Summer is here which means your kids have more time to play, craft, and enjoy some new activities. Keeping kids active is important but sometimes it can be hard to come up with new and exciting activities for them to do during summer break.
Having a few ideas tucked into your back pocket that you can whip out at a moment's notice - rain or shine could save the day! To help you out I've put together a helpful list of 7 fun summer activities your kids will love.
This post was written in partnership with Zulily. Check out The Find by Zulily for more awesome crafts, recipes, and parenting tips to help out all busy moms!
7 Fun Summer Activities For Kids
Best Bubbles Ever
Blowing bubbles is the classic activity kids have been doing for years. Playing with bubbles doesn't have to be the old-school bottle of bubbles with a short wand we all had as a kid. Up your kids bubble-blowing experience with a few tweaks.
- Snake bubbles are easy and fun! Cut a small 16 oz plastic water or pop bottle in half then cover the large cut opening with an old sock securing it with duct tape. Dip the sock end into a mixture of 1 part dish soap + 1 part water + a few drops of food coloring then blow through the top of the bottle. Watch your snake bubble grow as you keep blowing!
- Make your own unpoppable bubbles with this recipe: mix together 3 cups distilled water + 1 cup dish soap + 1/2 cup corn syrup. Use a bubble wand to blow your unpoppable bubbles!
Paper Mache Pinata
Summer is the perfect time to make a pinata since it can be a pretty messy craft - perfect for doing outside! A balloon covered in paste-coated strips of newspaper or wrapping paper makes the perfect pinata. Find several great homemade paper mache paste recipes here.
For complete pinata-making instructions check out this post: How To Make A Paper Mache Pinata
Make-Your-Own Puzzles
My kids love putting together puzzles so when we made our own they were even more excited! I've got two kinds of puzzles to share with you that your kids can make:
- Cereal box puzzles only require three things - a pencil, scissors, and an empty cereal box. Cut open an empty cardboard cereal box, trimming around the side edges and flaps. Next, draw puzzle piece shapes on the blank cardboard side then cut out the shapes. Mix up the cutout pieces and try to solve your puzzle. Share your puzzle with friends and family then store the puzzles in large ziplock bags. Follow the tutorial here to make your own cereal box puzzle.
- Popsicle stick puzzles are easy to make for kids of any age. Grab some plain popsicle craft sticks, masking tape, and washable markers. Line up 6 to 8 popsicle sticks flat side down on a sturdy flat surface, then put a strip of tape along the back making sure the sticks are secured together. Flip the taped popsicle sticks over then color the untaped side with markers. Take the tape off of the craft sticks, mix them up and then try to solve the puzzle by putting them in order to re-create the picture you drew. It is harder than you think! (For younger kids I recommend numbering the back side of the craft sticks to help them solve the puzzle more easily)
Tie-Dye (Anything!)
Tie-dying is a popular summer camp activity that your kids can do at home too! Almost anything made from cotton material can be tie-dyed so let them use their imagination and go crazy finding something unique to tie-dye like socks, robes, pillowcases, and of course a t-shirt.
Tie-dying socks is super simple and I know your kids will love doing it as much as mine do! Grab a pack of white cotton socks so your child can make their own tie-dye socks - a different tie-dyed colored pair for each day of the week! Learn how to tie-dye socks here.
Wildflower Vase Display Board
Spring and summer yield a bounty of beautiful wildflowers. Kids love picking flowers so help them create a lovely wildflower vase display board to show off their pickings. With a little adult help and a few supplies, your kids will be ready to make their own wildflower vase in no time.
To get started you need a piece of cardboard (roughly 10" x 12"), markers, and a sharpened pencil. On the cardboard freehand draw the outline of a vase then have your child color it any way they like. Take the sharp pencil then poke several holes along the top edge of the vase (adult supervision suggested).
Now let your kids go crazy picking dandelions or whatever wildflowers they can find and insert the flower stems into the holes.
Chalk Painting
Are you kids bored of plain old sidewalk chalk? Breathe new life into sidewalk chalk with this fun new twist - chalk painting! Chalk painting actually doesn't require chalk but the results look very similar to chalk.
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- Using an empty metal muffin tin add 1 heaping tablespoon of cornstarch to each well
- then add a few drops of food coloring into each (dissolved watercolor paint will work too!)
- Add water almost to the top of each well then stir to mix everything together.
Using a wide paintbrush or foam brush let your child paint their designs and pictures all over the sidewalk or driveway. Don't be discouraged if at first, the "painting" doesn't look very bold - just wait until it dries completely to see the painting come to life.
Leaf Rubbings
Introduce a little botany (science) and learning into those long summer days while your kids are out of school with this fun activity. Plan some short nature hikes or even walks through your neighborhood or favorite park to collect leaves from different trees. Once home, give your child a notebook with blank pages and a box of crayons. Place a leaf under one page in the notebook then rub over the paper with the long side of a crayon to create a leaf rubbing.
Remember to PIN this leaf journal printable for later!
With your guidance help your child identify the type of tree the leaf came from so they can write it down in their leaf journal. Your local library is a great place to find books that will help your child with their leaf identification project.
Make this a summer-long project that they can even do while on vacation! They will be so proud of their leaf journal and all they learned throughout the summer.
Have an amazing summer! Check back here often for more activity ideas, crafts, and tasty recipes.
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