Special Summer Activities for Working Parents
I’m feeling so conflicted about the summer. On the one hand, I really want to work. I love my work, and I am fulfilled when I get to work and parent. On the other hand, my children don’t want to go to summer camp. They would rather stay home with the family. I’m trying to figure out how to make sure they have a fun summer, even though they can’t stay home. I think the trick is to come up with easy special summer activities for working parents that seem enticing and engaging for kids.
We can do two activities per week. I will post this tracker on our refrigerator. Each boy will place a star next to one activity each week. They will both get to do the activity that the other brother picks. Then we will star the activity again when it’s complete. Voila! Instant summer fun without too much stress/hassle. You can download it for free here. It includes directions about how to modify it to meet your own needs.
Ideas for Special Summer Activities for Working Parents
- Make a giant water blob. Ours can be a used as a slip-and-slide into our pool. Maybe? It would be so fun if it works!
- Make popsicles. This green smoothie recipe looks good! We would use these popsicle molds that we already have.
- Get ice-cream on a weekday. I think it would be fun to pick up the boys early from camp one day and take them out for ice-cream and playground time unexpectedly.
- Host an outdoor movie night. The kids would love to stay up late to watch a movie with their friends!
- Go to a water park. This is already part of our Family Goals for the year. The boys love water parks!
- Get new pool toys. I’m thinking something simple like this. We can scatter them all around the pool and then time each other as we collect them.
- Invite friends over more. This one is so simple, and yet we don’t do it enough!
- Get a snow cone machine. We could follow these recipes for healthier syrups. The boys would go crazy for this!
- Take a picnic to the beach. We would swing by Trader Joe’s to pick up our favorites and then head to a “beach” by the lake.
- Have a water balloon fight. Such a simple classic!
- Discover a new [to us] swimming hole.
- Wake the boys up after bedtime to watch the fireflies and play glow in the dark whiffle ball. So fun! This set looks inexpensive and perfect.
These feel good. They feel like they exist at the right intersection of exciting yet manageable. What my children really want is joyful time with us. These 12 activities feel like they will help make our summer feel special/different from the school year and yet not stress me out with onerous implementation requirements! #halfwaypinterestmom