Kids need something to do in the summer? Try these activities!
Summer Activities for Kids
Summer Activities for Kids: The Daily Specials
Summer vacation has officially started for my kids since my son is out of school. What in the world am I going to do with them? was my first thought this morning. I mean, we’ve had summer vacations before, but this is the first time in a long time all three kids are going to be together during the day now that school is out. I need a list of summer activities for kids that will keep ’em busy and me sane!
Know what I’m talking about?
I needed summer activities for kids that they weren’t going to get bored with in the first week. I also needed some consistency so I wasn’t trying to figure out what I am going to do every day.
After some thinking, I think I came up with my plan that is consistent yet flexible! WOOT!
The Daily Specials
Here’s what I’m thinking:
My son’s school day was broken up by his ‘specials’, aka classes that took him out of his classroom into another setting for lessons in art, music, environmental education, etc.
This is what his schedule looked like:
- Monday: Gym/Physical Education
- Tuesday: Environmental Education
- Wednesday: Art
- Thursday: Music
- Friday: Enrichment
I’m going to use that schedule to plan each day’s activities. Each day, most likely around the times when my baby boy naps, my older two kids and I will have a ‘special’ class. For instance, on Mondays, we’ll do an activity that involves physical movement (not a problem with my kids, let me tell you!). Tuesdays, we’ll explore nature or do some gardening. Wednesdays will be arts and crafts days, Thursdays we’ll play around with music, and Friday we’ll practice letters, numbers, time, colors, shapes, etc.
Each Special will last about a hour, sometimes more depending on what we’re doing.
Summer Activity Ideas
Here’s a list of some of the activities I would use for the ‘Daily Specials’:
- Physical Education: swimming, jump rope, obstacle course, jumping jacks, races, hopscotch, tag, walking, playing at a play ground, soccer, baseball, volleyball, dancing
- Environmental Education: gardening, nature walk, nature scavenger hunt, picking up trash in the neighborhood, learning about trees and plants, learning about animals, taking photos of animals and plants, science projects
- Arts and Crafts: coloring, painting, sculpting with clay, taking pictures of things with different shapes/colors/textures, making bird houses with recycled materials
- Music: Learning new songs to sing, playing instruments, clapping to the beat, dancing, making instruments out of recycled materials
- Enrichment: Practicing letter and number recognition, reading books and writing short reports, creating our own story books, acting out a play, doing puzzles, word searches, board games
What’s great about this is that while some of these activities, like the arts and crafts, need some planning, most of these activities can be done on the fly. They also can be done at any time of the day or night and provide just enough structured play for kids to help them have a consistent schedule during the summer months.
Tell Me: What do you do with your kids during summer vacation? Would you follow a schedule like this? Why or why not?
You might like: Boredom Busters for kids
Supplies for Summer Activities for Kids:
Nicole Dz says
We do a ton of activites, visit the lakes & beaches, water parks, zoos, museums, and visit family during summer vacation. We like to stay active as much as we can.
tiffany f says
This is a great list of ideas to keep kids busy and active for the summer. Being a stay at home mom I often run out of ideas of thins to do but all the activities you listed seem like things kids would love to do over and over. Thanks for some excellent suggestions .
Marissa says
That’s the key: to keep a handy list of activities they love to do so they’re never bored. Glad you liked my ideas!
Dana Kaytovich says
I like the different ideas, my daughter is in toddlerhood and I don’t want her to sit in front of the tv all day. This gives me some ideas!
Jo-Ann Brightman says
I think that this is a great list of activities. It is important to keep kids active and occupied. They should be able to have fun ,but learn too.
Lara Clinton says
The schedule of specials is a great idea! We called those times specials when I was in school too 🙂 You get a good mix of everything!
Marissa says
Thanks! Glad you like my idea. 🙂
Tammy S says
I like how you keep to some what of a schedule. I am a big fans of kids staying on a schedule as much as possible. We have different activities most days. We also have reading time everyday for one hour.
Robin Wilson says
I don’t have any little ones in the house anymore, but when I did I used something similar to this. I think that structure/schedules can be invaluable to kids during the summer. I think it’s really important to get them up and moving some just like the activities you have here!