Summer vacation. It’s such a complex time of year. The weather is gorgeous, the days are longer, and the kids are home from school.These are all elements of fun, at least until mid-June. Then children, who were happy to entertain themselves for hours on end in those first couple of weeks off of school are now whining, “I’m bored!” and “There’s nothing to do!”
In today’s world of constantly being connected online, on our phones, and to our gadgets, it’s even harder to connect with our kids. Widening that gap even further, as kids are getting older they are turning to electronic devices to keep their attention. Here are five simple summer vacation suggests that are sure-fire ways to keep families busy, happy, challenged, and connected this summer. I dare you to try them all!
Take the Training Wheels Off
Take this both literally and figuratively. If you’ve got a child old enough to ride a two wheel bike, take those training wheels off and spend quality time teaching them how to balance. And use this phrase to challenge yourself and your children. What is something you’re a bit hesitant to try? Rock climbing? Running a 5K? Reading War and Peace? Go for it this summer! Find a local rock climbing facility, start running around your neighborhood, visit your area local library. The challenge will lead to smiles and laughter (along with maybe a few thrills and spills) and will create memories to last a lifetime.
Hit The Road
There are so many family vacation deals currently available that there is something for every budget. From a luxurious 7 day cruise to a 3 hour canoe trip through nature, from a tour of Europe to pitching a tent at a local campground. Whatever type of vacation you choose it will be memorable to your children simply because you’re all together. In today’s world of being a little too “wired” too often, we don’t spend the time with our children that we should. Vacations are perfect excuses to unplug and to be unreachable to everyone, and to focus on those who matter most. So start saving your pennies and start planning.
Bring On The Heat
Instead of spending those beautiful summer evenings inside staring at the television, computer, or smartphone connect with one another outdoors. Buy a fire pit and sit outside after dinner. It’s a wonderful way to wind down at the end of the day. Don’t forget to roast marshmallows, catch lightening bugs, and just “be.” Teaching your children how to relax in our crazy, always-on-the-go world will be a lesson they won’t forget.
Be A Kid
What do you miss most about being a kid? The freedom? The pure joy? The laughter? Sometimes I think today’s technology too far removes us from the classic fun of the “good-old-days.” So why not set down that iPad, get off the computer, put away the video games a couple of nights a week and play like a kid? Head out to the backyard for a game of catch. Have a water balloon fight. Have a hula hoop contest. Play hopscotch and four-square (not the online version). Blow bubbles. Going down the twisty slide. These are all easy, require very little supplies & money, and are sure to get everyone, even the kids, feeling like a kid again.
Find Free & Cheap Local Events & Activities
Free & cheap are always fun! Most big chain bookstores offer story times once or twice a week. Libraries often also provide story times, as well as craft activities, and special performances. Local park systems sometimes host free nature classes, crafts, and presentations. Some zoo’s offer free days for county residents. It’s also always nice to get the family out of the house for dinner every now and then, before you go, simply type “Kids Eat Free” into your favorite search engine, to browse lists of area restaurants that offer meal discounts for families. Local festivals pop up left and right during the summer. These are a few great ways to spend some time together without spending much (if any!) money.
There’s so much to do in the summer and it’s the perfect opportunity to re-connect with our kids. These easy summer vacation suggestions are fun, memorable ideas that will replace yells of “I’m bored!” with lots of laughter, smiles, and memories.
What about you? What do you do to battle “I’m bored!” and to connect with your kids during the summer?
We love to find new parks and museums to explore during the summer!
Such great ideas for summer fun! We usually get kings dominion season passes since we are about only 45 mins away!
Great ideas! We often overlook the free/cheap local activities, but this post gave me the jumpstart I needed to check them out.
Love the fire pit idea. Thanks for the ideas.
A fire on a great summer night is the best!
My granddaughter gets bored real easy and wished we lived closer to the ocean so she could spend time on the beach. We sometimes go down to the river which has a beach or to the water slides. I really try to get her to unplug. I love the idea of a fire pit for the evenings.
Thanks for the suggestion to check out our local library!
Great suggestions. I plan to work on taking advantage of some of the free events in my area. There really are a lot here like free music in the park almost every weekend.
During the summer I try to take the kids swimming as much as possible.
Lots of good Vacation ideas. We try to have cheap ways to spend time together as a family. We watch movies, go to the park, and we have our big vacation once a year in the Summer. We also play games and do crafts.
Lots of great vacation ideas! Love the idea of putting down electronics and play outside :)
These are great ideas. I can’t wait to hit the beach this summer. Thanks for sharing!
One Summer we got adventurous and visited every park in our town. It was a great way to get exercise, meet new people and explore out town, plus it was free.
Great summer ideas. Thanks for sharing!
We are usually stuck around home until the kids get out of baseball and then we like to take a small trip to culminate the end of school and sports. Its usually within a couple of hours drive and for a day or two just to reconnect with each other and get away from all the fast paced days.
Love going to all the little local parks and taking a picnic lunch or sometimes even dinner.
These are all great ideas.I know there is always something going on around where I live plus you have the lake,parks,zoo ect!
This is some great info thanks!
Thanks for the great tips! I am still trying to plan something for this summer.
Thanks for sharing these great ideas! We got to the park a lot where they have toys and splash pads.
we love going to the beach and hiking
Go hiking! My daughter never got into riding a bike, she is 12 now and she still will not try! It makes me sad, I am hoping we can talk her into it soon. I know she would have lots of fun.
I like the ideas you placed in your article,we love to go to our local patrk.
We love taking advantage of the free activities offered by our library
I have a 3 year old grandson. He is happy playing in the dirt with his toys. He loves to go for walks and play with his cars. Just spending time with him and playing is what they enjoy most especially when they are little.
Great ideas. I love the fire pit idea. Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows sounds like so much fun and the grandkids would love it.
Love the suggestions and I agree we live in a world where everyone is plugged in all the time. When my granddaughters visit, we go to the park to play or the local zoo to see the animals. We also like to hike the trails in our local park. It’s a great way to connect with nature and each other and take a break from our the gadgets in our life.
great tips! I usually take my niece to the park to fight boredom.
We go camping for our getaways! There’s a lake where we go, an arcade, a basketball court, and tons of great people!
We love heading out to the lake! Cheap & perfect!
We go to the park that is 5 blocks away and take lunch and have fun playing on the Swings and other equipment and see the ducks. For a daily pass the kids can go on rides. I also take them to the library and get books and we all read. We ride bikes! There are so many inexpensive things to do. We also do crafts!
Thanks for all of the suggestions! We don’t have the money for a road trip or vacation, but I love the idea of community activities! And going outside at night is something that we like to do. We actually will be burning a bonfire tonight!
I love the idea of finding cheap or free things to do in your own area. They are just as much fun as far away travels.
We always have events and activites my community hosts. We also get outside a lot in the summer and do a bunch of stuff. We recently went and did a obstacle course. Very fun for the whole family. Anything to keep us going is for us.
I love a nice simple day at the lake with the family.
We’re fortunate enough to live in an area that caters to tourists, so there’s lots of things to do in the summer. Once we get used to the extra traffic, we venture out to enjoy the same things that draws people here from all over. Lucky us!
Oh love the ideas of the firepit and getting outside at night! We planned a story time in the park for every Thursday this summer! We will be visiting a different park in our area…reading stories…and having a picnic! Then he can play at the playground there! Good way to check out all our local playgrounds!
I keep my little boy busy before he can say he’s bored, he may find it boring from time to time but at least he isn’t in front of any electronics!! ;)
We limit all computer and technology . The kids love to play with anything water, there happy just digging a hole in the yard. We have out trips to the beach, boardwalk and park too
We have a fire pit and we love it!
We take advantage of season passes to an amusement park that is about 90 minutes from us so whenever the kids say they’re bored, we just head over there for the day and we always have a great time!!!!
The fire pit is our favorite. S’more parties are a great way to gather with young and old alike.