15 Summer Activities to Welcome Your Kids Home
The summer season is finally here! And with more and more stores and outside museums and parks opening up, it could be a great one for the kids. Welcoming the kids home means that you will have time to teach them, take them on once in a lifetime and memorable trips, and be able to have them enjoy the few months they have off from school. It might be a less than ideal situation if you’re like one of many Americans on a tight budget, working long hours, or even in a divorced family setting. But it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the summer at all.
Welcoming children into your home for the summer and finding activities for them can be easy and educational as long as you take some creative outdoor or indoor activity routes. Welcoming children, whether you’re a babysitter, homeschooling stay-at-home mom, a foster or adopting parent, or even a parent who just won custody can be a lifechanging, but rewarding process. With these 15 tips for summer activities, we hope you will be able to get some tips and tricks on how to welcome children into your home, not just for the summer, but for all other seasons to come.
1. Take an Outdoor Hike
Start off the summer right by planning a hiking trip to welcome children into the outdoors! Hikes are thought by some to be grueling, difficult, and can only be done by shelling out thousands in hiking equipment. However, none of these are true. When you go on a hike, there are various levels you can undertake to coincide with your level of expertise. For beginners and children, a simple hike with minimal incline can be all you need to get some fresh air and feel better about the current situation of the world. Hikes can be easy and doable within even 2-3 hours, as long as you’re prepared for it with the right, minimal cost equipment. Some things you and your kids will need are proper hiking or tennis shoes to walk, sunscreen, a mini first-aid kit, water, and possibly some high-protein snacks to keep yourselves full and prevent hunger and dehydration.
2. Take a Road-Trip
Taking a road-trip is not only one of the easiest and best ways to see the country, but it’s also one of the most memorable your kids will have. Think about it, do you remember how excited you were as a child about the road trip in the summer? Sure it was hot, but with modern air-conditioning in cars, your kids can be more comfortable than you were in the station wagon.
Taking a road trip is a great way to welcome children into your new country as well if you’re adopting internationally. If you have your kids for the summer, make sure you check in with your family law attorney about certain rules and regulations about leaving the state with welcoming children. This, as well as having enough food for the trip, planning out pit stops accurately, and tuning up your car before heading out to your favorite out-of-state theme park or museum are all important.
3. Go on an ATV ride
If you live near the desert, for example in California, Texas, Nevada, or even know of ATV dealers near you, going on an ATV ride can be an awesome and thrilling experience. ATVs, also known as all-terrain vehicles, are just that- vehicles that can cross a variety of environments, from dirt to hills and everything in between. Activities to welcome children into the summer outdoors should always be done with safety in mind. Just because an ATV is designed to be used for rough thrill-rides, doesn’t mean you have to do this with young children. This is a great activity for older teens or younger adults, but children can also be safe and fun if crossing simple terrain.
4. Go Geology Exploring
The beautiful thing about geology and science is that it can be seen everywhere. Geology means the study of rocks, and they are everywhere from the ocean, to the forests, mountain ranges, and even your own backyard. Rocks tell the story of millions of years of evolution in their layers, and teaching geology is a great way to share this history and the science of Earth’s formation. Welcome children into the world of science by planning a day to go geology exploring. A simple google search can tell you about different geological sites that aren’t too far from your home. One of the most famous is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. But, geological sites don’t have to be part of a huge natural park. For example, in Orange, California in the middle of a neighborhood lies a rock formation that holds volcanic rocks! These amazing finds could be just outside your neighborhood or doorsteps.
5. Go Eat at a Different Restaurant
If you’re like many busy parents or babysitters on a budget, you know that meal-prepping and cooking at home is a must for saving money and prepping for the week. Cooking at home allows you to save time, energy, and money for you and your family. Now with more restaurants opening up, and a plethora of food options out there, you and your family deserve to splurge once in a while. Why not make eating out fun and adventurous? After all, only 53% of dinners are planned within an hour of eating, making most dinners spontaneous! Having dinner at a different restaurant can welcome children to an ever-expanding world of cuisine, expose them to different cultures, and save you on a night of cooking in the summer heat.
6. Take a Star-Gazing Trip
If you live in a big city, chances are you’ve never truly seen what a full night-sky looks like, or your kids. It’s a shame because the summer provides some of the best, clear night skies there is. If you want to welcome children to the world of astronomy, and give them one of the best memories of summer nights ever, take a drive out away from the city to see the stars. Light pollution makes it difficult to truly admire the galaxy, so take a drive out to the desert or forest, on a camping trip away from the city for a while.
7. Plant a Garden
Planting a garden is the perfect way to welcome children into the world of farming, educating them on where their food comes from, and teaching them the values of respecting living things, hard work and patience. Teach them how to use a measurement device to measure the acidity of the soil, or to water the plants and mix education in there! Whether you’re a teacher, have some free time to re-do your front or backyard, or are buying a new plot of land, planting a garden can prepare you for the summers for years to come.
8. Make Your Own Sundaes
Sundaes are the perfect way to welcome children into the desert-world and get their creative culinary juices flowing. Easy to make, simple to clean up, and delicious, sundaes are part of any great summer experience!
9. Take a Mini-Camping Trip
Who says camping has to be done far away in a far off natural destination? Try a backyard camping trip this summer! Set up your own tent, throw some pillows down, set up a small backyard bonfire and have a camping experience all at home while you welcome children to the idea of a true camping experience. If you do decide to go camping, make sure you do it gradually and take this summer to open up to the idea! Go out and buy compact refrigerators, propane tanks, lawn chairs, and read up on the best techniques and spots for camping to get yourself ready for the real thing if you decide to.
10. Read Inside a Fort
The summer can welcome children to the world of reading as well. Most kids might not want to read during the summer, but it’s important to keep them educated during the break as well. Set up a pillow fort and string up some lights, stack up some books, and let your kids indulge in their own world of books.
11. Meditate Together
It’s a stressful time for many children and parents out there. Being quarantined at home was stressful enough, not to mention other matters you might have going on such as mediating a divorce, dealing with sick kids, or working with a tight budget.
Whatever you’re going through as a parent or teacher, it’s important to remain positive and teach kids to not stress also. Meditation such as yoga or deep breathing is an excellent way to welcome children to the world of self care, and teach them the importance of mindfulness. Set up some home heating oils, put on some relaxing music, and meditate the summer away with your children.
12. Watch a Movie with a Projector
If you’re still struggling on the mortgage payment every month, a tight budget doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the movie experience at home. Why not make it fun and cheap? For just around 60 dollars, you can buy a portable home projector to take with you to watch movies anywhere! In the living room, outside on the garage wall, or in your own room, a projector is a great way to give children the movie experience this month without shelling out big money for the movie theater every time.
13. Take a Fishing Trip
Whether you’re looking for a pontoon boat for sale or have a small boat ready to go, fishing is a past-time that requires nothing but a little bit of bait, some fishing rods, and patience. You can fish off the pier at any beach, as long as you follow local regulations, or take a fishing trip to your local lake with the proper fishing license. Make sure to follow proper guidelines, and welcome children to the world of fishing, the excitement of catching your own food, and the beauty of the water this summer.
14. Re-Do Your Home
Who says the summer has to be spent not cleaning up and letting the room get dirty? It’s important to welcome children warmly early on into the home and ease them into the transition, but it’s equally important to teach them chores and responsibilities during their break in the summertime. In addition to cleaning, re-doing your home can be fun for kids! Let them put their own towel designs on the shower doors, allow them to choose colors and designs for the home, and watch their creative inspiration color and decorate your home throughout.
15. Take a Beach Day
Nothing screams summer like a beach day, and with good reason. The surplus of oxygen, the cool sands and waves, there’s absolutely nothing better than taking a beach day. Bring some sunscreen in lotion dispensers, some smores, a lunch, some towels and a change of clothes and spend a day taking in all the water. Nothing is better to welcome children into the summer for more than a day at the beach.
Summer Is Here Forever
The summer will come and go, and your kids will go back to school, back to your partner, and back to being busy with school again. However, the memories both you and they share about summer will live on forever. This list is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many activities you can do this summer. Whatever you decide to do to welcome children into your home, classroom, or anywhere else, make this summer one filled with laughter, education, long road trips, and sundaes.
