It’s coming! It’s just around the corner! Can you feel it? Those long summer days and cool summer nights. It’s so close!!! School is almost over, sports are wrapping up, schedules are getting clear and life is finally going to slow down a bit, at least for a season.
As much as I love spring, summer is also full of fun in our house. With no soccer, wrestling, or school, our schedules are more free than any other time of the year and my kids love taking full advantage of the extra free time. However, if your kids are anything like mine, after a week or two, they start getting bored out of their mind and before too long, it’s too hot to be outside all day. And not to mention those rainy summer days where indoor activities are the only option!
So what’s a mom to do when your kids are home from school and have too much time on their hands? While many of the activities I listed in the blog “Simple Springtime Activities for Families” can still be done in summer, summer activities call for something different to combat the heat that comes! You also need something to FILL the days and keep them occupied because Hot Wheels, Legos, and Barbies are only fun for so long and the arguing can get ugly FAST!
I took some time to think about what activities are successful in our home and I’m here to share those with you!
Build a Fort!
A long-time favorite indoor childhood activity is fort building!!! Whether it’s a pillow fort, blanket fort, or a fort using couch cushions and other random items around your house - let your kids’ imaginations soar as they build and rebuild their fort! We’ve even done this outside and put a box fan in there to keep the kids cool! Just use something heavy to hold down the sides of a large sheet. This usually keeps my kids entertained ALL DAY!!!
My mom found these “Blanket Fort for Kids” kits on Amazon. While they aren’t necessary for fun, they sure are handy for fort building fun!!
These are some of their favorite games to play, but we have a closet full!
Have a Board Game Marathon
While my daughter is still a bit young for something like this, my boys are very into board games right now. I can stack up a bunch of board games and have them take turns playing them ALL DAY LONG! I have found that if I stack them up and have them pull them in order, they can’t argue over which game they’re going to play next! They can play most of these by themselves, but I try to find time to jump in there with them and play, too. It can often make for some great laughs!
KiwiCo has some great DIY’s on their page, many of which you can find the supplies to make around your house! They have options for all ages and you can even scroll through them by category! They tell you how much time each activity will take and how messy it is! My older boys can usually do these on their own, though my daughter needs help. The ones we’ve done have been pretty fun!
These Origami Bookmarks are a great way to encourage your kids to get that reading time in this summer!
This Glow in the Dark Flower is a fun one to do during the day and set out for some of the fun nighttime activities listed below!
These Star-Spangled Fruit Pops are fun for the kids to make, then a great treat to help cool them off!
This Solar Oven is great way to take advantage of the heat while keeping your kids entertained!
Make Color Changing Lemonade
This was a super fun (and super simple) kitchen science activity! While all my kids get KiwiCo Crates (GREAT birthday and Christmas gift ideas if you or grandparents are looking for something that isn’t a “toy”), my middle son (8) is currently very interested in cooking, so he gets the ““Yummy” crate. One of his recent crates came with a recipe (that I was also able to find on their DIY page so I can share with you guys) for color changing lemonade. It really only took about 10/15 mins and there’s science involved (win-win!!!) A fun activity that can also be a simple way to cool down after playing outside!
(TIPS: *To make red cabbage juice, wash a few red cabbage leaves, then tear them into smaller pieces and pack into a 1 cup measuring cup. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add the cabbage leaves, and boil for about a min. Using a colander over top of a large bowl, drain the cabbage leaves - you can discard those. That’s it! You have red cabbage juice.
*You can also make “simple syrup” by heating the 4 cups of water and stirring in the sugar. This will help the sugar to better dissolve in the water. Allow to cool before mixing in the red cabbage juice.)
Check out all the different lines KiwiCo offers and find one that will interest your child! Each crate is hands on and includes STEM activities. They seriously have so many different types of crates to fit your child’s interests!! My almost 11 year old loves the Tinker crate and my 4 year old has a blast with her Koala crate!
Have a Movie Night
Movie Night is our kids’ favorite night of the week!
I don’t know about your kids, but mine LOVE movies! I know what you’re thinking - “what’s so special about a movie?!” - well, you get to make it special! On Fridays, we spend the day prepping for a fun family movie night! I let the kids help me make snacks ahead of time (cookies, brownies, popcorn (see below), trail mix - something simple that’s also a treat) and then I let them help with dinner (usually homemade pizza, but here are some other quick and easy kid friendly options). When they know we’re having a special night, it’s easier to keep them on their best behavior throughout the day, get them to do their chores without complaining, and encourage them to find non-screen activities to do during the day.
You could also really make it fun by creating and printing your own tickets or making it “dinner and a movie” if you don’t mind food in your living room. Maybe even set up a fun “snack bar” with the snacks you made earlier and let the kids fill their plates! A “kid-friendly charcuterie board” is also a lot of fun, simple, and something the kids can help put together!
Take it up a notch and watch the movie in the blanket fort the kids built earlier! Or really have some fun and do an outdoor movie night! Our neighbors (Maria) bought an awesome movie projector and they’ve been kind enough to invite us over. You can get the whole neighborhood involved and make it a block party!
Make Fun Varieties of Popcorn!
We made “Sonic” popcorn for our Sonic 2 Movie Night! (Just some blue candy melts and blue sprinkles.)
Our kids love popcorn, so for Christmas, we bought them a simple popcorn machine from Target. You can find a similar one (same brand) HERE on Amazon. The boys are able to make it themselves, which is GREAT! While we love the simple, buttered popcorn, we have started experimenting with different “additions” we can add to it for fun! Our current favorite is this Cinnamon Butter addition! You can make a big batch together, then melt a little and drizzle over some popcorn (we also added a little salt and WOW!). There are lots of different recipes out there to try! This website has some recipes that look really fun and I’ll be trying some of these with the kids on our next movie night!!! A quick Pinterest or Google search and you can find lot of different ideas to try!!! Serve during your movie night or just use as a fun snack!
FYI: The cute Popcorn bucket came from the Dollar Store!
Tie Dye Shirts
My boys have tie dyed shirts a few times and this is something they really enjoy being creative with! While it can get messy, I have learned that cutting open a few trash bags can contain the mess and make cleaning up super easy!!! There are so many ways you can do this one! This nature focused one looks fun and I think we might try this one next time!
I like to use THIS BRAND because it’s simple and less of a mess!
Glow Stick Capture the Flag
Another fun evening activity is Capture the Flag, but with glow sticks! You have to make sure each team gets the same color, so you’ll have to be strategic when purchasing the glow sticks, but that’s really all you need! Oh, and a “flag” of some sort using glow sticks. You can use larger ones for this or tape a bunch of the same color together. I found these bulk packs of glow sticks to have plenty for this, and more for other fun glow stick activities!!
Glow in the Dark Bubbles
My boys both have summer birthdays and we’ve found that it’s too hot for a big outdoor party in the middle of the day, so last year, we planned the party for the evening and did a glow-stick theme! One of the big hits was the DIY Glow in the Dark Bubbles! Don’t be afraid of this DIY - It’s SUPER easy!!! You just need glow sticks and packs of bubbles!
Glow Stick Stick-Figure Dance
Maria did this with her girls last year and her girls had a BLAST! You can watch a quick tutorial here, but you basically just tape some glow sticks to your kids, turn the lights out and turn some music on! Or wait until dark and take it outside!!
Flashlight Tag
You just need a flashlight and a dark room or yard! Hopefully you have wonderful neighbors like we do who don’t mind the shrills and giggles of kids playing in the backyard later in the evening, though we do try to be respectful of time knowing many still need to go to work the next day.
These are just a few of the things my family loves doing during the summer. I hope this inspires you to be a little more creative and think outside the box this summer as well as get out there and make some lasting memories with your kids!!
What are some of your favorite summer activities?
Terri - General Manager at Milk + Honey Jewelry
You can check out these fun blogs for more summer activity ideas:
9 Kids's Flashlight Games for Fun After Dark - The Spruce
50+ Best Fun Summer Activities & Play Ideas for Kids - KidsActivities.com
100 Summer Fun Ideas for Kids and Parents - Very Well Family