Summer officially starts on June 21 and I already feel like it is over. This year my kid starts kindergarten and I am awash with emotions. Because the days are longer, I am waking up early and staying up late to experience as much of this life as possible. As a parent, I think a lot about my own childhood and the things I loved most. My mom used to kick us out of the apartment in the morning and holler for us around 5PM. I can still see her on the rail of the apartment porch with her hand cupped around her mouth while yelling our names. My brother and I were out on skateboards, playing war in the woods, or at the neighbor girl’s house playing kickball with a crew — ghost-man on first! I want all of these things for my kid too. Right now he is still too young to just roam free and there aren’t a lot of kids out on our country road (yet), so I make it up — one day at a time. Last summer I posted on how to make your own inexpensive summer camp and this post is a revisit.
I have made an activity calendar for July.
To be clear, I don’t actually do all of the things on this calendar with my kid (usually only a handful). I like having the ideas around in case I am flat out tired and need a go-to plan. I don’t want to always default to TV. I am also sending this into the universe before summer officially starts so I can plan ahead. I tried to keep the calendar simple, inexpensive, and easy.
If you want to give this calendar a try, you might need a few items ahead of time (a lot of the other items you might be able to find around the house):
Plastic toys and plastic mold for ice game on the 4th
Paint
Plastic tarp
Water balloons
Baseball bat (or heavy stick)
Flashlights
Dish sponges and rubber bands (search for “sponge bombs for kids”)
Bottle corks
Search the internet for “Cloud Identification Chart”
When I planned the calendar, I had my five-year-old in mind. There are lots of these types of calendars out there and it doesn’t take long to put your own together that is age appropriate or more in-line with your family vibe. If you are interested in more activities you can check out two other posts I’ve written on fun summer activities: Self-Made Summer Camp and Chasing Waterfalls.
