24 Summer Things to Do With Your Kids Before School Starts

If you’re wondering what to do in the summer, here are some cheap summer things and activities you can do with your family.

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I went without summer for a long time once.

We call it… the eternal winter.

Of course it wasn’t eternal because it only lasted 3 years, but still. THREE YEARS WITHOUT A PROPER SUMMER. That’s tough for a Florida girl.

At the time, it felt like half my life. I lived in England for two years, then Scotland for half a year, then moved to Australia but, as fate would have it, I missed summer because of the whole different hemisphere business.

All total, it was 3 years without a hot summer.

I’m sure my skin thanked me, but I was miserable. Why? Because deep down in my heart of hearts I am a summer girl.

I prefer 100 degrees to 60. I like sunshine, water, and my favorite holiday is the 4th of July. So needless to say, we try to do summer right over here.

School is starting and soon, depending on where you live, the leaves will start changing. I did not follow any type of bucket list… but I did manage to get in So Much Fun Summer Stuff!

 

I didn’t make a summer ?? bucket list because I don’t like anyone (especially myself?) making a big list of things to do aside from the other 1,577,743 things I need to do to keep the kids alive until bedtime. . However, if I had made one I’d have put “take all the big kids to a movie and get Icees the size of our heads” on it and then today I’d have checked it off! ? . #sweetsummertime #largefamily #christopherrobin

A post shared by Rachel Norman (@momfarfromhome) on Aug 4, 2018 at 2:51pm PDT

Summer Fun Ideas

• Stay up later than normal doing something fun. We go “night swimming” once a week. The first time we did it, the kids said, “This is the best day of my life!”
• Watch the sunset and forget about bedtime.
• Play outside in the rain. Unless it starts lightning, then come inside.
• But if you do come inside, watch the thunderstorm from the window.
• Eat a lot of ice cream. Homemade ice cream, if you have an ice cream maker.

Read: How To Dress A Newborn Safely In Summer (Day & Night)

Summer things everyone will love

• Eat breakfast for dinner and eat leftover pizza for breakfast.
• Let the kids take a long bath in their bathing suits. And add some shaving cream and let them go wild.
• Run through the sprinklers.
• Have papers to burn? Have a mini bonfire and make s’mores.
• Go to the beach.

Read: Avoid Summer Screen Time Battles (In 4 Steps!)

Cheap summer activities

• Drink a big glass of fresh squeezed lemonade.
• Go fishing with the kids.
• Eat a watermelon. (Oh, and if you’re adventurous, add a little salt to it. I promise, you will thank me later.)
• Teach the kids to climb a tree.
• Sit on the front porch or a swing without your phone.

Read: A Summer Schedule That’ll Keep Kids (& Mom) Sane

Add these to the bucket list

• Make a nice dessert and eat it outside on a picnic blanket.
• Fly a kite. Or if you don’t have a kite, make your own.
• Go to a zoo. Or call a neighbor who has animals, and ask to come visit. Within a few miles we have alpacas, horses, cows, and goats.
• Take a long drive with the windows down.
• For one day, eat every meal outside.

Read: Summer Camp Theme Ideas – Fun For The Whole Family

• Hang a sheet on the side of the house and host a movie night.
• Take a walk on a nature trail and get super dirty!
• Buy some fresh fruit and veggies from the produce stand (or harvest your own) and can, freeze, or dehydrate them for the year.
• Take the kids stargazing.

Summertime is always the best of what might be. C. Bowden