This summer, families are staying home more – eating out less, spending less on entertainment, and taking “staycations”. However, this doesn’t have to feel like a sacrifice for your family. With a little creativity and planning, there are plenty of really fun summer activities that will keep your kids busy, get the family out of the house, and make the most of summer vacation. We’ve come up with a list of our favorite low-cost ideas on how to inject some fun into summer without leaving home or breaking the bank.
Backyard Camping.
Summer just isn’t summer without camping out under the stars. But you don’t have to leave town to have an authentic camping experience. You can use the opportunity to teach your kids about constellations, or listen to the sounds of the night and try to identify their source – this is a great way to turn fear of the dark into a giggle fest. If you’ve got a fire pit, help them make s’mores. Gather around the fire with your treats and tell stories in a round robin format, where one person starts the story then hands it off to the person sitting next to them, and so on. Hang out in playtents in the backyard.
Plant a Garden.
Kids love digging in the dirt, so take a trip to a nursery and let them pick out flowers, vegetables, or herbs for their own Kids-Only garden. If you have a green thumb, share your knowledge and enthusiasm with your kids and teach them how to care for their plants. They’ll love watching their gardens grow throughout the summer, and it might even encourage them to eat their veggies! If they are more artsy than outdoorsy, have them paint their own flower pots, stepping stones, or Garden Gnomes to contribute to the family garden.
Build your own backyard miniature golf course.
Instead of using plastic cups for the holes, use flower pots and designate each hole with gardening stakes. Have the kids make flags out of old fabric – T-shirts, rags, etc. – and tape them to the stakes. Then design your course, using household objects and the natural topography to increase difficulty and keep the game interesting. Hint: garage sales are great places to find cheap, sturdy, weather-resistant obstacles. If you have some old putters, use them. There are some cute mini golf sets out there that are fun and easy for toddlers. At the end of the summer after the kids have been practicing on the backyard “course”, have a tournament. Or have an obstacle course for your kids.
Put on a Talent Show.
This can be a great activity for the kids to do with their friends, or make it a production and invite the whole neighborhood to get involved. Not a performer? Every talent show needs a host. Aspiring artists and film producers can work on stage design, make a banner to hang behind the “stage,” and video tape the performances. Kids will get a kick out of choreographing their routines and creating costumes – not to mention watching the show.
Water Park at Home.
This can be a lot of fun if you team up with other neighborhood parents. Each house can host its own activity – water balloon toss, slip and slide, sprinklers, car wash, water gun wars. All that splashing and running around is sure to make any kids ravenous. Break up the day with a potluck picnic.
Summer entertainment doesn’t have to cost a lot of money – all it takes is a little imagination, a little energy, and a little planning. When having fun together is the focus, you’ll find that it’s surprisingly easy to enjoy yourselves without spending big bucks or even leaving home. Hopefully, these wallet-friendly suggestions will help get the creative juices flowing this summer.
Sue Kirchner is the founder of www.ChocolateCakeClub.com, an e-boutique that offers busy moms products to help them get organized, encourage kids to be more self-sufficient, and distinguish them as Moms-who’ve-got-it-together with must-have gifts and parenting tools. She also writes the blog, www.ChocolateCakeMoments.com sharing tips and ideas on how to have more family fun. When not working, she’s home having fun with her husband and two children.
Check out more great summer tips by Ria Sharon of My Mommy Manual on this video at Channel 4 KMOV