Summer Activities

[old fashioned]

I know my boys love most anything outdoors. Fishing, camping, exploring, etc.
Some of the things we've done......

1. Camping-both away from home and just pitching a tent in the backyard.
2. Fishing
3. Long walks-about 2-3 miles and picked up aluminum cans along the way that they cashed in at recycle center for extra spending $.
4. Day trips-pick a place, pack the ice chest, blanket, change of clothes & towels & go for the day-the extras are for 'just in case'. Ours are usually within an hour or two drive that are good for exploring, hiking, beach combing, fishing, learning something new-you name it.
5. Library, museum, visiting long lost relatives/friends, etc
6. Or just going to a local lake or park to have fun
7. Since DH usually has atleast 2 g-sales per season, the boys are nearly always involved in some way.

Usually the biggest expense is the gas to get wherever, except of course the adults fishing licenses. Whatever you do, just try to keep it fun AND in some way educational to keep their minds from going to mush before school starts in the fall.

 

[hillfarm]

I give a plot of the garden to the kids and let them grow.
We are making cheese and butter. They have enjoyed it alot.
We also make blobs and clay. If you go online and look up fun crafts for kids you can get easy recipes for fun stuff that kids can make. We made edible playdough with peanut butter and powdered sugar. There are all kinds of indoor fun things.

Swimming and playing in the water hose are always a blast.

We have bowling deals, skating and movies. We have a free spray park. hmmm.

I also do a lot of stuff I dont have time to do during the school year, such as canning. Get the kids into it. Its nice. My teen daughter pretty well disappears to her friends or they hide here. I trade out with a few other moms. LOL.

My 8 year old boy and I have a lot of fun. We hit the librairy a lot, he is a reader like me. He will turn off his tv and read in his room for hours.

There are always great deals online for waterparks and amusement parks. We are going to legoland next week for cheap. Also baseball games. One of my favorites.

Camping, sea world, ren fairs. Check local community stuff. We had a bluebonnet festival a few weeks ago. Lots of fun.

 

[me&thegals]

1-6 from Old fashioned above.

The first day of summer, I have the kids make a list of things they want to be sure to do before summer is over. It helps me not lose too much time or focus, and it gives us all something to look forward to.

Mainly, I want the kids to just play. Now that they're older, they're not as good at that. They have spent entire summers building a tree fort, but these days they're more friend oriented.

They usually have their own garden, although this year they haven't planted it yet.

If they fight or are bored, then I give them jobs They have jobs no matter what, but then I give them extras.

Lots of walks, bike rides, farmer's markets, swimming, library time, laying around in the shade reading, listening to music, bonfires, hopefully camping--even if only in the backyard.

 

[Henrietta23]

We love letterboxing! A hike and a treasure hunt all in one!
www.atlasquest.com will give more info if you're interested.

 

[calendula]

I'm loving all these ideas! I wish summer vacation was longer so that we could do everything we want to.

So far, we made a big list of all the things the kids want to do this summer, kind of like our Summer Bucket List. So, I am going to figure out some kind of points system, and the kids will help out around the house, do some math/reading/school work, and have good behavior to earn points towards the activities.

This week's goal they are trying to earn is a backyard campout. If all goes well, on Friday we're going to pitch the tent in the yard and make lunch & dinner in the fire-pit. Hopefully the weather cooperates with us so we can sleep out in the tent.

savingdogs, I really like your rock painting idea. My youngest son actually is going through a "pirate" phase right now. He draws treasure maps all the time, so I think he would really enjoy that one.

My main concern with the boys this summer is that they tend to argue a lot when they spend a lot of time together. I'm an only child, so the whole sibling rivalry thing is hard for me to handle sometimes. I'm hoping to keep them busy so that the fighting doesn't become an issue.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

We have a list of activities:

Bringing the bikes to a state park and biking around
swimming at various lakes and ponds, some free, some not quite.
Swimming at an indoor pool (if it's buggy or raining)
Fun baking activities (cookies, cupcakes, etc.)
Library events - we got a whole list of things that are happening at the library this summer.
Tent camping in the backyard
REAL Camping at a campground in another state
tent camping at relative's houses
Museums (we're a military family, and there's a whole bunch of free museums)
playdates
hitting the beach down in Cape Cod.
The boston Aquarium

 

[savingdogs]

Gosh, your summer sounds like a lot of fun, can I come too?

When I first used the painted rocks idea, it was at a birthday party. For each of my kids when they were around five to seven, we had a "theme" birthday that was kinda a cross between Back On The Farm and Cowboys and Indians. We asked the kids to come in any costume from the "old west" so they could be a fur trapper, an indian princess, a cowboy, senorita, etc. Whatever costume their parent could devise and cowboy is pretty easy, so we always had a lot of those. But then for activities we would have a hunt for gold with the rocks, stick pony running races, Pin the tail on the cow, and we just got red checkered tablecloths and served hot dogs and beans and cake. We would have a prize for best costume and would finish the day with a pinata and it would be a great party for cheap and everyone LOVED the pictures. I used this theme once for each of my kids and I think for all three it was one of their favorite birthday parties.

We actually copied my brother, who had a party like this when they actually lived on a farm. At their party, they roasted a pig and had an additional couple of things, one was a ride-the-pony and the other was to stick a stick-on bow on the butt of one of the piglet they had.

You did not mention needing to do a party, but that is where the gold rocks originated.

 

[old fashioned]

My main concern with the boys this summer is that they tend to argue a lot when they spend a lot of time together. I'm an only child, so the whole sibling rivalry thing is hard for me to handle sometimes. I'm hoping to keep them busy so that the fighting doesn't become an issue.

I understand this completely. Like you I was raised as an only child that now has 2 boys that fight so much.

You could include 'getting along peaceably' into your point system. I know around here alot of events are put on hold or cancelled if there are fights-I will let little squabbles blow over, but if it continues into more-that's it. They tend to learn pretty quickly to keep it down or else no fun stuff. Good luck with it!

 

[patandchickens]

You could include 'getting along peaceably' into your point system.

Exactly!

I know around here alot of events are put on hold or cancelled if there are fights-I will let little squabbles blow over, but if it continues into more-that's it. They tend to learn pretty quickly to keep it down or else no fun stuff.

Mine have gotten EVER so much better about playing peaceably and resolving disputes in the past year or so since I instituted a policy of "if I hear you arguing about that toy/game/activity ONE MORE TIME then I am just taking it away and putting it in the closet til another day when you can have another crack at behavin' with it". At first I had to do a fair amount of stepping in and guiding them through the process -- "H, what do you want? Ok, well, tell J. J, what do you want? Tell him. Ok, who has an idea of how you can deal with that? What about taking turns? H, how many minutes til J gets the toy? J, is that ok with you?" etcetera etcetera -- but you know what, by now they've gotten surprisingly good at it and it is rare that there is a problem that can't be resolved speedily and without hard feelings as soon as I threaten to shut the game down

I don't know how well it works for other kids of course but it sure has worked for mine.

Pat

 

[Denim Deb]

Just an idea, it's a fun thing to do, but can also be educational. Give your kids the Morse code on a card. Then, have clues on other cards that they have to figure out. This would lead them to another clue, etc. You can also do spelling words in Morse code, they have to figure out the word.