the neighborhood looking for them.  This seems to have been inspired by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's 1989 book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt.  In the popular story, a group of brave children face enormous obstacles in a quest to "catch a big one" on a beautiful day.  Here is a fun cartoon of the popular book to watch:  :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waoa3iG3bZ
  • Zoofari - have neighbors place different types of stuffed/plastic animals in their windows or around their yards.  The children will enjoy seeing all the different types.
  • Cereal Boxes - place different types of cereal boxes in your windows.  Have the children be the "cereal detectives" and count how many different types of cereal they find.  Bring a pencil and paper to keep track of the total.  When you get home, add them up or create a bar graph to see which kinds are most popular.
  • Chalk Day - encourage everyone to draw in their driveways and on on their sidewalks on a particular day.  Encourage the neighborhood to get out and walk around (6 feet apart, of course) together to see the beautiful artwork.  Children can draw beautiful pictures and adults can write encouraging messages.
  • Joke/Maze/Game Chalk Day - have children write a knock, knock joke on the sidewalk with the answer a few feet away.  Draw a hopscotch or a fun puzzle/maze on the sidewalk for people to do as they walk by.
  • Easter Egg Hunt - Social distancing may cancel all the traditional community egg hunts, but neighbors can still place colored plastic eggs in windows.  Children will still have fun looking for and counting them.

We hope that the activities above bring as much joy and happiness to your neighborhoods, as they have to ours.  Stay safe and healthy!

- All Recreation