When I think about the summer, I get VERY excited! Some of my best childhood memories come from playing night games and spending time with my friends and family in the summer. There are so many fun things going on!

HOWEVER, I’ve heard from various mother’s some very similar things lately. Most of them have said something along the lines of this; “I’m kind of nervous thinking about entertaining kids all summer!” Do you feel this way? Don’t think you are alone.

Here are a couple of my suggestions:

1)The job/chore chart

One of the things I just re-vamped for my little 4 year old is a new job chart. (If you have older children, your job chart would be much different) Here is a great article to consider. Kids really love consistency-they love a plan even when they are little. I made a chart that my little one can cover with stickers.

2) Check out your community-
-In our town there is a ‘cheap’ theater that has movies at noon M-Thurs for little kids. It’s $5 for 10 movies!! All cute kid movies. No obligation to go to all of them, but it’s a fun thing to plan for during the week.
-There is also free bowling for kids all over the USA.
-Last summer we participated in our library’s summer reading program. (Even the babies can participate!) We had to read every day and then at the end of the summer, we turned in our tracking sheets. Then in the mail we got some fun free kids meals all over town.
-There are lots of fairs, parades, rodeo’s and other great events going on in your community. You just have to check them out. There is never a better time to start fun family traditions than this year!
(please excuse his silly face!:)
3) Try some new summer recipes!
-Online there are great 4th of July recipe ideas for bbq’s and campfires alike. Find something fun to create!
4) Make a “Summer List”
This is nothing new from me, but I LOVE to make a list of all the things I’d like to do in the summer. I write it all out…(I can’t for the life of me find last year’s to show you) Movies, slurpee, Centerville Parade, Swimming, Lagoon, Horse ride, etc.) and then we put a tally next to it when we’ve done it. It’s a great way to see all the fun things your going to do or want to do before the summer ends.

5) Take a lesson
There are bunches of things going on to get your children involved in. This summer we are going to try Swimming lessons and for fun T-ball. My little guy loves having these sorts of things to look forward to!

And if we didn’t give you enough…

Here are some cute ideas.

And this is one of the best websites for EVERYTHING summer.