During the summer, children seem to inevitably reach a point where they exclaim, “I’m bored!” loudly and frequently. When the kids appear to have reached that point, you can get to work planning a variety of family-friendly summer activities to keep everyone engaged and entertained. In fact, it’s highly recommended that you try at least a few of these ideas to avoid the boredom that a long summer can bring.
One of the advantages of summer is that there is no pressure to “perform” for school, unless children are attending summer school. You don’t have to spend hours helping your child with homework, and all children benefit from some unstructured time. Too much unstructured time, on the other hand, can be just as bad as not having any at all. Instead of sitting open-mouthed in front of televisions or computer screens for hours, it’s a good idea to plan some structured summer activities so that children have a routine.
You don’t need to be wealthy to plan a lot of summer activities, and these ideas are geared toward families who aren’t planning on taking long vacations. Instead, they can fill in the gaps in the summer schedule so that kids stay active and have fun with their parents. First and foremost, if you’re on a budget, look for free or low-cost family-friendly summer activities at your local park and recreation center.
Special family bowling nights, movies or plays in local parks, free museum days, or discounted days at various cultural and social events or local swim centers are all available in some cities. Many parks and recreation centers also offer low-cost or no-cost classes that the entire family can participate in. If it’s free, why not try Russian folk dance? Or do you want to learn conversational Spanish for a low cost? Perhaps it’s time to devote more time to the dog’s training or to learn the fundamentals of photography.
Summertime also allows many people to spend a lot more time outside. When the weather is nice, there’s no reason you can’t have dinner at a local park or start a family park visit a few nights a week. Just remember to apply sunscreen if it’s still light outside, and to use a good insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites in the evening.
If the house is unbearably hot, take your favorite board games to the nearest park in the cooler evening hours, or use the time to let the kids burn off steam by playing on park equipment. Alternately, turn on the sprinkler for some cheap wet fun, or have a few water sprayer fights with the kids. Parents who join in the fun and play along with their children are frequently adored by their children.
During the summer, keep planned events like family game night alive, and consider working on a project together as a family. You could, for example, collaborate on a large jigsaw puzzle that will take several days to complete. Another suggestion is to select books for your family to read together. Choose summer activities that give back to the community, such as volunteering to clean up local parks or creeks, or read and discuss a favorite book.
Learning and reinforcing things learned in school in less structured ways can also be part of summer activities. If you want your children to excel at fractions and math in general, teach them how to weigh and measure ingredients for recipes, as well as how to double, triple, or halve them. Allow children to participate in the day-to-day operations of the household, and encourage them to write by having them create shopping lists and assisting with the cooking. The entire family can learn new recipes or how to prepare a favorite treat.
Don’t overlook the importance of daytime excursions outside of your city. Even if you can’t afford long vacations, most families can take advantage of summer activities such as day trips to semi-local attractions. Plan a few day trips to large cities to see what it’s like to visit another town for a day.
Maintain social engagements with other families during the summer because school can be such a big part of life. Plan a few playdates with your entire family as well as other school families. Summer activities for school families are sometimes planned by parent organizations. These are frequently low-cost ways for the entire family to have fun while maintaining close ties with classmates and parents.