The year s go by quickly and first thing you know, your kids will be all grown up. But you can turn summertime into a treasured memory by planning lots of family activities that will be fun for everyone.
They’ll likely want to spend some time with their television shows and computers so do allow time in the morning when you are getting some household duties done and need them to be occupied. Plan a nice salad for lunch and a quick stove-top or microwave entrée for dinner to save yourself time. And use mornings to get a load of laundry washed and dried every day so you don’t get behind. Each morning take one household task, such as vacuuming, dusting, or cleaning a bathroom, so your house stays neat and tidy. The older kids can be cajoled into helping with these duties in exchange for whatever reward you have decided is appropriate. Aim for being finished by 10:00 or 11:00, then call the family together and discuss what you’d like to do that day.
You could choose from having a picnic in a nearby park if the weather is warm, to a visit to the local spray park or swimming pool. If the weather is cool or rainy, it might be a good day to spend an afternoon at the local heritage park or museum. Other outdoor activities include a visit to a nearby farm to experience the animals or pick-your-own-berries. Or how about going to the local Farmer’s Market and purchasing the fresh produce and other goodies your home-grown artisans have created?
Some families enrol the children in swimming lessons or other scheduled activities and these present great opportunities for learning practical skills. If there is supervision for the kids, you may be able to slip away and do your grocery shopping or other household duty, but it’s also nice to sit back and watch with the other mothers, turning it into a social time for yourself. Moms who are at home with their youngsters a lot often yearn for more adult conversation!
If you want to spend the day at home, there are still many things you can do to amuse yourselves. Try some of the creative activities at www.creativekidsathome.com/summerkidsactivities.html. It is important to foster the kids’ creative side and get them involved in activities where they can express themselves. Keep them away from the ever-desirable television by encouraging games of make-believe, space pioneers, or dinosaurs. How about imagining yourselves in ancient Egypt? Build a bouquet of flowers or several foam animals or try planting a small herb garden, which will help the kids be more aware of growing things. They can learn to be responsible by adding watering and weeding to their weekly chores. A rainy afternoon can also be pleasantly spent by watching a video or DVD you’ve bought home from a trip to the public library, making microwave popcorn and viewing it together. Later at the dinner table you can discuss the interesting things you saw on the show, sharing it with other family members who may be at work through the day.
If you have to work through some or all of the summer, there are plenty of camps at YMCA, technical colleges, acting schools, music studios, heritage parks, etc. that often have before and after supervision, making it possible for you to drop them off on your way to work, and picking them up after. If you have parents or grandparents with whom the kids can stay for a week, or spend their daytime hours with, this might be a good time for some inter-generational activities. If you and your husband both have vacation time coming, consider splitting it, with each of you taking a different week to stay at home with the kids, then still having a couple of weeks leftover that the whole family can enjoy together.
Whatever works for your family, you can make the nine weeks of summer an enjoyable and rewarding time for all of you. Start planning your family holiday fun today!
