When the kids are out of school for the summer, it might seem like they have nothing to do except to watch television or play video games. This is a time of the year when you can teach your children how to do things around the home while having fun. It’s also a time when you can enjoy being together as a family since there isn’t as much of a rush to get going during the day as there is during the school year.
Arts And Crafts
There are numerous types of arts and crafts that you can do with your children over the summer. Make a few tie-dyed shirts with your children’s favorite colors so that they will remember being out for the summer. Gather a few leaves to paint around so that you have beautiful artwork to hang on the wall while teaching your children about the different types of leaves and trees outside. Make a bird feeder with pine cones, peanut butter, and birdseed, teaching your kids about different kinds of birds in the process. Another fun craft involves making slime with glitter glue or food coloring. This could also be considered a science experiment as you teach kids how the ingredients interact with each other to make the slime.
Blissful Baking
Whether it’s a rainy day or you want to teach your kids how to bake, consider making sugar cookies, like this recipe from Tori Avey together. This is a fun activity that will allow you to teach your kids about measurements and how ingredients go together to produce sweet treats. Cut the sugar cookie dough into fun summer shapes. After they are baked, you and your children can decorate the cookies with fun colors. Hold a bake sale or a yard sale to make a little extra money. Another idea would be to give the cookies to a neighbor or a senior citizen in the neighborhood. This can be a great activity to teach your children a skill and give them an opportunity to serve others.
Fun And Games
Set up an obstacle course in the yard. Play board games at the kitchen table. Have fun with your kids during the summer because there won’t be a lot of summers when they will likely want to stay at home with the family. Make playing games a competition to see who’s athletic or who has the most skills with prizes in the form of choosing what’s for supper or which movie to watch at night. Playing games is also a versatile activity that can be done anywhere, depending on the weather. It’s a fun activity to participate in outside if the weather is nice, but you can also do it indoors if the weather isn’t cooperating. You can take turned choosing which game you want to play and that way you can ensure that everyone gets a turn to play what they want to.
The summer months tend to go by fairly quickly. Find activities that will bring joy to your children’s lives while teaching them at the same time. Enjoy the time together because the school bell will ring sooner than you think.
