Summer… it’s startin’ to drag a bit, no? Don’t get me wrong: I love having my bean home with me. But by the end of a week, where I’m not only trying to work from home but give him a great summer, saying “I’m pooped” is the understatement of the year!
I’ve stumbled upon a few good ideas of fun things to do this summer that you haven’t thought of… they’ll keep your kids busy, active, and away from screens (and out of your hair). If you’re starting to loathe summer, these ideas should help…
The reading caterpillar. I wanted to ensure my son kept up on his book and reading time this summer. So, in addition to getting him his very own library card at the start of summer and scheduling weekly trips there, we created a caterpillar on his bedroom door. I cut out a little paper head and taped it to the top of his door, as well as a whole bunch of coloured circles for his body – each time he reads a book he gets to add a circle. He’s loving the challenge of seeing how long he can make the caterpillar (and getting in tons of book time too!).
STEM building activities. STEM learning is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. In other words, finding new, creative ways to teach our children to learn. My most recent fave STEM activity: a container of toothpicks and either Playdoh or mini marshmallows. By using the little marshmallows or small blobs of rolled up Playdoh, and affixing them to the toothpick ends, you can build and make all sorts of cool structures.
Dinosaur egg excavation. Why is it that kids are obsessed with eggs? Toys that come in eggs, chocolate eggs, etc. So I put a few dinosaurs into some regular-sized balloons, filled them with water and froze them. Then, I cut away the balloon and TA DA: dinosaur eggs. Now arm your kid with a mallet or hammer and protective eye gear, and see if they can get the dinosaurs out!
LEGO challenge. Make a list of some inspiring LEGO ideas (build a catapult, build a zipline, build your initials/name, build a robot) and gave em a bin of LEGOS. You’re welcome.
Water droplet races. Roll out some wax paper and give your kids some eye droppers, a straw and a small bowl of coloured water each. Have them put a droplet of water on the wax paper and then “move it” by blowing at it through the straw. You can give each child a different colour of water and they can race.
Make bubble wands using pipe cleaners. Configure all kinds of shapes. Decorate the handles with beads.
Make magic wands. Buy short wooden dowels at the dollar store and decorate with Washi tape, coloured electrical tape, stickers, paint, markers, glitter and more. Affix long strands of ribbon from the end to make it “magical.”
Create your own comic books. Gather up those spare comic books, old reading books, magazines, newspapers, stickers, etc. and have your kid turn them into his/her own comic book. Have the siblings work on one together.
Make your own dream-catchers. Take a paper plate and use a hole puncher to punch a circular pattern around the interior of the plate. Have your child thread yarn through in his/her own pattern. Use feathers, beads and other decorations to personalize it.
Water pistol painting. Fill a few dollar store water guns with coloured water, and have them blast away at paper or a canvas.
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
