Summer Activities

[PamL]

What sort of ideas do you all have for quick, inexpensive, fun activities for Summer? I am trying to think of at least one "fun" thing to do with my girls everyday over the summer. Here are the types of things that I am looking for...

recipes
games
crafts
water things
places to go
outdoor activities
indoor activities

Here are a few things that I've thought of so far...

lemonade stand, planting in the garden, walks, going to the park, having a picnic, reading stories, making popsicles, etc.

Hey - if you all share enough ideas, maybe I can put a summer calendar up on the site of fun stuff to do!!

Thanks!!

[KarlaB]

How old are your girls??? I'll try to come up with some fun and different things!! A summer IB calendar sounds great!!!!! :yippee:

[KathyT]

An IB calendar would be great!!

I always start stashing small things (crafts, a new movie, etc) away before my girls get out of school so I have something to pull out on "those days" lol!

Things we do to enjoy the beautiful summer outdoors: play in the treehouse, catch and observe insects, bike to the ice cream store for a cool treat, blow bubbles, draw with sidewalk chalk, go horseback riding, swim, pack a picnic and head to a park we've never been to, go to the beach, the zoo, water park, go for a long walk and try to identify flowers, trees, birds, etc.

For indoor fun, we often make a tent out of sheets in the family room, head to the air conditioned library, go to the dollar store and pick up some fun stuff for very little $$, do a craft, McD's playland (not so much now but when they were younger) during the off hours, head to the movie theatre to see a matinee.

There are loads of other things, but that is all that comes to mind right now.

[PamL]

Originally posted by KarlaB
How old are your girls??? I'll try to come up with some fun and different things!! A summer IB calendar sounds great!!!!! :yippee:

Isabel is almost 4, and Ashley is 9. Feel free to share ideas for any age though!

Thanks for the help!

[TXmom]

You may not want to do this, but my boys used to love to play water park in the backyard. We had a 2 story fort with a slide, and they'd run the hoses up to it so water was streaming down the slide and through the top floor. It's great if your lawn needs watering anyway. You could add some slip and slides, kiddie pools, sprinklers, etc.

[KarlaB]

When I was a Brownie (MANY moons ago LOL) we went on a nature walk. We all got a piece of bubble gum to chew, found a piece of bark, and then went on a walk. We looked for different things (leaves, rocks, pinecones, acorns, etc) to stick onto our piece of bark using small pieces of our gum. :)

Some things to make:

Puffy Paint
Mix equal parts of flour, salt and water. Add liquid tempera paint or food coloring for desired colors. Pour into plastic squeeze containers (ketchup or mustard containers) and then squeeze onto heavy paper or cardboard.

Shampoo Dough
3/4 c. flour 1/4 c. thick shampoo
1/4 c. white glue bowl and paint
Mix all ingredients in bowl: knead. Add more flour if needed. Model, or roll and cut out. Dry and then paint if desired.

Ice Eggs
Fill balloons with water and a few tsps of food coloring using a funnel. Freeze. When solid peel off balloon and use outside and in bathtub.

Sidewalk Chalk
1 c. plaster of Paris almost 1/2 c. cool water

Pour plaster into a disposable container using a disposable stirring stick, stir in most of the water. Add 2 - 3 TB liquid tempera paint, mixing well, especially at the bottom. Add a little more water as mixture thickens. Stir well and pour into containers - 3 oz Dixie cups work well. Peel off paper when chalk is dry.

We also do lots of the things Kathy T mentioned - indoor tents, puppet shows, parks, picnics, zoo, Science museum, parades, bike rides, fishing, pool, and county fairs :)

[kathleen]

When I was a child, usually once during the summer we would have a neighborhood water ballon fight. My mother would buy this big bag of water ballons, we would get a bunch of us kids in the neighborhood, fill the balloons, divide into teams and have a war. Of course, we had to pick up all the balloon pieces later, but it was fun. Then we would all have a popsicle or cool-pop.

[KarlaB]

My mom does water balloons at the lake for the kids and they love it!!! She also does a summer pinata around the 4th of July. Another fun idea would be a scavenger hunt with neighborhood kids. :)

[MaryL]

How about arranging with another mom/kids (or two or three sets!) to try out a different park once every week. Maybe have a "set" day to meet with these people...even if just for ice cream, or water fun. Take turns hosting. Plan a neighborhood 4th of July parade. Decorate bikes, send out flyers, etc. Simple, but fun.

[PamL]

Thanks for the ideas...keep 'em coming! I really like the water balloon ideas and the 4th of July ideas.

Today we went to the Dollar Movie Theater. On Tuesdays all movies are only .50! Then we went for lunch and played at an indoor playland. :wiggle:

[Melody]

We used to love making forts in the woods but you could make one in the back yard. Even some old sheets would work. Or camping in the backyard in a tent was always a lot of fun.
We used to dress up as our favorite groups and make a stage and sing our hearts out too. This was back in the days of Kiss and Abba but it was always a blast. We would make our own instuments out of whatever we could find.
We didn't have alot of playgrounds where I grew up so we had to come up with stuff on our own. Picnics at our fort or a school yard, frog catching and making barbie houses out of bricks and pieces of boards we could find left over from the new houses. The town was growing fast so scraps were never hard to come by.
And as we got older we just stuck to playing in the empty houses or man holes but I wouldn't recommend it to the kids. LOL
We always had a water fight on the go, balloons, guns, buckets and hoses. :)