How are you keeping your kids busy this summer? Please Post!

[poppycat]

So summer vacation is here!!! What are your kids doing? (Mine are trying to start a fire with a magnifying glass right now.)

What are some things you have done that have been fun (and inexpensive)?

What are some things you have done that didn't work out so well (spare the rest of us some misery)?

So far we have:

Gone to the beach.

Gone to the pool (we do this alot)

them

me

Gone to the laundromat to wash all of our oversize comfortors

me

them

 

[arwmommy]

Here is our schedule for the summer days (M-F)

Kids wake up (I have early birds!) and watch TV until Mom wakes up (like 7:30!) then it is off!
Cozy Time The kids crawl into bed and we snuggle, talk about the plans for the day, they sometimes call a grandparent, or Daddy who leaves early for work, just hang out (Cozy Time can go from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the day!)
Breakfast
The Sweep (this is our term for going through the house room by room and making sure everything is picked up. Then I vacuum the whole house. It makes the rest of the day go MUCH easier because Mom is always happy when the house is clean!)
Schoolwork - Each of the kids have workbooks for handwriting/math/language, math flash cards, and they have to read for 15-30 minutes. Usually our 9 year old reads TO our 4 year old, so it counts for both of them. This whole thing takes like an hour.
Prepare and have lunch (they play while I prep lunch)
Nap/Quiet Time Depending on the kid/day they either sleep or read books, listen to music. But they mostly nap!
FUN IN THE AFTERNOON! -- Library, Cub Scouts, swimming, beach, park, riding bikes, picking berries (today!), cooking (we are making homemade pretzels tomorrow!), "movie night" where we just all curl up and watch a movie with popcorn, garden and picking weeds, bowling, having a friend over, playing ball with the dog, etc....
Prep Dinner
Daddy gets home!
Dinner
Whatever (usually a movie if we didn't do one during the day, or go on a walk, etc)
Bed by 7:30 8 at the latest!--- Mom and Dad need some time to hang out without kids and wind down!

My kids are just used to the schoolwork in the morning, it really helps give them structure to the day, and prevents me from feeling like a frustrated cruise director having to entertain them all the time ("OK, now for your entertainment, we have.. THE ZOO, then THE PARK, then BOWLING...."

It has made a huge difference for us to have the day start off with a clean house and some education!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I don't have 2 legged kids, but a friend of mine always has a theme for the summer for something they are going to learn or do.

3 years ago they learned about the mt. people here in NC. The girls learned about gardening, canning and quilting. They read books by Donald Davis about his years growing up in the mountains, "See Rock City" and "Listening for the Crack of Dawn"

Last year was Shakespear. This year, Etiquite & Ballroom Dancing.

 

[millicent]

i guess it depends on where you are...i found great inexpensive activites at a camp nearby me, and other than that, we think of strange things to do...make rootbeer (easier than you think) , gather flowers to press, do random crafts (crayola.com is cool) check on the chickens is a popular one around here, too. im just glad my daughter is done with school for the year, as she is the program director around these parts....left to our own devices, son and i would do nothing. (and love every minute of it!)

 

[CarriBrown]

I don't have kids... yet... still broody as all get out and trying to get the DH on board...

But, I was talking to my dad the other day about how kids these days have $500 Nintendos with 50 games, iPods, computers in their rooms... FORGET THAT. If DH and God decide to bless me with my own

that is one thing that will for sure not happen in my house.
I had a much better childhood than a lot of my friends because it wasn't spent watching TV. I was always out with the horses, dogs, chickens, and whatever else we had at the time. My brother and I caught snakes, went hiking, played in the dirt, all the fun stuff. That, IMO, is what being a kid is all about.

 

[MissPrissy]

My 9 year old daughter has been part of a guitar group at our church. She is being taught to play. I have always wanted to learn to play the autoharp so we are spending time with music. My oldest daughter (20 yrs old) usually plans something on her day off to do with my younger daughter - movies, window shopping, library, etc. Much of the afternoon and early evening can be found around the pool. So far reading, chores, errands, gardening and tending to the chickens is filling most of our days. We tend to stay busy around here with all of us keeping an eye on my very busy 16 month old boy.

Today I called the recreation dept to find out what was going on this summer. None of their activities are for longer than a week and most cost upwards of $200. HUH?!?

I talked to the 4H office today, too. I was told they have a livestock group and goat raising group. That is all they do. Nothing else. I told her I was very disappointed. Where I come from in Ga 4H is in the public school and there are tons of things to do all the time.

I am still looking for some fun summer activities for field trips.

 

[Napalongtail]

Well I sent 2 on a vacation to the Grand Canyon with their auntie while I kept the 2 lil ones. The little ones and I have been swimming , horseback riding, and today we went fishing with another mom and her 2 sons. I must say it was quite an adventure with 2 -15 month olds, and a 3 and 5 year old. The kids had a good picnic lunch, a hike to the lake and fished for an hour before they got bored , got wet and started throwing rocks at the fish that they could not catch. (Actually it was more tossing at the tules) They came home and SLEPT. Yea.

 

[4H kids and mom]

Well, I have my own 2 kids; and then the 3 kids I watch M-F; and the 2 I watch T, W, and Th; the 1 I watch M, W, and F; and the 3 that come M-F, but alternate weeks because of a custody issue. So, on a summer Monday I have my kids and 4-7 others (every other week) and it gets HECTIC! I do have a routine and schedule, but there are times when you have to bend it so far it snaps in half!

All of the kids I watch are city kids, so the animals play a big role in our daily activities. My kids sometimes bore with the 'mundane' chicken chores, but the day care kids never do! Free Labor! lol

We make sure to do something fun (and CHEAP!) everyday! Some of the things we do may not fit your house or children. I'm a little relaxed when it comes to having fun. I just love the house filled with the laughter of children...even if what they are doing that is so funny, is a little "naughty" to other parents.

Here are some fun ideas for you! (And dont think these are just for kids! Kids LOVE it when grown ups get silly too!)

~Got a slide? Take your garden hose and rig it up to the slide so water cascades down the slide. Put a small kiddy pool at the bottom of the slide and the kids will entertain themselves for HOURS if you let them! Cost- $Free! (unless you dont have a kiddy pool. Then, about $5.)

~For older kids only (and with constant supervision!), take out a couple sleeping bags. Put a bunch of pillows or a beanbag chair at the bottom of your stairs. Have relay races down the stairs in the sleeping bags! Its HUGE fun! Cost- $Free!

~Night time fun for older kids, or those that can handle a fun scare. Great around Halloween! Once its dark, pick a child to be "it" and they close their eyes and count. Turn off ALL the lights in the house and everyone hides. The best part of this twist on Hide and Seek is that when its dark, you don't 'really' have to hide! You could be standing right in front of the person and they might not see you! Use the same rules as Hide and Seek. Cost- $Free!

~Play a game of Twister classic with your kids. Loosen up and have fun!

Some more "Normal" ideas (for non-thrill seeking parents lol)

~Go online and print out coloring pages with your childs favorite theme or character. Cost- $Free! (except paper)

~Turn on some music and just dance. Kids love to wiggle and move. For a twist, have a "Follow the leader" dance off! Pick a leader and everyone has to dance the way they do! Last one standing wins! Cost- $Free!

~Play a good game of "Name that Tune". Grab a selection of music and play a few notes of each song. Have them guess the song, or artist, or movie the song was in, etc. Cost- $Free!

~Got girls? Then have a good old fashioned sleep over! Let your girls invite a friend even. Tell stories in your jammies, eat chips all night, watch scary movies, have a pillow fight, and crash on the floor in sleeping bags. This is one of my daughters favorite "Just Mom and Me" activities. Cost- $Free! (unless you need to buy snacks or rent movies.)

~Camp in your living room. Yup you heard me. Put up your tent, make Smores in your oven, turn out the lights and make shadow puppets and tell scary stories by flashlight! Sleep in the tent right in your living room! Cost- $Free!

~Make your own ice cream sundaes. Put out all the fixins' and let the kids go nuts. Make sure they understand they help clean up the mess afterwards! Cost- $depends on what you want in your sundaes!

~Crafts. Just pile a bunch of fun oddball things (noodles, paper lunch sacks, glitter, glue, beads, string, paper, feathers, buttons, pipe cleaners, etc) in the middle of the table. Rather than let them just "dig in", talk about it first. Ask them to look at the things and think about what they want to make and how they are going to make it. You will have happier results because they have an idea to start with and are less likely to be disappointed at the results. Cost- $varies on supplies.

Cleaning up the house games...

~This is great for toddlers and younger children who dont like to clean up their things. I use this DAILY! Use a timer or stopwatch. Instruct the kids to find a put away a certain toy or thing as fast as they can. For example, say something like "Find a BLUE toy" or "Find 3 trucks" or "Find a stuffed toy", etc. Make it like a race, but a CONTROLLED race so you dont have chaos. The litter ones LOVE this game, and it gets the job done without them knowing they are cleaning up! For a twist for "older" kids who still dont like to clean up, make it an "Eye Spy" game by saying "I see something BLUE" and they pick up blue toys showing them to you as they put them away as fast as they can until they've found the right toy. Then say something like "I see something soft and cuddly" and so on until all toys are put away.

I have a ton more, but this will get you started! This is at least a couple weeks of stuff to do! lol Have fun and GET SILLY! I love nothing more than to hear my daughter giggle and throw her arms around my neck telling me "Mom, your so silly!" Makes my heart just

.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Can I come and hang out at your house 4H Mom?!!!

I think someone screwed up my age! It's not 45, it's somewhere between 4&5!

 

[4H kids and mom]

Lol

Come on out! The more the merrier I always say!