Summer is in full swing and my kids and I are having a great time already!! For me, summer is for swimming. It’s for catching fireflies in while wearing glow sticks barefoot in the yard. Summer is a time to make forts on rainy days and pump on the swings in the sunshine. It’s the time of year for spontaneity, imagination and adventure to take over the kids for two short months of whatever they want (within reason, of course). I have read so many articles about The Unscheduled Summer to give kids a chance to explore and the opposite idea of Scheduling Your Kids so they stay on track, out of trouble and ready for back to school when the time comes. I am so far on the Unscheduled Summer side that I feel like an unscheduled kid myself at times!
I recently asked on facebook for suggestions on fun and inexpensive ways to spend time with the kids and sure enough I was sent amazing ideas!!
- Have a backyard picnic
- Go to a local farmer’s market
- Get a list of free days for residents at local museums
- Find a to a local historic educational farm
- Make a DIY Obstacle Course
- Walk around a local college campus
- Ride Scooters
- Go to the Beach
- Find a local park and hike around while looking for bugs and birds
- Pull the hose out and just let them play with buckets and toys
- Make Sponge balls
- Cook together
- Check out local summer fairs and buy an unlimited rides band
- Check out summer library kids programs
- Giving them a bag of quarters and going to yard sales
- Draw with colored chalk
- Geocaching
- Find pine cones and make bird feeders with peanut butter and seed
- Fly kites
- Go tide-pooling at the beach
- Check out different playgrounds in your area
- Go to a friend’s pool if you don’t have your own
- Find free reading rewards programs at local libraries, book stores and more
- Dress up in costumes
- Take an after dinner walk around the neighborhood
- Plant a garden
- Play board games
- Build with glue and popsicle sticks
- Take a kid’s class at a local Home Depot or Lowe’s
- Blow Bubbles
- Check out a local river or lake
- Ride Bikes
- Ride Flikers (I need to try these!!)
- Read Stories outside
- Go on a nature scavenger hunt
- Turn up the music really loud and have a dance party
- Make salt dough ornaments and paint them as early holiday gifts
- Check out DubSmash, thank me later
- Put some Just Dance Videos on Youtube and get up and have fun
- Go to a farm and feed the animals
- Visit a local animal shelter
What’s on tap for your summer??
Looking for some craft ideas for rainy days?
Want to make some memories with your daughters?
Leave a Reply