50 Summer Fun and Learning Activities for Kids

I took our first week of summer as an "off" week to decompress. I didn't have a schedule or anything set to do. We just went with our whims and did things as they came up or as we thought of them. While it was a nice (and much needed) change of pace after the last few overly busy weeks we had, I knew it wouldn't be ideal for the entire summer. The girls had way too many opportunities to argue and disagree and by Wednesday, the week was feeling l-o-n-g for this mama.

I've had lots of ideas floating around in my mind of things I wanted to do with the girls this summer but I hadn't had the opportunity to sit and make our Summer Fun List, yet. I knew I needed to get it done, stat if I wanted to maximize our summer days and minimize the Lil Divas bickering. Here are the 50 learning and play activities that made the cut for 2013.

 Activities, Play & Craft Ideas

1.  Decorate Popsicle Stick Bookmarks
2.  Wet Chalk Art
3.  Watch the Sunset
4.  Visit a Water Park
5.  Experiment with a Potions Lab
6.  Have a Family Game Night
7.  Play Outside with Sidewalk Paint
8.  Make BIG Bubbles and DIY Wands
9.  Colored Glue Art
10. Make & Fly Paper Airplanes
11. Make Ice Cream in a Bag
12. Visit the Children's Museum
13. Have a Picnic in the Park
14. Try Fabric Batik Art
15. Go to the Beach
16. Make & Play w/Ice Boats
17. Have a Movie Marathon
18. Explore Shaving Cream & Corn Starch
19. Go Bowling
20. Make Bubble Snakes
21. Go Swimming in the Pool
22. Paint with Balloons
23. Visit the Science Museum
24. Watch Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian before Trip to DC.
25. Have an Ice Cream Sundae Party
26. Play Balloon Tennis
27. Make & Play with our own DIY Origami Fortune Tellers
28. Visit a Nature Center
29. Salt Painting
30. Paint with Seashells

Learning Fun Activities

31. Write a Comic Strip Story (printables here)

32. Learn 5 Facts about the Niagra Falls before our trip

33. Read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs then watch the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie & Make Meatballs for dinner together.

34. Play an Online Learning Game

35. Read a Biography

36. Research an Animal & Write 5 Facts you learned about it. (printable - A Teacher's Touch)

37. Play Addition/Subtraction Concentration

38. Read a Book Set in Washington D.C.

39. Practice (& Master) Tying Shoelaces 

40. Read A Bad Case of Stripes and make our own Medicine (Rx Printable, Art Printables)

41. Play Math Fact Candy Land

42. Learn about Shenandoah Caverns before our trip & make Geode Crystals 

43. Play Math Fact Hopscotch

44. Write a Name Poem (printable from Creative Teaching Press)

45. Practice Telling Time

46. Write a Sticker Story

47. Go Math Fact Fishing

48. Keep a Summer Writing Journal

49. Read as many books as we can from Magic Tree House & Junie B. Jones series.

50. Go out & Take Pictures then use them to Write a Story 

Have fun this summer!
Bern

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