Fun Summer Activities for Kids
Does the thought of having a long, empty summer ahead of you to spend with your kids freak you out a little bit? Managing behaviors, screens and sibling squabbles can seem pretty overwhelming.
Taking a little time for planning out a summer routine for your kids can make things so much easier.
In this post you’ll find detailed how-to’s for:
- Writing a summer bucket list for your entire family
- Creating a daily summer routine to bring some calm
- Ways to have your kids learning new skills
- Setting some ground rules about screens
- Growing your child’s strengths and passions
- Making sure everyone get’s downtime
Personal Note: My boys are getting older, they’ll turn 17 and 19 this summer, their interests are changing and so is my parenting. I’ve learned a lot over the years about how to bring more peace and connection to your summer days.
***Some of the links mentioned in this post are affiliate links. I only recommend what my family uses and pays for ourselves***
1. Plan a collaborative summer bucket list .
Getting your kids input on their schedules, summer or not, is key. It makes sense that the older our kids get, the more they can be in charge of how they spend their time.
Your summer bucket list can be full of ideas like:
- Hike through a local forest preserve.
- Attend the FREE Online, #LifeskillsNow Camp.
- Take a cooking class online.
- Play with fun stuff outside, like our Trac Ball and our light-up Foxtail.
- Go to a U-pick farm to pick fruits and/or veggies.
- Ride bikes with the family.
- Visit a few Little Free Libraries in neighboring towns.
- Take a Python coding class online.
- Have a Marvel movie festival.(Watch them in their intended order.)
- Play with squirt guns in the backyard.
- Build a fort in the backyard.
- Watch the entire Stranger Things Series.
- Make a picnic lunch and find a new spot to enjoy it.
- Sleep in a tent in the yard.
- Keep a nature journal of our hikes(probably more me, than them!).
- Bake cookies for neighbors.
- Project a movie on the garage door.
- Rejoin the local arboretum and take advantage of its events.
- Visit libraries in a neighboring town.
- Listen to audio books as a family.
Related: We’re taking this awesome free online camp that teaches your kids important, confidence boosting life skills: #LifeSkillsNow
2. Create a daily summer routine
Ideally, sit down with your kids the first or second week of summer to discuss and create a bit of a routine with them. Routines are the secret to creating calm and having your kids be independent during much of the day.
It make total sense to include some structure in a summer schedule for any child. I find that even the slightest bit of structure can make a world of difference. Kids thrive on routine, no matter what time of year it is. Here’s what we do to add structure to our summer days:
Create a summer bedtime
Just like during the school year. It can be so reassuring to you and your kids that the day has a shut off time. Even if kids are just in their bedrooms reading, designate a summer bedtime. Sleep is so vital for their brains and our kids’ overall wellbeing. So, when you prioritize it, everything else works better.  Â
Independent leisure time
We all need a break from each other in the summer – especially on the days we have nothing planned.
Independent Leisure Time is a great thing to add to your summer routine. It’s a great way for everyone to get a bit of down time and learn how to entertain themselves.
Set a timer for 60 minutes and let your kids entertain themselves in their rooms. Your kids read or listen to music(no screens). This is super vital when you’re spending a lot of time at home.
**As they get older, your kids may naturally do this, as they want to be alone more and spend less time with their parents. But this can be a game changer when they are younger!**
Keep up with your kids’ daily and weekly chores.
You can give them more opportunities to do extra chores for money in the summer, too. Here’s some great ideas for getting your kids to do their chores.
Academic help
As a teacher, I know how real “Summer Slide” is. There are so many options out there to practice skills like math facts, and journal, writing. My family’s person favorites are listening to the Story of the World, and reading Life Of Fred Language Books. Even 20 to 30 minutes on weekdays.will serve your kids well.
Note about teens: If this is a source of fighting, do not do it. I repeat, do not force this. You can hire a tutor to take the pressure off you, if your child really needs the extra help. My teenager finds math extremely difficult, so I am offering the help, only if he wants. Once school starts in the fall, they’ll be lots of opportunities to get free tutoring.
Limit screen time
Screens can be a small part of your summer routine, as well. It’s easy for the empty hours of summer to get filled up with screens. The amount of time allotted for screen time is a very individual thing.
Your kids may get as little as 30 minutes a day of screen time or several hours if they are older. It’s not an easy thing, as once kids have phones, this can turn into kind of a nightmare. Consider what they are doing on the phone or screen as much as how much time they are on it.. (See more on managing screens below)
Start weekly traditions.
Kids know what to expect, they look forward to it and it makes planning super easy. Try things like Kid Cook Dinner Night(more on that below!), Family Movie Friday, and Library on Sunday.!
If your kids have an interest in cooking and preparing meals, put them in charge of one dinner a week. They can help you plan, prepare and serve the meal, as well as help with clean up. The emphasis is on building real life skills. You can pull from this list of favorite meals for an ADHD Diet. Try the Kids Cook Real Food classes – my youngest has been through the entire series and now loves to cook!
Put yourself (I mean you mama!)in the routine.
It is vital as parents of kids with special needs, that you find breaks for yourself. We may desperately need time to ourselves to be quiet and think. Try a “No one downstairs until 8 am” rule . You can get up earlier and have time to yourself. This clock helps with that.
3. Learn a new skill together.
Taking online classes as a family can be such a great experience for everyone. And – it’s a great way to model the use of a screen for something other than playing games or watching YouTube Videos.
Take an Online Class
Outschool has a tremendous selection of classes for all ages and just about any topic you can think of. From coding to languages or drawing and crafts, there is truly something for everyone and in every price range, as well.
Udemy is a great platform for classes of all sorts! We are all taking an art class together, so it’s a plus for me, as well!
My kids have taken Spanish from Muzzy, too. Their fun cartoon format makes language learning easy for preschool thru high school. I sat in on the sessions and learned a bit of Spanish, myself.
Take a Cooking Class at Home
One of the best classes we took last summer was our Kids Cook Real Food Class from Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship. I’ve talked about her awesome cookbooks, and her classes are just as valuable.
I am really looking forward to revisiting her cooking and skills class! The class helped my kids become more independent in the kitchen. We took the intermediate class where they learned valuable skills like how to use a knife, how to brown meat and become independent while following a recipe!
Kids not interested in learning something new? The best way to get a kid interested is by sitting down yourself and delving into a class. Show excitement and they’ll want to join in!
4. Let your kids be bored
You are not a cruise director, so be sure to stock up on things that promote open-ended play and creative time. It’s good for kids to be bored and come up with their own plan.
Preparing the house to make sure you have supplies that encourage creative play:
- Have a section of your yard that can be used for dirt play. Your kids can spend lots of time digging and building forts, etc. Mix in pallets and pavers , rocks, vehicles a hose and they can build all sort of structures.
- Consider having lots of art supplies and have them readily available on a few shelves when inspiration strikes.
- Blocks, legos, Kapla Blocks, and Magna Tiles are available at all times.
- Visit the library weekly to make sure you have enough to read. Voracious readers and can go thru 5 or 6 books a week.
5. Limit Summer Screentime for Kids and Teens
This is a new section to this post because screens are becoming an even bigger issue for kids everywhere.
There has to be a conversation where everyone’s needs are expressed and HEARD. Your child gets to have say in what’s important to him and you get to voice your concerns. And ultimately, you are the parent.
You may decide to allow more time for social, creative or educational screens then gaming.
It’s okay to enforce a time limit
Kids need limits, so that they have to time and space to do real things, like building with legos, drawing, playing outside, etc….If screens are always available, most kids wouldn’t choose to do anything else.
If I did not enforce a limit, my kids would be on screens for 12 hours a day, literally. They become addicted very quickly, if I don’t step in – still at 16 and 18.
Kids need limits – their brains are not mature enough to by pass the addictive quality of screens. Kids and teens loose track of time and get addicted to the dopamine rush that screen
Monitor the games they play. I encourage a variety of games. My kids gravitate towards the more violent games, but I do not let them play mature games…..even at 16. I have seen some of the games that are for older teens and adults and I am shocked by some of their content.
Again, this is a personal choice, but less is always better, when it comes to screen time.
