The Official Summer List

{Find an updated version of this list here.}

Ok, folks.  I have completed my Summer List.  These are all the activities that I think I could possibly attempt with my kiddos.  I'm not saying that we will get through every activity on the list.  But on any given day, I can peruse the list and choose one or two to do.

Some activities require a little planning ahead.  I will be caring for my niece (9 years old) and my nephew (12 years old) on Fridays this summer, so I'm excited to plan some of these fun activities to do with them as well.

If you have any questions about what an activity is or how to do it, please feel free to contact me.  I'd be happy to explain or send you a link to a site where I found the idea.

Boy, oh boy, I have been trying hard to figure out how to post a downloadable version of my list (pdf, Word, etc.) and I just can't figure it out.  So, if you would like me to email you my list as either a pdf or a Word document, simply leave me your email address in a comment on this post, and I will be happy to share the list with you.  That way you can add, delete, and edit as you'd like.

1. Build a fort
2. Do a service for someone
3. Fly a kite
4. Tie-dye a shirt
5. Go to the park
6. Write and mail a letter
7. Visit the cemetery
8. Ding dong ditch with baked goods
9. Do a puzzle
10. Go fishing
11. Catch lightning bugs
12. Play with water balloons
13. Make paper airplanes
14. Make a root beer float
15. Make homemade popsicles
16. Have a scavenger hunt
17. Go stargazing
18. Play mini-golf
19. Go bowling
20. Make smoothies
21. Go to a river or lake and have a rock skipping contest
22. Paint with finger paints
23. Make and play with homemade play dough
24. Ride bikes
25. Rent a DVD and make popcorn
26. Go to the library
27. Shop at a thrift shop
28. Do a science experiment (here are some ideas to start)
29. Learn magic tricks
30. Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member
31. Donate stuff to charity
32. Compete in a three-legged or other race
33. Potato sack race with pillow cases
34. Create an obstacle course
35. Roast marshmallows
36. Explore your yard and look for insects. Log your findings.
37. Make hot cocoa
38. Do shadow puppets
39. Play in the rain
40. Blow bubbles in a new way
41. Take turns saying tongue twisters
42. Sing songs
43. Build stuff with Legos
44. Play with squirt guns
45. Bake a cake and decorate it
46. Play dress-up
47. Decorate gingerbread men
48. Have a campout in the family room
49. Get Sonic half-price slushies
50. Go to the dollar store and pick one item per kid
51. See a movie in the theater
52. Take dinner to a neighbor
53. Get non-fiction books from the library
54. Map local parks and visit them all
55. Make a huge painting outside on butcher paper (attached to the fence)
56. Shop garage sales
57. Make frozen bananas
58. Make frozen grapes on a skewer
59. Play carnival games in the back yard. Bonus points for inviting neighbor kids and/or cousins!
60. Set up Hot Wheels races outside
61. Take a picnic to dad/grandparent
62. Play "I Spy" as you walk around your neighborhood
63. Go to a farmers market
64. Make taffy
65. Play tennis
66. Make homemade fruit roll-ups
67. Straw splatter painting
68. Build a marble run
69. Build stuff with marshmallows and toothpicks
70. Do school workbooks
71. Paddle boats at the Lagoon
72. Go to water park by the river
73. Make something out of a large box
74. Make a Diet Coke volcano
75. Make slime or Gak
76. Have a switcher-oo day: You send your kids to someone else’s house and their kids come to yours. Just plan a few activities (you can choose from some on this list) and give them a great day as your friend will do with your kiddos.
77. Create a “mini-me.” {Find a piece of large poster board, or large heavy-duty paper (such as a butcher paper) wide enough for your kids to lay down on. Use a dull pencil (less chance for boo-boos) to trace their entire body to the paper from head to toe. Now let the kids decorate the kids to look like themselves in the same clothes they are wearing, same color eyes, hair, etc. When they are finished, help them cut out their mini-me for proud display. Or do this in sidewalk chalk on the driveway.}
78. Make things out of cardboard.  Find ideas here and here.
79. Make something origami. Here is a site with a bunch of kid friendly origami ideas
80. Make a sensory tub
81. Make an I Spy box
82. Go Fish indoors
83. Make Rainbow Cookies
84. Ice Excavating
85. Make balloon rockets
86. Rubber band board
87. Homemade lava lamps
88. Preschool Activity Trays
89. Sand art
90. Rubber glove finger puppets
91. Make can stilts
92. Play the clothespin game
93. Make a cave of stars
94. Colored vinegar and baking soda activity
95. Magic powder activity
96. Marble painting
97. Make Galaxy Mason Jars or Glow-in-the-dark paint firefly jar
98. Make science discovery bottles 

That should keep us busy!

Jessica