Ada finishes up preschool this week, which means we’re basically in summer mode!! Last summer, I felt nervous about how summer was going to go because I didn’t know how I was going to stay sane when I had two kids at home all the time. But that propelled me to come up with a few ideas which really did help structure our summer whenever I stuck to them. Here are some of the things we did (as well as a few more ideas that didn’t pan out last summer). We’re going to attempt some or all of these things again this summer!
What we did . . . at least some of the time!
Themed Weeks
You would think that having a theme for each week would be more work, but for some reason it actually made things easier for me. I think it’s because it gave me something to zone in on — I didn’t have every option in the world open to me (overwhelming!!); I had one specific topic to search for! The weekly theme determined what books we checked out from the library, what crafts we did, and what activities we did.
Last year I had themes planned for almost every week of summer, but plans got derailed by some sickness and laziness. Life happens and I’m not going to beat myself up about it, but I definitely felt like we all had more fun and less boredom when we were sticking to our themes. This year I think I’ll try doing themes for two weeks at a time (rather than just one) because that way I won’t feel like I’m constantly changing things out!
Some of the themes we did last year were camping/outdoor adventures, winter, princess, and ocean. Some that we didn’t get to were bugs, dinosaurs/dragons, and jungle.
One issue I ran into with these themes was getting enough library books for the theme. It seemed everyone else in my area was doing themed weeks, too, because it was very difficult to get a bunch of books on the same topic in the same week! So I realized early on that I had to plan ahead and put books on hold in order to get them all a few weeks later.
Daily Activities
To help myself answer the age-old question, “what are we doing today???” I chose specific activities for each morning and each afternoon/evening:
Morning
Tuesday: goals/projects
Wednesday: parent/child dates
Thursday: craft
Friday: fun food
Afternoon/Evening
Movie Monday: family movie night + floor picnic
This is actually what we do all year long, but last year, Ada asked if we could do “splash pad picnics” during the summer instead, so we did that for a bit. Our city has a farmer’s market and food truck round-up at the splash pad on Monday nights, so it works perfectly!
Trip Tuesday: go somewhere fun
Water Wednesday: splash pad, reservoir, pool, water balloons, sprinklers
Thinking Thursday: library
Last year we did Friend Friday (hang out with a friend), but I think this year we’ll try Kind Friday, where we’ll look for acts of kindness we can do in our community.
Service Saturday: go to my mom’s house and help her with whatever
These served as a guide, rather than a rule, so sometimes we did them and sometimes we didn’t. We definitely did the afternoon/evening activities more frequently than the morning activities (probably because I’m much more keen to GO somewhere than I am to prepare a craft/activity/food/etc.
Summer Calendar
Last year, I made a calendar (using a white poster board and permanent marker) that had the whole summer on it, and I loved it.
This summer, I made a digital version, which was actually way quicker, way more clean, AND I can share it with you! Download yours here!
I like having a big calendar so I have a place to write down all of our scheduled vacations, camps, and classes, and I also like having a visual reminder of how short the summer is (because I want to remember to make each summer count!).
For more flexible activities, I use sticky notes so that I can move things around easily before committing.
What we didn’t do
We had some fun ideas last year that never panned out, so maybe we’ll try them again this year!
Friday Breakfast Hikes
I envisioned this turning into a fun family tradition that we all looked forward to and which helped define our summer, but it just never happened — not even once!! In my head, we can be a hiking family! But in reality, it takes work that I haven’t been willing to put in yet. Even just finding enough family-friendly trails sounded daunting, let alone actually hiking them.
We did some hiking with our girls recently for a family camping trip, and both girls really loved it, so I’m committing to doing this at least a few times this summer!!
Daily Essentials Schedule
I want to have a really clear routine that includes things like family work, read aloud time, exercise, and getting ready for the day. I love a good routine, and kids do really well once you can actually get them on the routine, so I want to work harder to make this one happen this year.
Goals and Projects
I saw @MerricksArt talk about how her kids (and her, too) set goals each summer, and I loved the idea! Last year, Ada seemed a little young for it, but maybe this year will be better! Ralphie of @SimplyOnPurpose also talked about how in her family she asks, “What would you like to learn this summer?” so that the kids can help direct their own summers, and I loved that idea as well. Definitely trying some version of these!
So clearly, some things went well this summer, and others did not! But even though summer didn’t go exactly as I planned it initially, I still got practice with the whole planning process, as well as a better idea of what I want to try again in future summers.
What are your summer traditions? :)