From Cindy’s Porch: Kid’s Summer Acitivites
 Summer possibilities are endless. There's so much to do and so many ways to do things. I learned a lot by letting my girls go instead of trying to plan constructive activities. I'll find one sitting outside in the shade reading, one playing with the dog. They do so much and I found sitting back and watching them do what they really like helps me figure out what they would enjoy doing as an activity. – a reader from Maine
School’s out and it won’t be long until we hear those dreaded words, “Mom, I’m bored.” Little do your kids know, but you are prepared. You’ve printed out this list of things for kids to do during the summer. Shhhh, don’t tell the kids, but some of these activities are going to help them remember some of the stuff they learned at school. Thank you to our readers who added their ideas - you are the greatest!
You are welcome to send this link to other moms and dads out there who may be running out of summer time ideas! We'll keep adding to it over the summer months.
Let’s turn off the TV and the computer games. It is time to start DOing!
DOing a little reading….
- The library: I can't say this enough. Visit your library.
Take the kids. Show them how to use the catalog and put books on
hold. Let them explore new topics. Sign out some books with outdoor
science experiments (and then let them try the experiments).
Encourage them to read other books by their favorite authors. Talk to
the librarian. If you tell them that your child loves mysteries, they
will have many suggestions of great books to read. Your kids can read
all they want and it won't cost a dime! (Make sure you sign out some
books for you – when your kids see you read, they read!)
- Summer Reading Activities: check to see if your library has
any summer reading activities or games. Our local library has prizes
associated with their summer reading game. All my kids won something
last year and they are looking forward to reading this year.
- When my kids were younger, the summer reading programs at libraries sounded like a good idea, but my kids took it further and created a tradition we all grew to love. Instead of reading books by other people, they created their own. bBg, long, books with great art project illustrations. We ended up laminating and binding these books each summer to create quite a collection of memoirs. In addition, becoming a "published author" helped them grow to appreciate both reading and writing even more. Now, one of those children is the media and PR director for a major city, another is the Student government prez at a major university, and still another is editor of her high school newspaper. - from a reader
- The new Harry Potter book is coming out this summer, need I say more?
DOing a little writing…
- Encourage your kids to write a letter (or draw a picture) and
send it to grandma and grandpa (or any other long-distance relative).
Remember, the letter doesn't have to be perfect – it just has to get
mailed!
- Write to a friend (a real letter on paper - not just email) My younger sister has 2 step daughters in Colorado who pen pal with my girls during the summer. A few times last summer they got a leaf or rock in the mail. I'll never forget the dead BUG! But at least they are learning and keeping their writing skills alive by doing that. I have asked this year for no bugs in the mail from all the kids. That was gross! LOL - from a reader
- Create a family or neighborhood newsletter. Each kid gets their own “byline” and writes about something that they did, or are going to do over the summer. Perhaps they also want to write about something they enjoy. If you have a digital camera, include some pictures. This is a great memory keeper!
- Dig into your stash of office supplies and see if you can
find an empty notebook and a couple "fancy" writing pens. Perhaps
your kids would like to make a journal of their summer adventures.
Let them borrow the camera and take pictures. If you have scrap-
booking supplies or stamping supplies, let the kids use some for
their journal. Let them have fun with this and let them create. I
don't tell my kids "how" to do this; I just leave them with a basket
full of supplies and let them go for it.
- Make a family cookbook: Here at home, we dig out foods saved from winter time. Left overs from winter, you know you bought 10 turkeys and they're still sitting there in the freezer? Those left overs! We have our girls go through the cook books and hand them a stack of paper, some pretty ribbon and cut up a cereal box to make the cover for their "Cookbook". They use the "leftovers" as a base of ideas. They find a recipe, go through the cabinets some more, find all their ingredients, even substitute sometimes and write their meals down in their new "Cookbook". Then we use the cookbooks and try out the recipes throughout the summer. The rotisserie turkey was pretty good last summer on the grill. I think this year we are going to give their cookbooks away as a gift to the Grandmoms for Christmas. I always keep the first! - from a reader
DOing a little math, science, exploring, and something new…
- Let the kids cook! Recipes are a wonderful source of
fractions, logical thinking, and problem solving (why do mom's
cookies always burn?). If it is hot out, let them make frozen
treats, slushies, salads, or other summer foods. Who knows, maybe
they will love cooking so much that they will take over some of the
supper duties!
- Let your kids explore outside: nature is right out your front
door. Everything from bugs, to plants, to birds, to water, to
weather, etc. is waiting for your kids to discover. Get on your hands
and knees and join the kids. Put a hula-hoop out on the lawn. How
many bugs can you and your kids count inside the hula-hoop? What kind
of bugs are they? Watch an ant. How much can it carry? How does
it "talk" to other ants? Where is it going? Let your kids plant
something and watch it grow. We plant two: one to leave in the
garden, the other to pull out so they can look at the roots, the
stem, the leaves, and the flower. We have a microscope that is
perfect for studying the details.
- Use up the left over math sheets or workbooks from the end of the school year. Or better yet, ask your kids to create their own math sheets. Then mom or dad does the “test” and the kids get to mark (they also have to figure out the answers so they know what is right). Another option is to look for some math sheets on the Internet.
- How about letting them open a lemonade stand or sell cookies? I've found this really helps with math, because they get to figure out how much the ingredients cost and how to price the cookies so they can make a profit! – from a reader
- Let your kids plan the shopping list for the week. Then let
them do the shopping (with you accompanying them of course). Tell
them what the budget is. They have to plan the meals, shop for the
ingredients, AND stay within budget. Show them how to roundup numbers
so they can keep a mental tally of everything that is in the shopping
cart. And mom or dad, if they are planning something weird or
something your family has never tried before, relax! Go with the
flow – let your kids learn (and you may learn something too. This is
how I found out that I liked "homemade" sushi as much as the higher
priced store-bought sushi).
- Learn some new card games - there is more solitaire games out there than the one on the computer!
- Set up a store. Let the kids hunt through your pantry for a few cans of soup, veggies, and then dig out the monopoly money. If you have an old fashioned cash register (it doesn’t have to work), then the fun begins.
- Are you traveling someplace? Get the kids to help with the
trip. Where are you going? Put them in charge of looking up the
history of the place. Ask them to find places where the family can
stop for lunch and a picnic. Are you going through the prairies or
the mountains? Sign out some books from the library about the
geography of the area. Ask them to find out why everything is so flat
or how the mountains came to be. This doesn't need to be fancy. The
kids don't have to write reports (unless they want to LOL). They just
need to know how to do research - how to look up things they are
interested in.
- We borrowed a few books from the library already. Leaf Identification and the bird I.D. book again this year. My husband takes my older girls out on the ATV for a few hours and they draw or take pictures. Then I put it all on a disk for them to have with the date and things. Not only are they learning, researching, drawing, and having fun with their Dad, they have a memory they can keep forever on CD. And it doesn't take up a ton of space. – from a reader
- We always have the veggie garden going, the flower garden, the herb garden, the bulb garden. The girls learn a lot about how plants work from the gardens. They also like to hide in with the green beans and eat them all summer long. This year we ventured into cherry tomatoes and my oldest has been keeping a journal about them. We also made her research them online. She's loving that she is the "Queen of Cherry tomatoes" this year. And our next youngest is growing Gerbera Daisies and keeping a journal on them. She's also trying to find Fairies in the flower garden too. – from a reader
DOing a little art, drama, and other creative stuff….
- Dig out the costumes and make a family (or neighborhood) play. This can keep a crowd of kids busy for many days. Are there some shy kids in the bunch who don’t want to be part of the play? No problem. Put them in charge of the backdrop, props, customers, and promotion. There is something to do for everyone!
- Make a band. My kids play piano and clarinet. Another neighbor kid plays the drums and his brother plays the base guitar. We have two other neighbor kids who also play electric guitar and there are three or four girls who like to sing. Voila! The makings of a kid band! The music may be a little hard to listen to LOL, but the energy level is fantastic!
- Train the dog – have a dog show. Charlie definitely needs to learn some new tricks (like how to “stay” LOL). And if Charlie doesn't want to learn anything - the kids can always give him a bath!
- How about a magic Sign out a few beginner magic books from the library and encourage the kids to learn one trick each (even mom and dad should learn a trick). Set up a stage on the front lawn and invite the neighbors over for a show (remember to take pictures for the summer journal).
- Set up the tent in the backyard and tell family ghost stories, or better yet, share stories about when you were young.
- Take your kid to work for the day: Check with your workplace, perhaps you can bring your son or daughter to work for the day to see what you do to make a living.
DOing a little moving…
- Encourage your kids to move. Swimming lessons are a must for
our family during the summer. It keeps them cool and provides them
with a life long skill. My oldest is signed up for a one-week
basketball camp (just in the afternoons). And that's it. The rest of
the "moving" is done with their friends, the neighbors, my husband,
and me. We encourage our kids to play tennis (free), basketball at
the school (free), Frisbee in the front yard (free), bike in the
neighborhood (free), play tag with the neighbors (free), and dodge
ball with their dad (hilarious to watch LOL). Of course, there is
always our family favorite – walking and hiking.
- Have a family water fight. Put each family member onto a team and just go, go, go! You could use balloons or waterguns, but don’t use the flower watering can – you could flood the street. – from my oldest kid (smile)
- Another thing we do is get together with Grandmom a few times in the summer. She has a permanent membership at a public pool. We live in the boonies, so we use the river for swimming or our tiny blow up pool in the yard. This gives the girls a new experience of what the kids in the city do, rather than what they do in the country. We always pack up PB&J, lemonade and snack mix (same thing Mom used to pack up for us when we were little LOL). And we have a picnic at the pool, meet new people and get to spend some time with my Mom. The girls have learned a lot, seen a lot of new things and have a great time! It's well worth the trip. And Grandmom always drives, so it's practically free. We just drive to her house and she takes us from there. – from a reader
- Bob for apples! Fill a container with water and pluck out a few apples. Don’t forget to take pictures. You may want to do this outside…. – from my oldest kid
- Set up a mom and dads against the kids block baseball (or other sport) game. Lawn chairs are only for resting – everyone gets to play. Remember to bring a water cooler, lots of suntan lotion, and a bunch of apples for when people start getting hungry. Who knows, maybe a block barbeque will follow!
DOing a little nothing…
- Let your kids be bored once in awhile. A kid who is
daydreaming is thinking. You do not have to plan every minute of
every day. Turn off the TV and turn off the computer games. Let your
children discover new things. I often find my kids sitting under a
bunch of beach umbrellas (usually around 5 or 6 umbrellas) that they
have set up with their friends in the back yard. Underneath, there
will be this elaborate maze of activities such as board games, home
made snacks, cool drinks, and of course a special dog bed for
Charlie. They have a blast!
And something special from one of our readers in Western Australia (where it isn't even summer yet!)
Thank you for sending in this long list of great ideas for a tip jar! This will keep kids around the world busy for the entire summer.
Hi Cindy,
Our holidays aren't for another week, and only go for a fortnight (2 weeks). We have 3 lots of 2 weeks, then about 7-9 weeks at Christmas time. Slightly different set up from USA.
One year, I made up slips of paper with different activities on them, and put them in a jar (had about 100 ideas) .. when the kids were bored/lost, they could take 2 slips out, and chose one of them to do. If they didn't like either, they had to go think of something on their own. They had a great time doing that ...
I've included some of the list below, some as specific to our area, but you'll be able to use most of them and just substitute local things.
Cheers!
Things you can do that don't cost money
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Acting, making up plays, then put them on for the family
Build a cubby
Bushwalking
Camp in the backyard
Cards – learn solitaire
Cards – learn a card trick & amaze your friends
Card Houses – see how high you can go
Clean and re-organise your room
Collect Stamps
Cook something
Create a web-site
Draw
Dressing up
Free activities at the shopping centre
Go biking
Go for a jog
Go to the library (books, videos, dvd, jigsaws)
Have a BBQ
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Have a water fight
Help mum or dad or grandparents
Heritage Society
Land Care Centre - get a cockatoo watch post card and see how many you can find
Learn to knit or sew
Look for frogs
Magic – learn a magic trick
Make & fly a kite
Make a garden
Make something using things around the house
Make up a concert
Nintendo
Organise your photos
Painting
Picnic in the garden or park
Plant a small garden
Play dress-ups
Play games you have eg card games, board games
Play hide & seek
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Practice skills such as skipping, throwing, kicking…
Read
Rock climbing
Rollerblade
Skate parks
Sport, tennis, soccer
Start a collection – shells, flowers (dried between kitchen paper), stamps from used envelopes etc
Start a hobby
Swimming
Take a friend or the dog for a walk
Take Photos
Use games that are on the computer
Visit a friend
Visit parks
Watch birds
Watch TV
Write a diary
Write a diary of your holiday
Write a story or start a novel
Write letters
Write new words for a song you like
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Memories are made of the things you DO, not the things you BUY. Have a wonderful summer!
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