How to Have Fun During the Summer With Your Children

The summer is coming fast, and it’s time to start thinking about what to do with your children during these months of sunny days and lots of free time. 

If in previous summers you were left feeling that you didn’t make the most of them or that you didn’t spend much time with your kids, don’t make the same mistake this year. 

The main issue here is to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve from your summer. Then you can organize family activities that help you achieve those goals.

Keep reading to learn how to do precisely that! 

We’ll help you find what types of summer goals are common for parents, and discover some tried-and-true activities, travel ideas, and crafts to do with your kids.

We’re sure that our ideas will help you have an enjoyable summer!

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What Are Your Goals for the Summer?

Summertime is almost here. We all have plans to enjoy this beautiful time of the year. But, what are your goals for this summer?  And what would you like to achieve with your children this summer? 

Depending on your answer, there are many summer activities that you can engage in with your kids. We’ll go over a few later on. 

But first, here are some common goals families can achieve during the summer:  

Bonding With Your Children

Perhaps you want to make the most of your time strengthening your bond with your children. 

You might also want to spend some quality time together and get closer to each other.

Exercising

This goal has become more and more common in the last few years. After all, summers have become the perfect time for kids to play with their phones and neglect outdoor activities.

I know what you want as a parent. You want your children to ride their bicycles, hop on their skateboards, or play some sports. In other words, to go outside! 

The best way to start is to do them yourself. Then, your children will see how fun that is, how fun it’s to go out and exercise outdoors.

In other words: lead by example. 

Improving Their Creativity  

Tell me your children also do this. 

Every time their mother and I tell our children that their screen time is over, they say, “What can I do now?”

It drives me crazy every time! 

What can you do? Well, you can jump on the trampoline, play with your dog, or build a fort. I don’t care! Just put down your phone and start using your imagination! 

Sorry, I had to take it out of my system. 

But sometimes, it seems that they don’t know what else to do besides being on their phone. 

Use this time to work on their creativity. 

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10 Things To Do This Summer With Kids

To make this list even more helpful and easy to follow, I’ve organized it into categories according to the goals you may have for the summer:

Activities for Bonding With Your Children

Let’s start with some fun summer ideas to get closer to your kids. 

1. Have a Picnic

Go out to the park, the beach, or your garden, and have a picnic with your children. 

Ask them to help you prepare some snacks for the picnic and organize everything else you may need. 

Just working together to prepare the picnic will be bonding time. Then sitting out there, in the sun, talking, reading to each other, or making jokes, will be one of those memories that will take longer to fade away. 

2. Go on a Road Trip

Hop on your car and drive away from home. 

If you’re of the adventurous type, you can simply drive into the unknown and see what the road brings. If you prefer to have a plan, organize it beforehand. 

Here’s a tip: let your kids make some decisions. Ask them where they want to go, and share the excitement before it starts. 

3. Build Something Together

It can be a bird feeder or a treehouse. Go crazy! 

The important part is to involve your kids in the project and that you share time building something together. 

Whatever the result, you can be sure that your children will appreciate it much more than if you just bought one at the shop. 

Activities for Exercising

Do you want to inspire your children to do more exercise? 

Lead by example, and they’ll follow you. 

4. Ride Your Bike (All of You)

One of the best summer fun days I remember having with my daughters was when we finally rode our bicycles. 

We rode together as a family. It was so much fun to ride our bikes by the boardwalk until sunset. In the end, we had some ice cream together as a family. 

5. Play a Family Bowl 

Or a family world cup final or a basketball one-on-one with your child. The point is to get off the couch and play some sports together. 

Your children will appreciate that you’re playing with them, and the opportunity may inspire them to take on one of these sports after the summer is over. 

6. Go to a Family Camp

Did you know that there are fun summer camps for families? 

These camps are perfect for bonding with your kids and exercising together. 

Take this camp, for example. It includes soccer, basketball, canoeing, horseback riding, and rock climbing, among other fun sports. 

7. Take Zumba Lessons Together

Or yoga lessons, or work out together. The kind of exercise you do is up to you. Just make sure that you choose something that your children enjoy doing and do it with them. 

My girls laugh a lot when I try to do yoga with them. But, as I’m terrible at it, they enjoy the sessions so much that I have no other choice. 

Activities for Improving Their Creativity

There’s so much free time during the summer. So, don’t be surprised if your kids just want to lay down and watch TV or play with their tablets. 

However, the summer is also an opportunity to engage in many creative projects. I include a few of the most interesting ones I could find for you.

8. Sidewalk Chalk Art

Grab a pack of colored chalks, take your kids out to the sidewalk, and make a beautiful chalk art piece. 

Once they see how easy it’s to draw on the sidewalk with their chalks, they’ll let their imagination run free and make all kinds of colorful designs. 

Get some ideas from the internet to help you kickstart the inspiration. 

9. Do an Experiment 

This one is a perfect activity for students with a curious mind and a knack for science. 

You can buy one of those science games they sell in any toy store or look for an interesting one on the internet.

Most require materials that you can find at home or in the nearest convenience store.

10. Write Your Own Songs

I find this activity enriching and particularly original. 

If you or your spouse know anything about music or play an instrument, even better! 

There are so many lyric-less melodies on the internet. You can just take one of those and start writing the lyrics. 

We particularly like using a hip-hop base and writing our own rap—hip-hop-style clothing included. Give it a try! 

This Summer, Have Fun With Your Children! 

You can come up with many more activities and engage with your children to have a fun summer. 

I hope you enjoyed this list. My goal was to include original, creative, and bond-building activities. 

Summer is an opportunity to spend time with your family. 

Remember that life moves fast, and before you know it, your kids might not want to create sidewalk art or write songs with you anymore. 

See you outside!

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