The school year will be ending soon and your child
will have a lot of extra time and energy for play and
activities. Be prepared to prevent summer boredom by
keeping little hands and minds busy with a variety of fun
and interesting activities. Here are some suggestions of
summer activities that your child might enjoy.
- Enjoy Cloud Watching Together
On a nice sunny day when the sky is full of beautiful,
fluffy, white clouds, lie down with your child on the
ground and gaze up at the sky. Together imagine they are
animals, creatures, people, or monsters. Have fun as you
try to decide what the clouds look like.
- Make a Tepee
Give your child an old sheet which can be colorfully
decorated with markers, fabric crayons or fabric paint.
Let the sheet dry and then drape it over a card table for
an instant tepee. Help your child make an Indian head
dress out of construction paper and feathers.
- Blowing Big Bubbles
Blowing bubbles can be a great source of self amusement.
Shape a large homemade wand from a wire coat
hanger, making sure to wind any stray ends around the
main wire and to bind any sharp points with electrical or
duct tape. Have your child dip the wand in a large
container filled with bubble soap (recipe provided below)
and wave in the air to make big bubbles. Plastic
flyswatters with holes can also be used as bubble wands.
Bubble recipe: Mix l cup of dish detergent dishwashing
liquid, 8 cups water and 1 cup of corn syrup. The bubble
solution keeps well. Store the unused portion in a closed
container.
- Plant a Summer Flower or Vegetable Garden
This could be a small garden by itself or a small
portion of your family garden. Let your child help select
the seeds and plant them. As the plants grow, help him/
her water, weed, and care for the garden.
- Make a Mr. Green Grass
Have your child draw a face on plain paper or
Styrofoam cup. Fill the cup two-thirds full with soil and
add enough water to make the soil wet. Generously
sprinkle grass seed on top of the soil and cover the seeds
with another thin layer of soil. Place the cup by a sunny
window and wait for Mr. Green grass’s hair (the grass)
to grow.
- Magic Paint
For outdoor fun, take old paint brushes and coffee
cans filled with water out to the play area. Let your child
paint on the cement sidewalks, porches, or walls with
their magic paint.
-Plan a Scavenger Hunt
This can be an inside or an outside game. Make up a
list of fun items you want your child to find such as a
small rock, a bird feather, a twig, etc. If your child cannot
read, draw pictures of the items and write the name
underneath them. Go over the list so the child understands
what to look for and where to look. Give your
child a small bag or basket to put the collected treasures
in. Be sure to plan a special treat or surprise for when the
hunt is over.
- Chalk Drawing
Provide a variety of colored sidewalk chalk and
allow your children to express their creativity by drawing
on the driveway, sidewalk, or concrete patio.
Be sure to take a look at and compliment the masterpieces
designed by the young artist. Either you can wait
for the rain to wash the chalk away or you can provide a
water hose or a pail of water for clean up. On a warm day,
cleaning up with a water hose may be just as much fun as
drawing!
- Create Colorful Windsocks
For each windsock, cut a 2 x 16 inch strip of heavy
paper or poster board. Glue long 1-inch wide strips of
fabric or ribbon along the lower edge of the paper. Staple
the ends of the paper or poster board strip together to
form a circle.
Punch a small hole on each side of the circle and
attach a piece of yarn or string through it and tie. This is
what you will hang the windsock with. Hang the
windsock outdoors and watch it dance in the wind.
- Straw Painting
Provide a piece of construction paper with a small
blob of watered down tempera paint placed in the middle.
Give your child a plastic drinking straw (may be cut
in half to make shorter). Instruct them to blow through
the straw and move the paint around to make a design.
You may add more colors of paint if the child wants.
n Making Paper Hats
Place two pages from a newspaper on top of the
child’s head (cris-cross the pages). Press the paper down
around the top of the child’s head to form the top of the
hat. Have the child or someone else hold the paper in
place while you put a strip of masking tape around the
formed hat just above the child’s ears. Now let your child
be creative and roll or fold the edges to form a fancy or
funny hat. You may need to secure the rolled edges with
tape. The hat can also be painted and a feather or bright
colored ribbon can be added for a decorative touch.
- Items That Might Spark Interest
Put together a collection of items that will spark your
child’s interest and creativity. Some items might include:
prisms, magnets of different sizes, rulers, yardsticks,
tape measures, thermometers, scales, kaleidoscopes,
flashlights, magnifying glasses, measuring spoons
and cups, old clock, construction paper, scissors, glue,
washable markers, modeling clay and cookie cutters.
Check with your local library for books and other
resources on summer activities for children!
