Summer Activities to keep the kids busy

What To Do this Summer?

With summer fast approaching, it’s time to consider what activities you might want for your children.  Camps, local programs, and other activities usually fill up several months in advance, so act now.

There are many types of camps and activities:  academic, art, sports, technology, adventure, tour & travel, military, overnight, special needs, YMCA, local rec departments, scouting, faith-based, and home-grown.  Since each local area will offer its own set of activities, we’ll offer below some ideas for home-grown summers.

You can make your home into its own summer camp! Schedule a type of activity for three days each week, for example, such as:

Arts & Crafts Day

There are dozens and dozens of activities which you can search for on the internet (such as “kids home arts and crafts activities”), including

• Make tie-dye T-shirts
• Make puppets with paper bags and put on a puppet show
• Plant herbs in small paper cups
• Finger paint
• With older children, write a simple script for a movie on one day and shoot it (with your phone) on another day (or summarize a favorite book–The Wizard of Oz, for instance)
• and so on

Outside Activity Day

There are dozens and dozens of activities which you can search for on the internet (such as “kids outdoor activities”), including

• Sidewalk chalk paintings
• Water balloon baseball
• Body painting
• Running through the sprinklers
• Nature scavenger hunt and collage of what they finda
• and so on

Field Trip Day

• Go to a local zoo/petting zoo
• Go to a museum (prepare a scavenger hunt list first so that they have to visit and read about specific exhibits)
• Go to a local children’s theater
• Go to a Dollar/99 Cents store
• Go to a local park and make bubbles, play tag, play hide & seek, have a picnic….
• and so on

Surprise Day

• Take a tour (contact your local city hall, college, high school, etc.)
• Have a sleep over *after the Covid virus has passed
• Make a special mean, including baking a desert
• Go to the movies
• Children’s choice day
• and so on

Related links: Summer Activities and Savory French Toast