SUMMER IDEAS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL KIDS

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beep
beep Posts: 1,242 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Sorry for yelling like that, but thought it would be a good idea to get some ideas going.....:laugh:

Here's one, my kids are out enjoying the old slipnslide right now.

Another one, Walmart has cute little plaster figurines to paint, six in a set.... ponies, bugs, etc for around 2$

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  • beep
    beep Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Sorry for yelling like that, but thought it would be a good idea to get some ideas going.....:laugh:

    Here's one, my kids are out enjoying the old slipnslide right now.

    Another one, Walmart has cute little plaster figurines to paint, six in a set.... ponies, bugs, etc for around 2$
  • TanyaH
    TanyaH Posts: 23
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    In my town some of the local movie theaters have "free movies" - it is a $1 for me to get in and they are all kid friendly. They also have a clown there and sometimes police and their K-9's. We do the library too - fun reading programs and they get all kids of little things for prizes. Anything to get out of the house and keep them busy - LOL :wink:
  • peej76
    peej76 Posts: 1,250 Member
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    I love the slipnslide. We just stocked up on ballons too for water ballon fights. I also love packing up lunches and heading over to the park for the afternoon. My kids still have a few weeks left, til the end of June actually, gotta love it!! I'm dreading summer. Well not summer, just the kids being home everyday. If my 13 year old is out hanging with friends, all will be calm, it's when the 13 and 6 year old are home together for awhile that all hell breaks loose.
  • iftcheiaf
    iftcheiaf Posts: 960 Member
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    I have the opposite problem, peej76. My ex is trying to convince me to put my kids in a summer camp. I work from home and rearranged my schedule to get up at 3 a.m. so that I can be done work by 10 a.m. and spend the summer with my kids. Why in the world would I want to put them in a summer camp? Oh yeah, did I mention that his stepdaughter is going to the summer camp and I think he doesn't want her to feel left out because her mommy is a career woman (sorry, got a little b****y just then - oops). Anyway, I live near lots of children's museums and the city that we plan on doing lots of exploring of our great town this summer, with some adventures to the mountains and the beach.
  • melissa73
    melissa73 Posts: 368
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    Check your local recreation dept. for the city. Mine has some great activities that the kids can sign up for.. ex.. cooking classes, Science, Gymnastics. and Children's theaters.. I am going to take the kids to the pool a few times a week. Melissa
  • ali106
    ali106 Posts: 3,754 Member
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    I have my little guy in gymnastics during the summer...he loves it ...they are every spider man in training's dream! lol

    We have a pool and hubby built an awesome swing, slide, fort, climbing wall in the backyard so my kiddo has a blast but when he gets bored we have play dates, and will bring out the sprinklers, and do obstacle courses for the kids....the whole thing is to wear them out ...or at least that's my whole thing LOL....

    trips to the beach and the big pool at our timeshare are big hits too, and camping trips! woo hoo summer I LOVE YOU!!!

    hugs!
    Ali the momma who plays like a kid! lol
  • pam0206
    pam0206 Posts: 700 Member
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    We've got Vacation Bible School coming up in a few weeks. My six year old is stoked to go to the pool, but I'm nervous about keeping my eye on two girlies (my two year old, also.) We have vacation/family reunion this summer, but as for daily activities? Swing set, sand box, water table, bike rides, feeding ducks at the pond. Just told my husband this morning that I'm soooooooooooooo looking forward to my oldest being home this summer, but we have to find something to do every day besides watch tv.

    We got a shrinky dink maker a couple of years back and my daughter can be occupied with that for hours. If you don't have a maker, you can do them in a reg oven. You can get paper at any craft store, I believe. We also like pop beads or regular beads. Sometimes it's just so doggone hot here, we can't get outside. (Sounds so ridiculous, but true....had heat indices of 116 last summer over several days.....) My daughter is also a crafter, so she can usually come up with some cutting/pasting activity on her own. The computer is also an excellent diversion from time to time.
  • peej76
    peej76 Posts: 1,250 Member
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    I have the opposite problem, peej76. My ex is trying to convince me to put my kids in a summer camp. I work from home and rearranged my schedule to get up at 3 a.m. so that I can be done work by 10 a.m. and spend the summer with my kids. Why in the world would I want to put them in a summer camp? Oh yeah, did I mention that his stepdaughter is going to the summer camp and I think he doesn't want her to feel left out because her mommy is a career woman (sorry, got a little b****y just then - oops). Anyway, I live near lots of children's museums and the city that we plan on doing lots of exploring of our great town this summer, with some adventures to the mountains and the beach.
    Yeah, I thought about some sort of summer camp thingy too but I'm going to be on maternity leave all summer, so in all actuality it will be nice to be home with the kids all summer, and there is no way I'd spend money so that someone else can do with my kids that I'm home to do anyway. DIfferent story when my year is up of course, back to the daycare grind it'll be!!
  • luvmytwins02
    luvmytwins02 Posts: 71
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    My girls will go to 2 different Vacation Bible schools (They love them!) Also, I have them signed up for a few summer programs through out Recreation department: Sports of all Sorts, Art in the Park, Little Einsteins and Tot Time!
  • beep
    beep Posts: 1,242 Member
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    We've got Vacation Bible School coming up in a few weeks. My six year old is stoked to go to the pool, but I'm nervous about keeping my eye on two girlies (my two year old, also.) We have vacation/family reunion this summer, but as for daily activities? Swing set, sand box, water table, bike rides, feeding ducks at the pond. Just told my husband this morning that I'm soooooooooooooo looking forward to my oldest being home this summer, but we have to find something to do every day besides watch tv.

    We got a shrinky dink maker a couple of years back and my daughter can be occupied with that for hours. If you don't have a maker, you can do them in a reg oven. You can get paper at any craft store, I believe. We also like pop beads or regular beads. Sometimes it's just so doggone hot here, we can't get outside. (Sounds so ridiculous, but true....had heat indices of 116 last summer over several days.....) My daughter is also a crafter, so she can usually come up with some cutting/pasting activity on her own. The computer is also an excellent diversion from time to time.

    Oooh, great idea, shrinky dink stuff! My sis and I used to use "liver lids", drew on them and baked them. We have a big BIG sandbox we just refilled with sand; then bought a ton of plastic Army men and dinosaurs and the like. (even my 13-yr old boy still loves to dig around in there...)
  • Lavendersunday
    Lavendersunday Posts: 458 Member
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    Older children really love hanging out with friends and socializing. This makes spending time together on a overly hot or rainy day...creative and fun for everyone. Prepare beforehand by picking up some odd pieces of chipped or broken tile from your local flooring store or ask friends if they have any extra tile in their garage for the kids to use. Then pick up tacky glue (1 bottle for each kid) and have them begin an ongoing mosaic project on an old (small) tabletop (think telephone table! Little tables are inexpensive and can be found easily at garage sales. Have the kids sketch out their ideas on a large piece of butcher paper if they like. Or...just let them unleash their imaginations and design their table top as they go. Of course you will eventually need to grout the table but that comes much later when all the tables are finished. I suggest breaking the tile with a small hammer or depending on the childrens age...a small tile cutter. Remember the tables or items must be small enough that all children can sit with their own projects and talk to each other.

    We did this on a family vacation and my niece and nephew still have the table that each of them created in their bedroom's to this day! :smile:

    ~This should not be a one day thing...maybe ongoing for a few days to a week. This teaches them delaying gratification. (Hidden bonus lesson for parents) :laugh:


    ~Namaste :flowerforyou:
  • pam0206
    pam0206 Posts: 700 Member
    Options
    Older children really love hanging out with friends and socializing. This makes spending time together on a overly hot or rainy day...creative and fun for everyone. Prepare beforehand by picking up some odd pieces of chipped or broken tile from your local flooring store or ask friends if they have any extra tile in their garage for the kids to use. Then pick up tacky glue (1 bottle for each kid) and have them begin an ongoing mosaic project on an old (small) tabletop (think telephone table! Little tables are inexpensive and can be found easily at garage sales. Have the kids sketch out their ideas on a large piece of butcher paper if they like. Or...just let them unleash their imaginations and design their table top as they go. Of course you will eventually need to grout the table but that comes much later when all the tables are finished. I suggest breaking the tile with a small hammer or depending on the childrens age...a small tile cutter. Remember the tables or items must be small enough that all children can sit with their own projects and talk to each other.

    We did this on a family vacation and my nieces and nephews still have the table they created in their bedrooms.

    ~This should not be a one day thing...maybe ongoing for a few days to a week. This teaches them delaying gratification. (Hidden bonus lesson for parents) :laugh:

    Ooooooooooooooooooh. I really like this idea......Thanks!:flowerforyou:
  • beep
    beep Posts: 1,242 Member
    Options
    Older children really love hanging out with friends and socializing. This makes spending time t

    We did this on a family vacation and my niece and nephew still have the table that each of them created in their bedroom's to this day! :smile:

    ~This should not be a one day thing...maybe ongoing for a few days to a week. This teaches them delaying gratification. (Hidden bonus lesson for parents) :laugh:


    ~Namaste :flowerforyou:

    We are doing this right now :laugh: with an old patio end table top that I will buy a pedestal for. I have been saving broken dishes for the occasion, but this one my son is making out of different colors of glass from a local glass company.... It's gorgeous!
  • pam0206
    pam0206 Posts: 700 Member
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    Oh. just thought of another one that we did a bunch last summer....thumbprint pictures. Using a stamp pad, have your children put a thumb print on the page, then add ears/eyes/nose/tails with markers to create their own creatures. A quick online search will give you the idea if you don't know what I'm talking about. I had fun with these, too. :wink:
  • BlazinEmerald
    BlazinEmerald Posts: 842
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    Well, I plan to be out and about as much as possible! We have a Splash pad here at the community center. Anyone who doesn't know what that is ( I had no clue when I moved here) think Sprinklers tons of HUGE sprinklers. The kids love it. There is also the public library,park and skate park there at the community center. Other days we will head down to the lake or on days its not so nice out we can go to Kidtopia which is a BIG indoor play place, 5 dollars per kid but it saves my sanity lol.
  • runawaybride
    runawaybride Posts: 400 Member
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    I sign mine up for as many summer school programs I can. It is not like typical school they do way cooler things and serve a "free" lunch for everyone....including parents.

    :bigsmile:

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