It’s the last month of summer. You’ve already done all the fun things you’ve planned, took a vacation together and even sent your kids to visit their grandma/auntie/cousins, so they wouldn’t waste their time in front of the TV. But, there’s still another month left and you completely ran out of ideas. Fret not! We have made this amazing list of activities your kiddos would love to do this summer. Cross each one from the list and none of you will notice that it’s time to get back to school again!
1. Organize a Photo Scavenger Hunt
All you need is a bunch of bored kids (done!), a few cameras or cell phones (all have them), a piece of paper where you list all the objects for the hunt (done in less than 5 min). Be creative and list various shapes (heart, square, crescent etc), along with colors and any other items that could be potentially discovered in your neighborhood. Print it out and give out to all the hunters.
Now they should head outside and start exploring by snapping pictures according to your instructions. It could be a square shadow, falling from the window, an animal-shaped cloud, a heart-shaped string lying on the sidewalk. Find the shape, cross it off the list and come home with a bunch of cool new pictures and small rewards (for all participants, obviously).
Scavenger hunts never get boring, as you can create different variations like neighborhood scavenger (asking the neighbors if they have certain objects from the checklist); library scavenger hunt (list questions, passages, facts etc) that could be found in books, and more.
2. Make Up Spin-Offs of Favorite Stories
Done with all the planned summer reading? Now get creative and start inventing stories together. Ask your kid to write a small narrative about their favorite heroes. You can either suggest to write a “What happened next story?” or a “What if (insert their fav hero) did something another way?”
Give the kids time to create and seriously warn them about copying each other ideas like a lot of kids like doing. It’s a great way to teach them the odds of plagiarism and fuel their creativity at the same time.
You can turn it into a small contest with all participants reading out loud and rating each other stories, and themed prizes given out to all.
3. Design a New Piece of Furniture
Summer’s usually the time when we try to get rid of our old stuff. Instead of throwing out that old armchair, give it a revamp together. Fabric colors don’t cost much and your kids would have tons of fun making their own signature design. You can either opt for different paper stencils or just let draw whatever they feel like to.
4. Tie Dye Clothes
Tie Dye’s trending this season and, in fact, it never gets old or boring. It’s a fun way to update your kids’ and your wardrobe while challenging your creativity.
Get some plain white T-shirts, scarfs, bandanas or anything else you feel like dyeing, and get creative together. Tie dying is pretty easy and you can make amazing patterns yourself simply by using different folding techniques.
Sure, the whole thing may get a bit messy with kids. But, hey, it’s summer! You can do everything outside and clean up everything (and everyone) from the faucet.
5. Start a Nature Journal
Go out on a nature walk or a short hike together. Don’t forget to take a notebook and some pencils along. Nature is truly fascinating and gives us plenty of room for creativity and observation. Challenge your child’s inner Darwin and prompt them to take notes and make sketches of things they see. Collect different leaves and flowers to scrap into your new journal later on or turn them into lovely artwork.
6. Play with Bubbles that Bounce
Everyone likes soap bubbles, but they don’t last long. To extend the pleasure you should use the following recipe:
- 1 C distilled drinking water
- 1 Tablespoon dish soap
- 1 Teaspoon of glycerin
Mix everything together and let it sit for 24 hours. This way the bubbles won’t disappear immediately and bounce around a bit. Or you can create extra large bubbles for even more fun!
7. Learn to Make Kites
Kites have been keeping kids all around the world entertained for hundreds of years, long before Angry Birds or the TV were invented. Sure, you can buy a cheap one at a local store, but to keep your kids entertained for longer, learn to make your own ones. The whole process is pretty simple. All you will need is:
- Two A4 sized craft papers in different colors
- Scissors, pencil, scale
- Two drinking straws
- Glue
- String – about a meter long
- Some paper ribbons for the tail and decorations.
Now follow these simple instructions to make your own colorful sky-flier.
8. Set up a Lemonade Stand
There’s a billion of simple lemonade recipes, all of them including some lemons (obviously), water, sugar syrup and a few leaves of mint. A stand could be colored and decorated together from an old nightstand. Selling lemonade to friends, family and neighbors, in fact, is a great way to give your kids a lesson about entrepreneurship. Who knows where it might lead in ten years?
9. Master Body Art with Watercolor Crayons
Challenge your kids’ artsy side and let them draw all over themselves or each other with watercolor crayons. They are colorful, easy-to-wash away and can give them hours of fun creating temporary tattoos. Again, you can find and print out loads of amazing tribal, floral or abstract patterns online.
10. Have Fun with Snail Mail
Did you know there are a lot of cool things under 13 ounces that you can mail? From flip-flops and stockings full of candies to a special mail bucket and shovel. Create a beautiful care package together and mail to some of your friends, relatives or a new pen pal.
11. Finish a 1,000 piece puzzle
Everyone loves puzzles, but not everyone have the guts to finish them. As long as school days are still a month away, you can use the desk to assemble it. When it’s finally done, you can always glue a LEGO mat or a piece of carton on top to turn it into a lovely table cover or wall art.
Featured photo credit: Geomangio via flickr.com
