On a personal note here, my daughter graduated from high school and is ready to leave home for college in two weeks. Have we prepared her for life? Is she ready to fly? We’ve done our best and she’s a great kid. Our roles as her parents are changing – now we’re more advisors (when asked) and providers of unconditional love.
It’s getting to be that time when much of summer is gone but there’s still time left to have some memorable moments with family and kids activities. And when the kids have to write their essay about what they did on their summer vacation, they’ll have plenty of topics to choose from.
1. Camp in your backyard. Haul out the tent, cooler, and grill and pretend the house isn’t there (except to use the bathroom.) No TV or phones, just some hikes through the woods or bike rides through the neighborhood, hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill, games of charades, exploring your backyard by flashlight, and snuggling up in the tent with some ghost stories.
2. Declare a "Park Day". Pack snacks, lunch and a map, jump in the car and see how many parks around town you can explore. Start with the parks across town or in the next burg that you’ve never been to and head towards home hitting all the parks you can. The kids can rate them based on what’s important to them so you know which ones are worth visiting again.
3. Host an outdoor movie night. Rent a projector and show a kid-friendly movie on your garage door or the side of your house. Invite the neighbors and ask them to bring their lawnchairs and snacks to share.
4. What does your city offer that you’ve never done? Is there a ghost tour or candy factory tour or something really different the whole family would get a kick out of doing? It’s never been easier to find out what’s available – do a search on the Internet.
5. Host a kids cookie exchange. This is a fun thing to do, even if it is summer!
6. Make a summer kids activities memory book together to help the kids remember their fun summer. Include photos, drawings, descriptions, stickers, ticket stubs, etc.
7. If the kids would like a super kids craft project, here’s a good one:
