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This is the first summer that I have a child who is on ‘summer break’. Granted, it’s just a break from his 3 day pre-school, and yet for the first time I feel that I need to have PLANS to keep him occupied and active during the summer. (His daily morning question “Where are we going today, Mommy?” motivates me as well.)
Here are a few FREE ways that I plan to keep my very active four year old busy this summer:
- We sat down and created a ‘Summer Fun List’. It’s got lots of ideas and we may or may not get to all of them. However, I think just knowing that we have activities to look forward to over the summer months has helped to ease his worries about not having anything to do. (And yes–‘Wrestle with Daddy’ was at the top of list. I love boys!)
- We printed out two different Reading Club Rewards program sheets from our FREE Summer Fun guide. I like the idea of rewarding him for an activity that he loves to do anyway. I also discovered that we have a Regal Cinema nearby that is showing FREE family movies two days a week. We put that on the calendar as well!
- In two weeks, he will be attending our church’s Vacation Bible School. This is a great activity to check out in your area. I know Griffin will love spending time making crafts, learning Bible stories, and singing songs. (And I’ll enjoy the break too!)
- We created his first chore chart. So far he is very enthusiastic about this. (How long does that usually last, would you say?) There are many resources available for printing free chore charts. I just googled free printable chore charts to find mine.
I definitely feel like a rookie at this, so I’d love to have some reader input as well! What are your plans for making summer fun and rewarding for your kids?
Buy a Federal Duck Stamp. A one-day admission to our National Wildlife Refuge is $5. A Duck Stamp costs $15 and acts as a one-year pass. AND… from the Duck Stamp webpage… ‘For every dollar you spend on Federal Duck Stamps, ninety-eight cents goes directly to purchase vital habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System‘! This year’s stamp goes on sale 25 June. Stamps are good from July-June and are not pro-rated if you buy them later in the year. Check out a birding guide from your local library and see how many refuge birds you can identify.
Our 4 year old daughter will be out from preschool for the summer as well. So far I have her signed up in a 2 week session of swimming lessons, and an 8 week session of gymnastics (both things she asked to do). We also have a zoo membership so I know we’ll be going there as a family a few times. One of our favorite things to do during the week is go to the farmers market, they have them Thursday evenings here with live music and food vendors as well as the produce vendors.