Summer is nearly here! With warm, long and sunny days ahead make the most of the season by dragging the kids away from the computer or TV to spend time together as a family relaxing and reconnecting.
To get you into the Summer spirit we’ve put together 10 ideas to kick start the season. Share them with your nanny to give her inspiration for things to do with your kids.
1. Create a ‘Hello Summer’ Basket
Create a kit that will help make this summer one to remember. Give kids a box filled with some of their favorite activities. It will provide inspiration for fun things to do, and will help keep them occupied during the warm weather months. Include things like sand toys, art supplies, games and books. Have your kids write down the activities that they want to do over the summer and then store them in a jar and draw one each day or every time they say “I’m bored!”
2. Host a ‘Welcome Summer Party’
Make the backyard into a water park by turning a plastic tarp into a giant slip n’ slide, hanging a cluster of water balloons from the ceiling like a Piñata and giving everyone water guns for a splashing good time.
3. Give Your Home a Refresh
Perhaps spring cleaning got away from you. Let the official change of seasons be your cue to freshen up the look of your bedroom and your kids’ rooms and get them ready for summer. For example:
- Clear out any old papers, books or clutter that accumulated over the school year and you don’t need any more.
- Reorganize the room’s layout — even if it’s not really necessary, it’s fun to change things up (use Pottery Barn Kids’ Room Planner tool).
- Purchase airy curtains to let the sunlight in.
- Put out memorabilia from previous summer fun (like shells from a trip to a beach).
- Place repositionable stickers on the walls of your kids’ rooms to create a warm-weather inspired mural.
4. Let the Ice Cream Flow
One of the quintessential summer symbols is ice cream. Make the first day of summer even better by stopping by your favourite ice cream stand or setting up a make-your-own sundae bar for dinner.
5. Picnic for Dinner
Celebrate the first night of summer with a dinnertime picnic in an unusual place, like on top of your building’s parking garage for city dwellers, or in a spot along a scenic country road. Perhaps it’s time to dust off your bikes and ride until hunger — or an inspirational patch of grass — strikes. Revel in the relaxation and watch the stars come out as you polish off dessert.
6. Create a Lemonade Stall
Start off summer by earning a little fun money to support all the big plans you have up your sleeve for vacation. A card table. A sign. Some cups and a pitcher of lemonade. Now all you need is…some customers! Childhood isn’t complete without working a lemonade stand (and the experience of parenthood isn’t complete without watching your kids charge a quarter for a cup). They’ll learn about counting, even sales and marketing. And you earn some serious bonus points if at least a portion of those quarters goes to your family’s favorite charity. We’ll drink to that.
7. Backyard Camp Out
Kick off summer with a night under the stars. Put sleeping bags on your deck or pitch a tent on the lawn. Bring a star-finding guide, kid-friendly ghost stories and some flashlights. No matter what, there will be a story at the end of this memory-making experience.
8. Ball Games
Set a trend for an active summer and organize a baseball or softball game with family and friends.
9. Kite Flying
Channel Benjamin Franklin and make your own kites (http://www.my-best-kite.com/how-to-make-a-kite.html) in preparation for the first day of summer, then spend the day flying them in a field or park.
10. Make a Seasonal Feast for the Family
What’s your favorite summertime treat? Maybe it’s homemade ice cream, BBQ ribs, burgers or fresh fruits and veggies from your garden. Combine them in a meal that’s a toast to the season and reminds you of all the good times past and those to come over the next couple of months.
Got any better ideas? We would love to hear them! Please share them with us using the comments box below.
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