Summer Fun Ideas

Summer is a time for thinking outside of the box of structured schedules and routines and for exploring opportunities for fun and learning.  Here are ideas for your family to consider doing this summer. 

 

• Contact your area Chamber of Commerce or Convention and Visitors Bureau for local summer vacation or mini outing ideas.  With soaring gas prices, this is a great summer to go on field trips in your own city or state as a family. 
• Pack a picnic lunch or dinner and go to a location your family has never been before (the woods behind your house, a park, a creek, picnic benches on campus) and enjoy a healthier alternative to dinner out at a restaurant.
• Clean out your extras in your home and have a family garage sale or take things to the pawn shop.  Spend the money on a family outing. 
• Have each member of the family choose a vacation location of their choice.  You can restrict the choice to your town, your state, the US or beyond and research it.  Each family member will plan out what the itinerary for the trip would be and the cost.  Then each member of the family would present their proposal to the whole family, followed by a vote to decide where the family would vacation.
• Visit the library to stock up on books for great summer reading.
• Hold a neighborhood Olympics in your back yard.  Invite neighborhood families and divide into teams.  Teams would compete in various games such as volleyball, hoola-hoops, water balloon tossing, watermelon eating and more.  Awards and medals can be given for various fun categories.
• Have a neighborhood pet show in which children dress their pets up and parade them around the block for all to see.
• Teach children to recycle over the summer.  Mark bins accordingly and your children can sort the recyclable materials.
• Take time to read with your child.  Start a good book and read a bit in it every night together.  Read under a shade tree or on the front porch swing.
• Visit a historical landmark in your area.  Have your child make a poster or write a report about it to share when he/she goes back to school.
• Encourage your child to write a letter to a grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend or someone who lives far away.  Hopefully the person will write back and a pen pal relationship will form.
• Lie outside and gaze at the nighttime sky.  Look for patterns with the stars, pictures in the clouds, and observe the shape of the moon.  If you do this nightly with your child, you could help them track and document the moon phases.
• Cook with your child.  Have your child create a dinner menu, make a grocery list of ingredients needed, go grocery shopping together, then do the cooking together.  Best of all, enjoy the meal as a family.
• When watching TV together, as your child questions about the show during commercials.  You might ask if that could happen in real life or what she would have done if she were in that situation.
• Set a fitness goal as a family.  You could walk together in the evenings and tally the miles you cover as a family.  Celebrate when you reach your goal.
• Have a book fair.  Invite your child’s friends or neighborhood children over to trade books.
• Play board games as a family inside or outside. 
• When traveling, discuss road signs and signals.  Look for license plates from each state.  Make a list of states you spot. 
• Visit a zoo or petting zoo with your child.
• Play pitch and catch, Frisbee, football, or kickball as a family.
• Create a treasure chest by covering a cardboard box with wrapping paper.  Collect great finds from walks in the park and from your back yard to put in the box.
• Go swimming together.  Swimming can make everyone feel young and bring back great childhood summer memories.
• Make a picture collage or scrapbook of summer family fun!
• Have a family scavenger hunt.  Each person has a list of types of things to find, such as 3 round objects, 2 yellow objects, 1 object that makes noise, etc.
• Camp out as a family.  You can camp in a tent in the backyard, on blankets in the family room, or under the stars if you so dare. 
• Visit a farmers’ market if there is one near you.  Discuss various fruits and vegetables and how they grow with your child. 
• Observe the birds, squirrels, and wildlife in your area.  Get books to learn more about them.
• Plant a little garden together and have your child water it and pick the produce. 
• Have a family read-a-thon.  All family members can get into pajamas, grab their favorite books, pillows, and blankets and read all night long.  Don’t forget the popcorn. 

 

Get busy and have fun as a family this summer.  Not only will you create great memories, but you will also keep your child’s learning going strong throughout the summer. 

Sub Navigation

Top