How to Make a Summer Planner

Over the past few years, I’ve shared a bit about the Summer Fun Planner I use with my kids each year. Each year I try to improve on it just a bit and make it work even better for us.

You could say that my roots as a teacher definitely come out each summer – but I try to make this system one that is helpful and flexible. As much as I like a system, I actually prefer life to be more laid back than structured – especially at summer time!

So here is how we accomplish that in my house: 

First, I printed out this free printable Summer Fun Planner. If you’d like one, it’s my gift to you for becoming an email subscriber. Head over here to do so.

Second, I pulled out our binders from last summer. Included in the binder:

-About 10 plastic sleeves

-Three dividers

-A pencil case with a variety of crayons, pencils, etc.

Note: I found all of these items at the Dollar Store last year. No need to spend a fortune!

This is how I labeled the different sections:

1. Summer Fun: 

This is where we keep our Summer Fun To Do list. Using my list of free summer activities for kids and our own ideas, I sat down the other day with my two oldest boys and we each made a bucket list of activities that we’d like to enjoy together over the summer. Then each morning, we each take a turn choosing one activity from our list that we’d like to make happen that day.

(In full disclosure, Mommy may have added “Clean the van” and “Organize something” to the top of her list. At this point, my boys haven’t figured out that this is considered work. Let’s keep that our little secret, mmkay?)

We also worked on adding events to the Summer Fun Planner Calendar so we can keep track of upcoming events we’d like to take advantage of – like $1 Movies at Regal!

2. Reading Rewards: 

This is where we track the numerous Reading Rewards programs that are available. Every program has different requirements, so there is a Reading Rewards checklist that comes along with my Summer Fun Planner to help track it all.

3. Boredom Busters: 

I had fun finding a variety of printables via Pinterest to tuck into this section. This is a great tool for road trips as well as the perfect offering when you hear those three dreaded words: “Mom, I’m boooored.”

I plan to add more to this section throughout the summer, but here are a few printables I added to ours:

Robot Drawing Prompts

Road Trip Drawing Prompts

Star Wars Coloring Pages

Printable Travel Games

Printable Summer Letters

Random Acts of Kindness Summer List

And that’s it! Nothing fancy, but it offers a sense of routine that is sometimes missing when the kids are out of school.

If you’d like to see more, I shared about our system last year on Philadelphia’s 6abc station. Frankly, my boys stole the show!