Fun Things to Do with Your Kids this Summer

Home
>
Parenting
>
Fun Things to Do with Your Kids this Summer

Fun Things to Do with Your Kids this Summer

10 Fun Things You Can Do With Your Children this Summer that Won't Break the Bank

For a family with small children like my own, a big family vacation in the summer isn't always an option. But just because your summer entertainment budget is small doesn't mean you and your kids can't have lots of fun this summer.

Here are ten ideas to get you started on lots of fun this summer ? on a budget.

1) Water + Kids = Lots of Fun

Put everyone in bathing suits and turn on the sprinklers. Fill the plastic pool that's been lying around the garage all year. Get some inexpensive water guns at the dollar store and fill up some water balloons. Believe me, your kids won't need any further instructions. Just keep plenty of towels around to dry off afterwards.

2) Your Child on Paper

Get a large sheet of packing paper, or use some leftover wallpaper. Any big sheet of paper will do. Ask your child to lay on his or her back on the paper and use a pen or pencil to draw the outline around him or her. Let your child paint features, clothes etc. When the paint dries, cut the shape out and hang this life-size picture of your child up.

3) Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk

Use the recipe found at http://www.kinderinfo.com/crafts/sidewalk-chalk.htm to make your own sidewalk chalk. Use it to let the kids turn the driveway into a piece of art, or and use it to play hopscotch.

4) Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Do you have a baseball team in town? It doesn't have to be a major league team. In fact tickets will be a lot cheaper if it isn't. Take the kids out to a minor league game or even watch your high school team play.

5) Backyard Camping Trip

Don't have time to take the kids on a camping trip this year? Just camp out in the backyard or even in your living room. Your kids will enjoy it just as much as going out into the woods, and it will give you a great chance to spend some quality time with your kids uninterrupted by TV, video games etc. For more tips on how to turn this into a fun event, read Backyard Camping Trip at http://www.kinderinfo.com/articles/backyard-camping-trip.htm

6) Take the Kids to Work

Have your kids been curious what Mom or Dad do all day at work? Take them with you for a day or even just a few hours before they have to go back to school. Of course you may want to check with your employer first. If he doesn't like the idea of having a child hang out in the office all day, ask if it would be ok for someone to bring your child in for an hour or two. Get your child involved while he or she is visiting with you. Ask him or her to help you with some of your everyday tasks.

7) Game Night / Movie Night

Dig out some of the board games that have been sitting in the closet for ages and play games for a few hours. You can even share some games that you enjoyed playing as a child.

Movie Night is another great way for the entire family to spend the evening together. Rent a family movie, make some popcorn and have everyone watch the movie together.

8) Lemonade Stand

Encourage your children to open a lemonade stand. They'll be busy all day making posters, and lemonade of course, setting up the table and selling the lemonade. This is also a great time to work in some math practice by working with them to figure out the cost of each glass of lemonade and how much they need to sell it for to make a profit.

9) Treasure Hunt

You can keep the kids busy for hours with a fun treasure hunt. The idea is to create a series of clues that the kids will have to follow to get to a little prize in the end. You can draw the item where the next clue is hidden on a note card, or give them a written clue. For example, "The next clue is hidden under a chair in the house". Put another clue under one of the chairs saying that the next clue can be found hanging in a tree in the yard. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like.

10) End of Summer Party

Invite the kids your child has been playing with all summer for an End of Summer Party. You may want to have their parents over as well, to give you a chance to get to know each other. This doesn't have to be fancy, just ask everyone to come over and grill some hotdogs in the backyard.

For more Summer Fun Ideas for Kids, join the Kinderinfo Newsletter at http://www.kinderinfo.com/newsletter and we'll also send you our ebook "Summer Fun", which is full of even more great ideas to have a good time this summer.

In The News:

'Facebook parenting' is destroying our children's privacy
CNN
Editor's note: Aisha Sultan is a parenting columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and recent Knight Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. Follow her on Twitter: @AishaS. Jon Miller is director of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth in ...

and more »

Apodaca: Don't listen to parenting naysayers
Daily Pilot
The photo was a provocative lead-in for an article on the latest controversy over the issue of child rearing, the practice of what's called attachment parenting. Now the subject is all over the news, providing fodder for talk shows, ...

Sydney Morning Herald
Judges rarely meet young in parenting disputes, says study
Sydney Morning Herald
In New Zealand, 65 per cent of Family Court judges said they often, very often or always met a child who was the subject of a parenting dispute. Dr Fernando said Australia was lagging behind other countries in attitudes to children meeting with judges.

and more »

Putting The Post-Deployment Family Back Together
Vermont Public Radio
Kevin Ross, 31, says the ADAPT parenting program has helped him and his family communicate more effectively. When parents deploy to a war zone overseas, their absence can have ripple effects that are felt long after they return.

and more »

Compete, Pout, Martyr and Shout
Huffington Post (blog)
Please let us teach you the Handel Method®, or if you already know it, let us help you apply it to your parenting. If you want to learn how to put the above into practice, come to Parenting by Design, the four-week course to design and implement the ...

Parenting group bans unvaccinated adults
msnbc.com (blog)
By Diane Mapes The recent whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic in Washington state has prompted the parent support group PEPS to issue a new policy regarding participation in their groups. "Because of the pertussis epidemic in Washington, ...

and more »

The Water Cooler: Parenting
San Francisco Chronicle (blog)
The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it! The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon! Do you think people should have to take a mandatory course in parenting before ...

CBS Local
Legacy Parenting Project Holds Conference To Help Teen Moms
CBS Local
By Tim Jimenez PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Legacy Parenting Project, a non-profit helping young parents, held a conference for more than 100 teen mothers today at a hotel at Philadelphia International Airport. Morgan is a high school senior in Aston and ...

Sydney Morning Herald
Brad Pitt, 'Killing Them Softly': Actor Talks Stepping Behind Camera ...
Huffington Post
By JAKE COYLE 05/24/12 06:53 AM ET Since he last collaborated with Andrew Dominik, he's starred in the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading," David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," Terrence ...
Pitt rules out becoming a directorWTVQ

all 287 news articles »

Parenting And The Zen Of Roller Coaster Riding
Huffington Post
It's parenting. Growing up has its ups and downs, some wild, many downright frightening. Our kids must stay on for the ride, because you can't get from childhood to adulthood without all these lurches and loops. Parents, though, have a choice (or a ...

Google News