Summer Activities For Kids
Post written by: beagooddad
Are you kids driving you crazy looking for constant engagement now that school is out? Are you having trouble finding activities to help fill your kids’ time?
You should check out the Camp Weary Parent series over at Weary Parent. They are two days into the series.
I’ve asked them to put together a nice index page of all of the days to make it easier to follow and find each days suggested activity, but you could just subscribe to the Weary Parent feed, too.
The first two Camp Weary Parent’s activities are:
Here, There & Everywhere (which we will definitely be doing someday)
Start a Journal
I would like to add two activity suggestions to the mix. One of mine and one that I read somewhere else.
I think one of the toughest school subjects to work on over the summer is science. It’s messy, sometimes dangerous, and did I say messy yet? So, why not make a volcano, right? Only don’t do it inside because it is messy. Make an outdoor backyard volcano. Invite the neighborhood kids over and you will be the coolest parent on the block. Grab a video camera and post the event on YouTube and you will be the coolest parent on the planet.
My suggestion is something so simple it really shouldn’t even need suggested but I’ll suggest it anyway. Put shoes on the kids. Put any babies in the stroller. Open the front door and just walk around the neighborhood. Everybody will get fresh air. It normally will be a nice calming experience. You can easily pass 30 minutes and when everybody returns to the house it will be like you hit a magic reset button. Plus, let’s face it. Most of us just don’t walk enough. A good 30 minute walk everyday could benefit all of us.
What magic activities do you plan on breaking out this summer to help your kids pass an afternoon or so?
June 5th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Thanks for helping us spread the word about Camp Weary Parent. I totally love the volcano suggestion and will be incorporating it into one of the weeks. Awesome - I know my kids will love it.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I enrolled them in summer sports. Now I can’t stop running around.
:)
June 6th, 2008 at 8:59 am
There’s this neighborhood kid that is only around every other weekend during the school year and EVERY DAY in the summer. I can’t STAND her! Thankfully she lives at the other end of the street (about a mile away) and generally she calls before she comes, but sometimes she just rides her bike down.) So, I let my 11 yo DD pick her activities. She has a week of Volley Ball camp, a week of Math Camp, and 6 weeks of Irish Dance that goes a minimum of 3 evenings a week, 3 hours an evening. Oh yeah, and lets not forget Pilates! Those coincide with Irish Dance. Then nearly every weekend brings an Irish Dance competition, and at least three of those require an overnight hotel stay. Right now we are on the hunt for a Friends and Family CPR course that she can take. She did the Safe Sitter class (NOT that she actually ever babysits, she’s still a little young in my eyes) that included the Heimlich maneuver, but only one place offers CPR at her age, and of course we have plans! Hopefully when their next schedule comes out, we’ll be able to sign up. Tons of places offer the Friends and Family course, but you have to be 16 to 18, at that age, you may as well pay the extra $$ and get them certified. My 17 mo DS just goes along for the ride. There’s always tons of kids at Irish Dance stuff, so he has a never ending playdate. He gets lots of outside playtime in the morning and late afternoon with my FABULOUS next door neighbor’s 22 mo DS and 4 yo DS.
RUN! RUN! RUN!