Trying to keep kids active and engaged all summer long can be challenging.
Being unemployed makes it that much MORE challenging.
Thankfully, I am up to the challenge!!!
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| #20 Swim in a Lake |
At first, our day went like this:
Breakfast, chores, lunch, beach.
Every day. In that order. Each and every day.
I'm not complaining about living in cottage country or
complaining about living steps from a lake...
But it was time to spice things up a little!!!
We visited family.
True the gas still costs money...but the time spent with family will create memories that will last a lifetime.
Like trying to kid a bike without training wheels!
Thanks for the push Grampa!
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| #29 - Go to a Musuem |
We also sought out free or nearly free things to do.
Like visiting the Railway museum in Brighton!
It was chock full of history about trains, the apple industry and the history of the area.
(I would highly recommend this stop...it was way better than I could have imagined)
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| #68 Get a Pet Rock turned into a pet rock village! |
Then I did something that changed the course of our summer vacation...
I went to Pinterest and found a list of 101 Almost Free Things to do with your Kids this Summer!
Game changer indeed!
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| #82 Visit a National Park - and go #79 birdwatching while you are there! |
We started checking off each activity on the list...with gusto!
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| #57 Magnify an ant |
The magic list became our guide...not that we couldn't have come up with these activities on our own.
It was better to have a ridiculously huge list that we could consult each day
We didn't always follow the list word for word...more to gain inspiration.
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| #11 Fly a kite |
We started to discover piles of lost stuff in our house!
We had 7 kites....just waiting to be used...turns out only 2 worked!
Clean up house AND having fun outside? WIN WIN!
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| #31 Blow Bubbles |
Even blowing bubbles was still hours of fun for a 7 yr old.
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| #18 Go on a Scavenger Hunt |
Another Pinterest win was the blogger 4tunate.net
Here is a mom of quadruplet boys...so I figured she had this boy entertainment thing down.
I will probably redo the scavenger hunt list with pictures and
stuff from around our area, but this list was a great start.
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| #1 Go for a Hike |
And because sometimes you just need to get off the road of life and go for a ramble in the woods!
Boys do love their backpacks...
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| Using up old experiments...making crystals! |
Another thing we started up was day of the week activities.
Monday: Nature day
Tuesday: Craft day
Wednesday: Cooking day
Thursday: Adventure day
Friday: Experiment day
Experiment day came out of all of those experiments for kids kits just sitting in Owen's closet.
Get those puzzles, board games or science projects out, dust em off and have fun!
(Additional win: if your child has truly outgrown these things...you can get rid of them guilt free)
BONUS: Owen learned about stuff and didn't even realize it.
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| #23 Go on a Picnic |
Then there are the simple things in life...like a picnic under a tree.
We didn't even have to go far (you can see our house in behind Owen).
We munched our lunch, listened to birds, then had a tickle fight on the picnic blanket.
Ahhh...these dog days of summer could last forever...
Additional things that didn't get photos:
#12 have a slumber party - Owen's friend got homesick and had to go home at 9pm
#14 make cookies - eaten too fast to get photos...
#8 water gun fight - because water and cellphones/cameras don't mix
#25 have a pillow fight - because pillow projectiles and cellphones/cameras also don't mix
#53 start a garden - not included here - see all previous posts...
What are some of your crafty ideas for having fun with kids on the cheap???
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