Six Simple Summer Fun Ideas

Owen starts school in exactly three weeks…what? How did that happen?

I miss the days when summer felt forever long. And maybe it feels that way to my kids, but to me it keeps speeding up faster each year.

We are really close to finishing up our summer bingo chart. I’ve been documenting some of it on instagram. (You can follow me at @deliacreates)

But we have also been doing a few other fun things on our unofficial summer list.

Do you feel like summer is slipping through your fingers too?

Here are six, simple fun activities that you can whip together in a snap to make this last bit of summer full of fun memories. (some of the pictures are from instagram)

1. Cloud gazing.

As bedtime is reinforced as you prepare the kids for school, instead of keeping them up to star gaze, take them out during the day for a different kind of sky entertainment.

2. Hot rocks. I got this idea from A Girl and A Glue Gun.

She bakes rocks in the oven first and then colors/paints them with crayons afterward. It’s so simple, and you probably already have everything on hand. Plus it’s fun to see the crayons melt into a waxy paint. We opted not to turn on our oven and just let the sun bake our rocks for us. It didn’t produce as hot of a rock (or as cool of an effect), but the crayons still melted pretty well. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about anyone getting burned.

Be sure to use a smooth rock though. I gathered what we had around our house. Some of the rocks were a bit bumpy which didn’t produce the cool waxy paint effect.

3. Water Balloon Pinatas. Add a little twist to your water balloon fight by setting up a water balloon pinata to hit around first.

Simply fill a regular balloon with water.

Then hang it and hit like you would a pinata. They are tricky to bust, so you might want to skip the blindfold for kids.

Reid gave up and tried popping it with his hands. 🙂 Finally, Dad had to step in and break this one. We did a few water balloon pinatas. Some broke easier than others. Filling it with a lot of water helped.

4. Pop Its math.

Get your kids in the mood for learning in a fun way using Pop Its! This genius idea comes from Cheri from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.

The great thing is that you can tailor it to your children’s needs. For Reid, I wrote numbers in chalk and had him count out enough Pop Its to match the number. For Owen we started with addition and worked our way up to some division problems.

The Pop Its double as math manipulatives to help them solve the problem and also give lots of motivation to try!

This might be one to save for next year if you can’t get your hands on some Pop Its, as fireworks season has passed for many states.

5. Campfire eclairs.

I saw this in Family Fun magazine (sorry, there is no link on their site for it) and knew we must give it a go!

Just take some Pillsbury refrigerated breadstick dough. Wrap a strip around your roasting stick.

Cook over the fire until nice and brown.

Fill with some canned whipped cream. And top with melted chocolate.

To melt our chocolate we set a metal bowl full of chocolate chips near the fire.

This took a little more planning (bringing a cooler to keep things cold), but it was fun to spice up our  summer s’more making routine.

6. Constellation Jar.

Remind your kids of that fun summer camp out under the stars, by bringing the stars into their room. Amy Christie shares this great idea on her blog this heArt of mine.

The materials are simple enough that you probably already have them on hand. We didn’t, but it didn’t take too much to just pick the items up at Walmart while we were grocery shopping. Just be sure to use a strong LED light like the one she recommends. We first tried it using a weaker light and it didn’t work. You can also use a flashlight and shine it up through the bottom of the jar for a quick starry night show.

I didn’t take a picture, (because we’re in the middle of rearranging the boys’ room), but the effect is really amazing. It gives a DIY planetarium effect in your own home.

So, what are you doing for your last few weeks of summer?

In addition to whittling down our summer list, we are completely rearranging the house. I’m making slip covers for our couches tomorrow…tutorial to follow if it works out. 🙂 I’ll post more about that later.

Thanks for reading!