Summer Activities For Kids – Fun Summer Things for Kids to Do

Lin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:00:34 +0000

Summer is here and parents are spending time looking for fun activities to keep their kids active, busy and physically fit during their summer break from school. What parent hasn’t heard the phrase, “I’m so bored!” shortly after summer vacation begins? Some parents cannot afford to send their kids to expensive summer camps, and are needing ideas about fun, inexpensive and free activities for kids to do this summer.

Having raised six kids myself, I had to come up with some creative and unique summer activities for my kids, otherwise summer break from school would inevitably lead to boredom and fights amongst the kids.

One thing that worked very well with my kids was to have each of my children make a list of fun activities they wanted to do during their summer break, written on separate pieces of paper, and anytime one of my children said they were bored, out came the fishbowl filled with hundreds of ideas of things to do. I was surprised and happy to find several household chores were included on my kid’s list of things to do, which definitely made me feel quite proud of my children.

Sometimes we made a game out of deciding which activity one or more of the kids would do, either separately or as a group, which helped my children feel more in control and involved in the decision of what things they would do during their summer break. Beating summertime boredom can be challenging at times, but having kids do some brainstorming on their own not only helps build self-confidence and self-esteem in children, but it also teaches children how to come up with ideas and solutions to problems on their own.

Things for Kids to Do in the Summer:

In random order, with some activities being free or at least inexpensive, here are some ideas of things for kids to do in the summer to prevent or beat summertime boredom:

Bike riding	Jump rope	Basketball	Soccer
Swimming	Dancing	Hopscotch	Roller blade
Play board games	Go to the zoo	Go to a museum	Play in the sprinkler
Make a lemonade stand	Martial arts	Create an obstacle course	Draw or finger paint
Do puzzles	Play card games	Do Kids Crafts	Play catch with a ball
Play Frisbee	Plant a garden	Play Cowboys and Indians	Play Hide-and-Seek
Mow the lawn	Rake and play in the leaves	Write and act out a children’s play	Get Family Friendly Theater Tickets!
Start a collection: rocks, feathers, colorful leaves	Write a letter to grandma or grandpa	Play with the pet in or outside the house	Do brain-teasers or crossword puzzles
Make puppets and put on a show	Do a good deed for an elderly neighbor	Play with toy cars or dolls	Run relay races
Learn to play a musical instrument	Play with building blocks or Legos	Play baseball	Play charades
Plan a treasure hunt in the backyard	Make homemade popsicles	Make a fort with popsicle sticks	Play tag or touch football
Go to a local or state park	Get season tickets to Six Flags!	Bake cookies with mom	Read Books

With summertime weather typically being optimal for outside play, and believing that children spend too much time watching television, playing video games or being on the computer, I purposely did not list such things for kids to do during the summer. In order for kids to be active and physically fit, during summer or any other time of year, children need to do a variety of self-esteem activities that sitting in front of the t.v. or computer monitor will not provide.

Kids can have a lot of fun building something at The Home Depot and Lowe’s kid clubs, which is FREE to children of all ages. With each store’s kids’ club providing keepsake aprons, tools, safety goggles and kits to build things like birdhouses, bookshelves and wooden toys, children not only have a lot of fun but their self-esteem is improved too. Each time kids complete a project, children are given gift certificates of completion and patches to put on their aprons. Check with your local Home Depot or Lowe’s stores about their kids’ club schedule to ensure space is available for your child.

Do you have any more suggestions of fun things for kids to do in the summer? What summer activities for kids do you have planned for your own children?

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Summer Activities For Kids – Fun Summer Things for Kids to Do