What are your favorite, FREE things to do with the kids on a hot day?
Especially when your little ones start crawling the walls because: BOREDOM.
In case you’re at a loss and already SO OVER the pool, I polled my momma friends for their list of favorite, summer fun things to do. Add these to your summer activity list.
And when all else fails, you can take them to Target to raid the dollar bins for school supplies. Not really free, but, hey, it’s a legit excuse to go to Target.
FREE summer activities
Here are 15 ways to entertain the kiddos – to keep your sanity all summer long.
1. Stay at home
Let the kids play with all the toys they already have! Bonus: make them clean up afterwards – that’ll take at least 30 minutes…
2. Go to the park
With tons of shade trees. And build a fairy house/fort/castle from found objects.
3. Make popsicles
With or without chunks of fresh fruit. Or you can make smoothies and then freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays for EXTRA HEALTHY treats.
4. Play board games
Inside or on the back lawn. (Does anyone else hate the self-esteem busting Chutes & Ladders? Just me?)
5. Visit the library
Take a free community class or indulge in story time. Or get your kid a library card (she will feel SO GROWN UP). Then she can check out tons of books – and movies.
6. Go for a walk and pick up trash
Don’t forget the gloves, trash bag and hand sanitizer.
7. Redefine water play
Skip the pool and head to your local splash park. Or go old school with a sprinkler and garden hose. Bonus: the kids can water the plants while they’re at it.
8. Organize a parade
Reach out to the other families in the ‘hood and plan a parade down the street. Tell the kids to raid the art supplies or linen closet or box of Halloween costumes to get festive. Hell, you can waste more time by holding a bike – or DOG – decorating contest while you’re at it. Get the kids to vote so you can read a book or direct traffic during the revelry. For prizes, I’m sure you can find some random, neglected junk the kiddos picked up at a birthday party last month.
9. Take a day trip
To the mountains, beach or lake. Or just check out the downtown in your own city. Who knows what awaits when you and the kids put on explorer hats to discover the nooks and crannies of your local community.
10. Take for a hike
Around the block, at the local park or even the trails at a nearby mountain range. Or find a creek and pull on the water shoes to look for crayfish and minnows and to skip rocks.
11. Let them wash all the things
Arm your kids with different size paint brushes and tell them to go at it, paint whatever they want with water (outside) to their heart’s delight. Or give them a sponge and a bucket of soapy-water so they can wash their bicycles in the “car wash.”
12. Tour the pet store
But only if you’re willing to say “NO” a lot. Or you’re willing to get another pet.
13. Go on a bug hunt
In your yard or at the park. See how many of those giant 17-year cicadas you can find. Or let the kids stay up late and catch lightning bugs in a homemade bug catcher.
14. Embrace your inner redneck
Throw a couple of lawn chairs in the back of your pick up truck – or bribe the neighbor to use theirs. Add some toys, a couple fishing poles, maybe the dog, plus some snacks and let the little ones go hog wild. Shirts and shoes are optional.
15. Check out Pinterest
When all else fails, there’s always Pinterest. Create a board full of craft ideas and science experiments. (Might as well get the kiddos ready for the fall science fair. Because school will be here before we know it – and then they will be wishing for lazy days of BOREDOM.)
Other (not free) ideas
For your convenience, I’ve included affiliate links. Read my Disclaimer to learn more.
Trampoline park, children’s museum, bounce house, glow sticks dance party, $1 movies, science center, ice cream sundae bar, cooking class, zoo, water gun battle, aquarium, amusement park, horseback riding, rolling skating, s’mores cooked on the stove, water park, mommy and me painting or pottery class, treasure-hunting at the thrift store, planting a garden, kitchen chemistry experiments, national park, inflatable kiddie pool on the porch…
Share your own FREE summer fun ideas below or on Facebook at MothersRest.
Photo credit: Lubomirkin on Unsplash.com
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS
Loving these fabulous ideas one creative momma shared with me on Facebook.
I agree about Chutes and Ladders. My son got it for Christmas by a well meaning grandmother and I think we have played it twice. Count Your Chickens is a fun cooperative game that still encourages counting.
There are also all sort of free, customizable game boards you can get online. I have found several that have themes that go with our unit studies: Community Helpers, Vehicles, and the like. You can either type in sight words or write things in by hand. I even included a few fun, free space symbols, like hearts and stars, which meant we needed to have a dance break or share hugs. And if you buy off-brand ink from Amazon, it is dirt cheap to print games, coloring pages, worksheets, or activity cards/pages, and I laminate mine so they are sturdier and don’t get wet. (This is also great for using dry erase markers on, too, so you don’t have to print out a new sheet every day!)
There are also lots of variations on card games, like Memory, or sequence puzzles your kids can help cut out (for the dreaded cutting practice) and then put together again!
With Community Helpers, I did basic addition and subtraction on one, letters on a second, and sight words on a third. For the math one, he would roll a die, move his token (a penny or other coin) to the correct square and then add or subtract from what he rolled based on the sign and number on the square. The Letter one had him spin for his roll then whatever he landed on he had to come up with a word that begins with that letter. Sight words one he had to sounds out the words. Don’t forget free spaces filled without whatever you want: dance breaks, stretches, animal noises, fire truck sirens, whatever you think will be fun, and your mommy nerves can tolerate!
The blog, Fun Learning for Kids, is one of my major go-to sites for free activities and ideas. You do have to sign up to access the freebies, but I have found it worth it most of the time – until someone in the loop is trying to sell some sort of education bundle and then you get daily spam for a few days until the sale is over. (Thankfully, you can unsubscribe at anytime and you are not required to buy anything to continue access to the freebies!) Anyway, here is the link to her freebies page with all the links to her free games and activities. I know she has posted unicorn, dragon, racecars, and several seasonal themes that would work well with sight words or letter or number recognition and easy differentiation is one of her major goals. Hope you find these useful!