One of my best let’s-get-summer-started memories is the day I sat down with my three young children and we dumped over our coin-filled five gallon water jug. Has anyone else ever used an empty five gallon water jug to toss your extra change into? We did that in my home growing up, and it was a tradition I shared with my children.
That early summer day, we dumped over the jug full of loose coins and started sorting, piling, and counting the coins. I do not recall the total amount of money, but what I do know is that we made that pile of coins our summer bucket list fund. It was a great lesson in sorting, counting, adding, and basic economics. After we counted our money we sat together and made a list of summer activities to accomplish that year.
We posted the list on our refrigerator door. That bucket list and jug of coins set us up for a whole summer of fun!
Well things have changed a lot this year. Many of the fun and inexpensive outings we had on our list – a day at the beach, a visit to a local farm, library hour, would be out for this year. Whether you are still in a shelter-in-place area (like I am), or you are being cautious because we are living in the middle of a pandemic, there are plenty of fun ways to fill your summer days with your kids at home.
A 2020 Summer Bucket List – 30 Ideas for Families
- Use chalk to draw an obstacle course
- Camp in the backyard
- Plant a butterfly garden
- Go on a bug hunt
- Set up a Splash Zone (Sprinklers, water spray bottles, tarp and hose for slip-in-slide, buckets full of floating toys, water balloons)
- Collect items from nature and create some nature art
- Having a flying paper airplane contest
- Find shapes in the clouds and create stories to go with your images.
- Enjoy homemade popsicles
- Paint silly rocks or rocks with messages to place around your neighborhood.
- Decorate bikes with streamers (weave streamers in and out of wheel spokes and hang from handlebars.) Enjoy a bike ride!
- Stargaze
- Build a fort of blankets and have an afternoon of reading
- Sing Karaoke
- Learn some card tricks and put on a magic show
- Set up a family backyard county fair picnic with games
- Make some slime
- Make a bird feeder and watch for birds
- Set up a car wash for Hot Wheels and toy cars
- Paint a flag pallet
- Make wooden spoon or sock puppets and put on a puppet show
- Make and fly a kite
- Tie-dye some t-shirts
- Make ice-cream in a can
- Family movie and pizza night
- Film your own movie
- Create a scavenger hunt
- Use items from the recycle bin to build something that has wings, something that has wheels, something that stands tall, something that floats.
- Make fairy houses
- Interview an older relative – prepare some questions and set up a Zoom meeting.
Here’s to wishing you health and an enjoyable summer!
