50 Ways to cool off without air conditioning

It's pretty hot and sticky right now in Southern Minnesota (and much of the rest of the country). With temperatures around the hundred degree mark, it can be downright miserable. The good news is that there are dozens of great ways to cool down even without cranking on the a/c.

Whether you don't have air conditioning or just want to keep it off to help the environment (and your electric bill), here's 50 ways to keep your cool without it.

1. Mist yourself with water
2. Close the windows and drapes in the morning before it heats up outside, then open them when it cools down at night and get a good cross breeze going
3. Run through the sprinkler with your kids
4. Drink something ice cold
5. Use fans when you're in the room
6. Better yet, hang wet towels in front of fans to cool the air
7. That said, turn fans off when you're not in the room (they make you feel cooler when you're in front of them, but they actually slightly heat the air)
8. Take a cold shower
9. Fill the kiddie pool in a shady part of the back yard and join the kids in it
10. Eat something cool and refreshing, like chilled watermelon or fruit juice popsicles
11. Wipe your skin with a cool washcloth
12. Go wading in a creek
13. Drink lots of water (and note that soda, alcohol and iced coffees don't keep you hydrated like plain old water)
14. Go do volunteer work at someplace air conditioned, like a nursing home
15. Soak your feet in cool water
16. Head to the beach
17. Make no-cook meals like salads and sandwiches
18. Hang out in the basement and lower levels of the house
19. Munch on ice chips or frozen grapes
20. Wash the car
21. Run very cold water on your wrists for 10 to 20 seconds
22. Put your sheets and pillowcases in the freezer for an hour before bed
23. Have a water gun fight
24. Visit the local pool
25. Do your grocery shopping during the hottest part of the day
26. Pop some two liter bottles of water in your freezer and then put them in front of the fan to blow cooler air
27. Wrap a cool towel around your neck
28. Go to a matinee
29. Make ice necklaces with the kids -- freeze flowers and other fun things in muffin cups with a length of ribbon, then wear once they're frozen
30. Turn off anything unnecessary that produces heat (such as incandescent light bulbs, computers and TVs)
31. Make some sponge balls and toss them with the kids
32. Have a picnic in the shade
33. Explore a local cave
34. Wear a bandanna soaked in cool water
35. Hand wash your delicates in cold water and hang them to dry
36. Wear loose clothing (and as little as possible)
37. Make up some green smoothies
38. Spread out a tarp in a shady area outside, turn on the hose for a few minutes and then slip, slide, splash and have fun with the kids in the water on it
39. Splash in a city fountain
40. Go on a sprinkler walk -- walk through neighborhoods where businesses or homes typically have their sprinklers going near sidewalks and purposely get wet
41. Go boating
42. If you have a flexible schedule, take a siesta during the hottest part of the day and do more work in the cool evening
43. Visit a local mall (especially struggling, half empty ones) -- you'll help area businesses and escape the heat
44. Eat some spicy food to get you sweating (which naturally cools the body) and open your pores
45. Dampen your clothes
46. Make hand fans out of pleated paper or stiff cardboard (kids can have fun decorating theirs)
47. Turn your ceiling fan on -- and make sure it's turning in the right direction (forward or counter-clockwise cools the air, while clockwise pushes the warm up back down at you)
48. Take a cold bath (if you like and if you don't have small children, leave the water in it and get in or dunk your feet in it throughout the day)
49. Slather on some mint lotion, which cools the skin
50. Read old blog entries and look at old photos from the winter time. Sometimes thinking back to how much we missed the warm weather months can help us appreciate them a lot better!