Parentella

Summer Vacation Activities

As a parent who works from home part-time, I’m a bit apprehensive about summer vacation. My kids will attend a few sessions of day camp and though that will keep them busy for a few hours per day, there are still a lot of hours to be filled between now and September. I decided I needed to have some ideas in my pocket for the long days ahead, so I compiled a list of 60 fun activities to try in the coming months. Some are easy, some require more advanced planning, but even if you only get to a handful of them they should make for a pretty entertaining summer break!

Excursions

• Visit an amusement Park
• Look at art at an art museum.
• Play on a beach
• Take in a concert in a local park
• Go letterboxing
• Take a hike in a nature area or around your neighborhood
• On a really hot day visit a big store — book store, IKEA, Target — and wander the air-conditioned aisles.
• Learn about a program your library offers that you’ve never tried — a summer reading program, eBooks, or maybe a family sing-along.
• Cool off at a local splash park
• Take a dip at your neighborhood pool
• Get close to animals at a petting zoo
• Visit a farm where you can pick fruit
• Learn something new at a science museum
• Check out a local street festival; eat foods on sticks
• Visit a parent who works outside the home for lunch
• Try out a playground you’ve never been to before
• Spend a day at the zoo

Crafts

• Make LEGO minifigs (or other sculptures) with salt dough
• Cook up a batch of homemade playdough
• Create marshmallow catapults from shoe boxes and rubberbands
• Freeze food coloring and water and paint a picture with ice
• Paint with watercolors
• Construct a real life Angry Birds game
• Print, cut and assemble a paper toy such as R2-D2, Wonder Woman or Snoopy
• Assemble a terrarium with plants and small toys
• Tie dye a t-shirt
• Decorate a window with tie-dye art
• Make a tiny bow and arrows

Backyard

• Build something cool out of cardboard boxes
• Camp in the backyard
• Mix up a batch of cornstarch sidewalk paint and decorate the driveway
• Crank up some tunes and have a dance party
• Make a little money with a lemonade stand
• Freeze toys into a large block of ice; provide kids with hammers and squirt bottles and challenge them to get them out
• Make giant bubbles
• Go on a bug hunt
• Hold a garage sale
• Invite friends over to play tag
• Play in the pool and/or the sprinkler
• Play with squirt guns
• Ride bikes or scooters
• Set up a treasure hunt for friends or siblings
• Set up an obstacle course and race with friends or time yourself
• Smack balloons around the yard with a pool noodle
• Have a water balloon battle

Cooking

• Let your child choose ingredients for a smoothie by herself, then blend it with a grown-up’s help
• Make homemade butter with a mixer or by shaking cream in a jar
• Whip out a batch of homemade ice cream
• If ice cream seems like too much work, make homemade popsicles instead
• Have your child plan and make dinner for the family
• Make lunch using foods of every color of the rainbow
• Roast marshmallows over the grill or a fire

Any Time

• Build with LEGO bricks — If your child is stuck, issue a challenge!
• Do a puzzle
• Learn some new jokes
• Make a movie with a video camera
• Read a book
• Take photos of your favorite toys
• Write a letter
• Write or draw pictures in a journal

What fun activities are you planning for the summer?

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Wendy Copley writes about cooking, crafts, parenting and her obsession with lunch boxes at Wendolonia.

Related posts:

1. President’s Day Activities for Your Family
2. 8 Family Activities for Spring Break
3. How do You Help Children Stave Off the Summer Learning Loss?
4. How to Bridge the Summer Learning Gap
5. Summer Vacation is Almost Over, According to Time Magazine

Tags: summer activities, summer fun, Summer Vacation

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 1:17 am and is filed under Wendy Copley, arts and crafts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.