Ah, summer time! How we look forward to you all year and are always amazed when you're gone in the blink of an eye. My mom always made a point to plan activities and get us out of the house, making summers something we lived for as kids. No matter how short our school break was, she would always plan something special. You don't have to break the bank to do this either! If you're a fellow mama on a budget, I've made a list of ten ideas for adding joy to your summer days.
- Purchase a zoo pass or science museum pass at a discount. Scour sites & check for deals during the slow winter months that will pay off all summer long!
- Make a list of local parks and visit a new one each week. Have your child rate each park.
- Splash pads in local neighborhoods. These are often less busy and easier to get to and from than the big city water parks.
- At-home activities:
- Eating anything outside totally qualifies as a picnic, and it’s perfect for resetting bored and fussy kids!
- Scavenger hunt walk around the neighborhood. Make a list of common items you might find outside, either with words or little symbols and have your sidekicks make a game out of finding the real thing.
- Use their imagination to build something out of a box using random materials around the house (i.e, a rocket ship, a bus, a plane, etc.)
- Stay-cation campout in the living room! Build a fort big enough for your family and do all the traditional camping things. S'mores, campfire dinners, set up a tent or bring out the sleeping bags and enjoy being together!
- Snow cone dates. Find a stand near you and spend an afternoon or late evening enjoying them!
- Sleepovers. This could be with family or trusted friends that your child loves. Let them play, play, play!
- If kids are older and would enjoy this, learn a new hobby or game together.
- Some games we personally enjoy that you might not have played are: Tapple, Tenzi (can be played with dice you already have), Qwixx, Piggy Piggy, and Farkle (can also be played with dice you already have)
- Hobbies you may find you enjoy: paint-by-numbers, puzzles, reading about a subject that your child is interested in and comparing notes, pickleball, riding bikes, disc golf, ice skating
- Doing chores for friends and neighbors as a gift; mowing lawns or cleaning out flowerbeds for someone who may be elderly or disabled. Involve your kids in the process, ask if there's anyone they would like to bless.
- For kids with an imagination who love to make up stories, invent a character for the summer and take turns writing about all of his/her adventures every week. My dad and I had two imaginary raccoons named “Booney & Cooney” (don’t come after us for the names) and each week we would make up stories about all the fun stuff they got themselves into.
- Road trip to nearby attractions in and around your town. Google will be your best friend here! You never know what old historical landmark might be just a thirty minute drive away from you, so do some internet investigating and find some day-trip ideas. Bonus points if you pack a picnic lunch!
