How to enjoy summer- activity ideas

Next up in the How to ENJOY summer series, is Activity ideas!




When my kids got home from their last day of school, I had this waiting for them.



Behind the poster is a basket full of all sorts of fun stuff!


I made a trip to the dollar store and filled the basket with a few fun things.
There are water guns, a bad mitten set, cups (to try to drink more water), drink umbrellas,
light up flyers to play with after the sun goes down, coloring and activity books,
bubbles, chalk, rocket balloons, crayons and small books.
We are keeping this basket handy to remind my kids of all of the fun things they can do.


Another things we like to do is make is a Summer Fun list!
I put it on the chalkboard doors right in our dining room.
It gives us something fun to look at and keeps us excited with activities to look forward to.


Here is our list from last year.  
We did most of these things. It was a blast!
I think we'll just repeat this list for 2016.


I really think half of the battle of summer is being prepared.
Having a list of activity ideas really helps with that.

Here are some  Activity ideas that are free, inexpensive and special outing type.

Free:
*go to the park: it's hot here, so we go earlier in the day
*visit the sprinkler pad (we have a city park that has a sprinkler pad)
*camp out in the back yard
*write in your journal (prompts here)
*go on a hike:  we don't have mountains, but we have lots of trails to explore
*go on roller blade, scooter or bike rides
*jump on the tramp with or without sprinklers
*have a water fight
*make cookies
*play card and board games (we like Uno, Farkle, Sequence and Telestrations)
amazon afilliate links
*do a large puzzle
 *visit the library
 *make a fort in the living room
*driveway chalk art show

Inexpensive:
*visit the local swimming pool
*go roller skating
*summer movie (a few of the theaters in our area have a summer movie program
with kids movies costing $1-$2)
*go bowling
*have a picnic at the lake
*go on a treasure hunt (give kids a small amount of money and see
what treasures they come up with from the thrift store)
*go out for slushies or ice cream (don't forget about happy hour at
Sonic for 1/2 price drinks and slushies)

Special:
*visit an indoor trampoline place (we like this onethis one and this one)
*go to a local children's museum (here and here are some of our favorites locally)
*Chuck E Cheese
 *visit the zoo
 *go to a drive in movie
*drive go carts
* go miniature golfing
*have a progressive meal (eat appetizers at one restaurant, meal at another, dessert at another)
*be a tourist in your town (downtown Nashville
is a blast to walk around and take in all of the sights, even with kids.)

One other thing:  consider getting season passes to the zoo, museums or water parks in your area.
We have season passes to Nashville Shores.  While it's a little pricey up front, it more than pays off for the amount of times we visit during the summer.


Every Sunday I sit down and plan out our week.
 I made up a week at a glance calendar to keep track of everything.


First I add all of our scheduled things like appointments, practices or lessons.
Then I fill in with the above activity list.

Some weeks we have a bunch going on, so we just do a few extra activities.  Other weeks, we don't have as much and have time to do more.


I use a sharpie to write on the laminated calendar.
That way the ink doesn't rub off easily.


But it does come off easy enough with a magic eraser.

With a little bit of planning, I find that we are able to enjoy our summer vacation so much more!!



Need some more ideas?
Check these out.