Last year was the first summer we made a summer fun list and I feel pretty confident in saying it was a great success. We didn’t get to everything on the list last year, but it did give me a place to direct the kids when they were feeling bored and a place to look myself when I wanted to plan an outing or activity for the day. It provided structure to our summer and I couldn’t imagine facing the coming season without a fresh list!
I’ve been collecting ideas on Pinterest and pouring over other bucket lists for a few weeks and yesterday I finally sat down to compile our big list. A lot of the stuff we did last summer came back (beach, riding bikes, playing at the pool) and I added some new activities as well.
I also refreshed the design of our list to make the whole thing easier to read. The frame is a cheap 12″ x 36″ poster frame
Here’s what we’re hoping to do this summer:
Anytime Activities
Build a tower with index cards
Build with LEGO bricks — If they get stuck, I’ll issue a challenge!
Dance party
Do a jigsaw puzzle
Learn some new jokes
Make a movie with a video camera
Make an awesome name sign for your bedroom door
Play ice cream shop
Play with shaving cream in the bathtub
Puzzle books
Read something — book, comics, magazine
Take a bath with glowsticks
Take photos of your favorite toys
Work on a Cub Scout belt loop/pin
Write a letter
Write or draw pictures in a journal
Backyard
Bubble snakes
Build something cool out of cardboard boxes
Camp in the backyard
Go on a bug hunt
Have a water balloon battle
Hold a garage sale
Make a river from tin foil; float boats in it
Mix up a batch of cornstarch sidewalk paint and decorate the driveway
Plant tomatoes
Play in the pool and/or the sprinkler
Play with squirt guns
Ride bikes or scooters
Set up a potions lab
Set up a treasure hunt for friends or siblings
Set up an obstacle course and race with friends or time yourself
Slip ‘n’ slide
Wash the car
Cooking
Plan and make dinner for the family
Ice cream
Choose ingredients for a smoothie, then blend it with a grown-up’s help
Make “sour patch” grapes
Make homemade butter with a mixer or by shaking cream in a jar
Make popsicles — regular ones for the kids and boozy ones for us grown-ups too!
Root beer floats
Crafts
Assemble a terrarium with plants and small toys
Foam airplanes
Homemade jello playdough
Magnetic marble tubes
Make a newspaper Bucky dome fort
Make a paper chain as long as our house
Make parachutes for toys
Make slime
Matchbox magnets
Paint with watercolors
Tie dye a t-shirt
(I’m also planning to buy a roll of butcher paper and a big block of construction paper to encourage free-form masterpieces.)
Excursions
Art museum
Baseball game
Beach
Camping (not in the back yard)
Fruit picking
Go for a hike
Go letterboxing/geocaching
Little Farm
Picnic in the park (or the back yard)
Visit Santa Cruz for a day/weekend
See “Avengers”
See “Brave”
Six Flags
Splash park
Swimming pool
Outdoor concert
Try a new playground
Visit Dad in San Francisco for lunch
Visit the fair
Water park
And here’s a close-up of the physical list:
What are you planning for this summer? Is there something you’re looking forward to more than anything?
