School is out for a few months and all of us moms are looking for summer activities for kids at home. We want to keep our kids from excessive screen time, provide lots of seasonal summer fun, and also create some semblance of structure in our homes.
We know that if we rely heavily on screen time to fill up our children’s summer days they will…
- Display behavioral issues
- Complain of boredom when screen time is over
- Constantly ask for more time on devices than we are comfortable with
- Have trouble entertaining themselves with independent unstructured play
- Find the more mundane parts of their day (such as chores or reading) hard to get through
With that in view, here are some simple, fun summer ideas for kids that will keep your children occupied until school begins again.
Your Kids Do Not Need You (Or Screens) To Entertain Them
First things first, we need a mindset shift for the summer, Mama! Take off the pressure, put away your checkbook, and unplug the screens because children are entirely capable of making their own fun. In fact, they are experts at it. When we remove hinderances like electronic devices, kids thrive at free play.
I think the expectation that kids must be kept busy and the slightest whine must be silenced by fast paced electronic entertainment contributes to many of the parenting problems we have today. It is why many children are spending upwards of seven hours per day on screen time, for pleasure alone.
If you long for your children to experience the nostalgic type of summers that you remember from your own childhood, try pulling the plug on electronic devices and encouraging your kids to do the simple things of childhood like:
- Ride bikes
- Ride scooters
- Rollerblade
- Jump rope
- Climb trees
- Create a chalk mural on the sidewalk
- Play hopscotch
- Build a fort
- Construct a treehouse
- Set up a mud kitchen out back
- Play hide and seek with siblings
- Play Go Fish on the porch
- Blow bubbles
- Have a bubble gun fight
- Illustrate a map of mysterious buried treasure in your yard
- Do a scavenger hunt
- Create a neighborhood newspaper
- Take the dogs on a walk
- Jump on the trampoline
- Paint with watercolors on the lawn
- Draw beneath the shade of a tree
- Go fishing
- Plant a flower garden
- Plant a vegetable garden
- Water and weed their garden
- Catch fireflies in a mason jar
- Go swimming or play with the hose
- Write and mail letters to long distance relatives
- Be a summer pen pal to a school friend
- Make a scrapbook of family memories
- Write a children’s novel from start to finish
- Write and illustrate a picture book starring their own family
- Illustrate a comic book
- Learn how to knit
- Build a bird house out of popsicle sticks
- Create a zipline in the backyard
- Make a Lemonade stand
- Bake brownies
- Practice an instrument
- Collect rocks
- Examine bugs
- Catch tadpoles at the local pond
My grandmother was an amazing mom and homemaker, yet I do not think she spent even half the time stressing about activities to entertain her kids as we modern parents do. She simply sent them outside after breakfast and expected them to make their own fun until the next meal.
My dad lived to tell the tale of having a mother who didn’t provide him with an endless stream of entertainment and he considers his childhood a great one.
Reading Challenge
There’s nothing quite like curling up with a good story in the afternoon after a full morning of hot outdoor summer activities. A great way to get a break as a busy mom and to keep your kids off of screens is to require a couple of quiet daily reading times.
Communicate to your child in advance that they will be allowed to read any book of their choosing after morning outdoor time, after lunch, and before bed for thirty minutes, but that is the only thing they will be permitted to do during that set time. No screens allowed.
Take your child to the library and let them pick out a variety of books to read. Encourage them to check out books…
- Slightly above their reading level
- Right at their reading level
- Slightly below their reading level
- On nonfiction topics
- On a skill they would like to learn
- From a fiction series they enjoy
- From a fiction list that you have preapproved
Water Fun
If you have a pool, this is a great time to blow up the donut floats, invite the neighborhood kids over, and sit back in a lawn chair while your children play Marco Polo. But if not, no worries! There are plenty of inexpensive ways to initiate water fun for your kids without a swimming pool.
In my experience, I found that all I have to do in order to initiate summer fun and spur my kids on in their unstructured play is to provide the supplies.
The kids know how to get creative and take it from there.
Try any number of these simple summer supplies for your kids to use at home:
- Squirt Guns
- Sprinkler
- Slip n Slide
- Splash pad
- Water table
- Water balloons
- Even a plain old hose will do
If you live in reasonable driving distance of a body water choose a few free days to try:
- Paddle boarding
- Canoeing
- Kayaking
- Fishing
- Jet skiing
- Surfing
- Boogie Boarding
- Swimming
- Collecting seashells
- Building sand castles
- Taking a boat ride
Need some help keeping summer screen time in check? I’ve got free printables to help you do just that in this post:
Backyard Sports
You don’t have to sign up for a rec team in order for your kids to enjoy tossing a ball around. Not everyone has to be MBA bound or club league level to enjoy group sports.
I am not a sporty mom whatsoever. Some people in my life might actually consider that an understatement. In high school, I got hit in the face with a basketball during gym class. I lack hand-eye coordination. I have very shoddy spatial awareness. Sports are just not my thing.
Despite my own lack of athletic ability, one of the most common summer activities at home that our family does is playing backyard sports together.
The kids and I frequently chase each other around, dribbling the basketball, and making all kinds of silly comments at one another. It gets pretty competitive for a family who is not bent toward sports.
If you want to get your kids outside in the fresh air to exercise on a daily basis but you do not want to make the time or financial commitment to a sports team, backyard sports is an excellent option for summer activities at home.
Your kids can have just as much fun, if not more, playing family sports at home rather than on a league that you paid for.
Invite another family over for dinner and a game. Encourage your kids to extend the invitation to their neighborhood peers. Play with the kids yourself. Or provide the backyard sports supplies and require the siblings to get outside for an hour everyday together for unstructured play.
Sports are an easy summer fun activity to do at home. They don’t have to be professionally organized in order to be enjoyable.
Here are some easy backyard sports your kids can play at home this summer:
- Badminton
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Field hockey
- Football
- Soccer
- Lacrosse
- Volleyball
Check Out Great Places Near You
What cool spots are unique to your little corner of the world? What is within driving distance that could be a great source of summer fun for your kids? Where could you take a day trip to that you haven’t been before? Here is a list of ideas of fun places to go with your kids in the summertime:
- Beach
- Mountains
- Waterfall
- Lake
- River
- Bay
- Fishing pier
- Hiking trail
- Babbling brook
- Zoo
- Aquarium
- Horse n’ Buddy ride
- Art museum
- Space museum
- Historical museum
- Amusement park
- Ice cream shop
- Snow cone stand
- Pottery painting
- Rock climbing
- Berry picking at a local farm
I hope this post sparked some simple ideas for fun summer activities for kids at home. Remember, you don’t have to do anything fancy or expensive to gift your child a spectacular screen free summer.
Their imaginations are their most important asset when it comes to summer fun.
Their siblings make the very best playmates.
If your kids have screen time limits, simple supplies, unstructured play time outdoors, and wild imaginations, they are already on their way to the best summer ever.
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