How are you keeping your kids occupied during the summer?

[samy23]

I'm having one of those difficult days when I wish school was open again already! So how are you keeping your child/ren occupied?

[jillmamma]

Me too today. Does not help that it is 11:00 and DS is not dressed and neither have wanted to go eat their breakfast. Plus it is SO freaking hot out!!!

[karemore]

It's hard when it's so hot and humid. We had been going to a park every day, but the past week or so it's been too humid or rainy.

We spent the morning at Barnes & Noble today. Another day we went to a small shopping plaza (indoor). We walked around, threw pennies in the fountain, went to the dollar store, and there's a parent teacher store with a play area. Then we had pizza slices (brought our own drinks) and went home. Had a great few hours and spent about $3 for the pizza.

We've been mall walking early before the stores are open. DD loves to climb on the benches and stuff at the mall and I don't mind letting her when there aren't any shoppers who want to sit on them. When the stores open we visit the pet store then come home.

We're spending more time in the library.

I picked up some new craft supplies at Michaels for at home days when we can't be outdoors. And Dd loves to bring in leaves and flowers and berries and things from outdoors to make crafts with.

Yesterday I blew up some balloons for something different and we've been playing balloon bop and silly games with those.

We try to get out early morning and in the evening for some fresh air and exercise this time of year.

We have also seen a couple of the free movies at the mall, every tues and wed they play a G movie and a PG movie for free. Our library has a free movie series too.

[SunshineJ]

LOL it must be something about today. I just kicked the kids off the Wii (after allowing them to be on it for too long) and am wondering what self-entertaining things I can direct them to while I keep packing!

[Mountaingirl79]

Well, not that they don't still get bored, but we have a big yard, a trampoline, chores, walks, computer games, baking cookies, reading books and movies to get us thru the days.

I know it is hard sometimes to stay motivated and doing things. I often wonder why we have to constantly *do* things. LOL!

[sewchris2642]

Swim lessons, free movies at the local theater, Boys and Girls club, and babysitting his nephews and neices for Dylan. For Alex, it's summer pre school and soccer. As far as Lindsay is concerned, summer is just like the rest of the year.

[sewchris2642]

We have McDonald's with an indoor play place. We take the kids there for afternoon snack and air conditioned play when the heat gets to us. For Joy and me, it's the lesser evil than the mall.

[miss_sonja]

We had a couple of weeks of just relaxing, with park play, tennis (the kids are just learning how to hit the ball), and hanging out doing crafts or school prep. Then, Vacation Bible school (essentially summer camp with bible stories and songs), then a week of daily swim lessons and this week is another just hang out week before another week of camp next week.

We tend to get up fairly early, 7 or 8. I let the kids watch movies or play the WII but we try to get out of the house to the park at least once a day.

[suziek]

My first reaction was that they keep themselves and each other occupied, but that isn't really true.

While the kids eat breakfast I pack up a lunch for the day and head out the door. First stop: the university swimming pool for 9 am swimming lessons. If it's a nice day, we'll head to a beach for the rest of the morning. The boys are learning to surf, and love the three oldest love boogie boarding. they'll often play in the sand forever, which gives me time to read and chat with our friends. If it's not great weather we'll go to the zoo, library, nature center, etc. Sometimes we'll head back to the pool for the noon free swim.

DS3 naps at 2 or 2:30 so we have a couple of hours at home. The kids play, read, color, draw, practice their piano. They each have schoolwork that the do for about an hour in the summer. Two days they have a Russian tutor in the late afternoon (we lived in Moscow and are trying to keep up the language), and one day they have piano lessons.) I'll make dinner, often with help form whoever is free. After dinner they have about 30 minutes of chores, and we'll either do something fun--walk on the bike path, play in the yard, play a board game, or they'll do their own things. My brother has a farm and teaches riding, so we visit him once a week for their riding lesson.

I read aloud most nights from 7-8 and then it is lights out. They sometimes will read themselves or each other to sleep.

Rainy days we usually spend most of the day at home, playing, doing projects, etc. We like painting, and the kids this summer have been into making sculpey jewelery and doo-dads. They do a lot of art, and make great horrible messes on rainy days.

My dad always says that kids are outdoor animals, and I think it is true. They are so happy and easy to be with outdoors. And fun!

[carmel23]

we've had summer like that and this summer I swore that it wouldn't happen.

About every other week my oldest child (going into 3rd grade) has a camp.... even if it is just a few hours a day "camp" or class. A lot of camps can be really expensive, and I've picked ones that were inexpensive, free even (national tennis association has a great 3 week camp that is FREE!), or I could get financial aid/had a coupon. I think I've spent about 150 for all the kids activities.

We go to the library at least once a week. It is airconditioned! So the kids like to hang there, plus we take home a ton of books each week.

We go to different parks with water play areas, different events--free concerts, stuff like that.

My 5 year-old doesn't like camps, but has a gymnastics class once a week. And the 2 year-old just likes anything--

Then we have playdates and baking, gardening, going to the children's museum, going to u-picks for berries/fruits/veggies... and just hanging out.

So far we have managed to keep sane and still like being with each other.

For us the trick is to get up and out of the house on a fairly regular basis. It doesn't matter if we are running an errand or doing an activity, we just have to get out.

Then coming home and hanging out for the rest of the afternoon is okay.

Maybe talk to your kids and ask for simple activities that they'd like to do, write them all down on little slips of paper, and put them in a jar. Then every day you can have a child pick and activity--ride bikes, rent a movie, bake cookies, go to the library, make smoothies, and then do that.

[velochic]

We're homebodies, but ironically, we have a lot going on this summer. Dd had 2 weeks of swim lessons, a week of horseback riding camp, then horseback riding lessons besides, and now baking class this week. Two days a week dd goes with me to work (at a library) and she enjoys her time there. Other days we bake, swim, play games, work in the vegetable garden and herb garden, cook and plan meals together. Recently we have put up 21 quarts of corn, 7 pints of green beans, and a slew of jam (over 50 half pints). Dd loves canning together and is an expert corn shucker and strawberry squisher. In between all that, dd reads... a lot... and so do I. We watch some TV also and sometimes she just plays with her toys on her own. She enjoys math a lot and has gone through a lot of math worksheets. She's 7 and an only.

[VisionaryMom]

The summer is so much easier for me than the winter. I grew up in Georgia and still haven't gotten used to cold, snowy winters.

We do go to the pool some. They're in a kids' day out program 2 mornings a week. We also have a nature preserve that has free admission, and we go to that once every couple of weeks. They walk trails, feed the geese, and watch other people fish.

We have a friend we meet at the library some and then we all walk to a coffee shop. The kiddos get juice, and then they run in a local green space for a while. My friend and I get to talk while they play, which is great. We have a series of free (yeah, on a tight budget right now) concerts the city puts on with local bands that's really kid-friendly.

Mostly I look at the visitors' bureau, a local parenting magazine, and the downtown promotion group we have for what's going on. I plan about 1-2 weeks out. The kids are just getting old enough for me to really like playdates (I'm not a fan of toddler playdates), but they still need parents there. We're trying to expand our circle of friends for inviting over and going to their houses, so we've done lots of playing with friends this summer.

DS also really likes helping me with my art projects. I'm doing a big project right now that involves needing lots of sticks, so that makes for fun looking for just the right sticks to use. I also have several books of easy crafts I've picked up at rummage sales, and I try to keep 2-3 projects ready at any one time so that when we're really bored, I can break one out.

After never having cable, we got it 2 years ago. I finally cut it off last month because *all* of us were becoming addicted to it. I hated it, so I have had to work to find other things to keep us occupied. Of course in the long run it's GREAT for us.

[Sierra]

Well, dw and I approach it differently, but our kids are young so we face this year round.

My big rule: get out of the house. It's hard to keep kids occupied all day in the house. My advice is to get in the car, the bus, on the train, or on a boat (depending on your locale and resources at any moment). The best: head to the nearest body of water that works for swimming...or the closest mountain or nature trail for a good hike.

Spend the afternoon preparing homeade food for a picnic to take to the park. Heck, have the kids create the whole thing including a menu. Don't forget a picnic blanket or tablecloth. Bring frisbees, kickballs, footballs, hackie sacks, or whatever you have on hand, and eat dinner at the park three or four times a week if you have to. Hit the library a couple times a week. If your kids aren't familiar with your local public transit, teach the kids to read a bus schedule and ride the bus (even if they aren't old enough to go it alone yet...the learning is the fun part) to a couple kid-friendly destinations, whether the library or a local airport to watch planes or a children's museum or whatever.

Arrange a career month: see if you could visit some friends who have interesting jobs at the end of their workday (or whatever works...even in their home if they have the ability to bring some work home with them) and learn a little about the work they do. Folks might be honored to be asked!

If you have some money (I say this because this is what I would do if I did LOL), take them to some live theatre performances/plays...many may have reduced price daytime shows on certain days of the week...contact the local children's theatre company if you don't know where to find out about this stuff. Is there an indoor ice skating venue near you? If so, go learn to ice skate together. A local roller rink also might have a family day or night.

If your kids are responsible and you have a camera, or if they have their own, consider making a photo project for them...or encouraging them to make their own. It could be as easy as choosing a topic, traveling around to some locations, and letting 'em loose. (You can also have them sort photos for/with you and/or scrapbook along side of you. One of the things I used to love doing as a kid was going to travel agencies and asking if they had any brochures or old travel magazines I could have. I'd take these home and cut them up and make pretend islands and things. Then I'd get into creating laws and governance systems for them and all those kinds of things.)

On weekends, taking the kids to garage sales in the early morning before it gets hot...especially on bike...could be fun.

Anything to just get the heck out of the house.

dw is a former preschool teacher, so her approach is basically to structure the household patterns something like a school day. For example, she does art projects with the kids once or twice a week before lunch. She does afternoon dinner-prep with the kids once or twice a week, which is sort of like when she used to do "cooking projects" with kids at school (and these can definitely be cold-food things...like making sorbet or something). She doesn't like to take the kids out of the house as much, but she finds ways to keep them cool and engaged, whether picking "treasure" (toys frozen into water) out ice or hose play.

[Sierra]

P.S. Boredom, free time, and some space away from adults, once you are past some boredom threshold, can be a beautiful spark to ignite the flames of creativity. But the question is, can mom survive until the threshold experience?

[suziek]

The threshold experience--what a great way to put it. This is so true. If you get through that you never know what will happen.

WE had downpours for two days and on one of them both the pool and library were closed. For the first time my older son sat with his music notebook and a music theory book and tried composing his own songs--since then he's been doing it at the beach, before bed and in the car for a week or two now. He's been playing them, too. He's my guy who needs reminders to practice, but not at the moment. So cool.

Also, my two middles have been finding each other good company lately--they usually pair off the oldests and the youngests. They are busy caring for animals and babies--building hospitals, playing vet, taking the "kids for walks" which I find so lovely.