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50+ Great Things to Do This Summer

If your children seem determined to spend their summer hours in front of a screen--either vegging out in front of the TV or playing on the computer--introduce some new activities to lure them away. Use this list of possibilities in one of the following ways:

• Choose things you want the kids to do, and gather the items necessary beforehand.
• Write activities on slips of paper and put them in a container. When the kids are feel a screen-deprivation moment coming on, have them reach into the jar and select an activity.
• Print this list, and have your children look it over. Ask them to put checkmarks by the activities they want to do this summer--and add some of their own ideas!

Even if only half the things on this list get done, you can all look back in September and realize what a rich summer of fun you've all had.

• Play a board game or card game.

• Read a newspaper, magazine or book.

• Spend the morning at the library.

• Take a walk around your neighborhood.

• Begin a journal.

• Make a puppet using old socks or lunch bags.

• Sign up for a class.

• Ride a bike.

• Draw a picture or, better yet, set up an easel out side.

• Skate: roller, ice or in-line.

• Teach yourself sign language.

• Make your own book.

• Whip up a batch of homemade cookies.

• Volunteer your time or talents.

• Write a letter to a relative or a pen pal.

• See how many a million is! Collect a million--well, maybe a thousand--of something, such as stamps, pennies, bottle caps, pull tabs or buttons.
  Plan a family trip. Using a map, choose the places to go, and then research them in the library. Using a globe, plan an imaginary trip around the world.
  Learn to play tennis.

• Make Popcicles by pouring juice or yogurt into ice trays.

• Interview an older relative about days of summer in yesteryear. Record the recollections with a tape player.

• See who can build the highest tower out of Legos or building blocks.
  Play charades.

• Take up a family hobby, such as collecting coins or stamps.

• Write a play, and then put it on with family or friends.

• Go visit Grandpa or someone in a nursing home.

• Make music with others using instruments you have (kazoo, xylophone, drums, etc.), or make some and then try to play a song together.

• Collect cans, bottles and newspapers to recycle.

• Play miniature golf.

• Pack a picnic in a bandana. Tie the bandana on a stick, take a walk and eat your hobo lunch on a grassy bank.

• Have a dance night at your house and encourage everyone in the family to  take part. Put on oldies as well as some new CDs.

• Make a "you" collage by cutting out pictures of things you like from magazines.

• Pack a picnic dinner and go to the park to eat it.

• Make up a song or poem.

• Learn to cook your favorite dish.

• Put a 100- or 1,000-piece puzzle out on a table and have everyone work on it.

• Make a greeting card for a relative: birthday, get well, just-keeping-in-touch, etc.

• Go fishing.

• Make a windsock by attaching ribbons to a metal ring. Hang it outside.

• Empty the dishwasher as a surprise for Mom and Dad.

• See how long you can keep a Hula Hoop going.

• Watch old home movies.

• Buy some inexpensive sponges, fill buckets with water and have a sponge/water fight.
  Work together to make pizza.

• Read a biography of a famous person you admire.

• Organize a neighborhood bike rodeo.

• Take a trip to a planetarium.

• Wash the family car.

• Have a tea party.

• Using old paintbrushes and containers of water, paint disappearing pictures on the sidewalk.

• Practice storytelling. Each night, one person can tell a story to the whole family or start an ongoing story to which each person adds a new episode.
  Make a time capsule and bury it.

• Camp outdoors, even if it's in your own backyard.

• Make "some-mores" in the microwave, if you can't make them over a campfire. (Put a marshmallow and square of chocolate on a graham cracker square and zap until the marshmallow gets soft.)

• Build a bookcase or birdhouse.

• Join a club such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Camp Fire Boys and Girls.

• Choose a book to read aloud as a family, perhaps the latest Harry Potter adventure. Read each night before bed.

• Measure all the trash your family makes in day. Then try to make less the next day.

• Jump rope. Set your own record of uninterrupted jumps.

• Put family pictures into an album. Be creative.

• Dip strawberries or pretzels into melted chocolate for a delightful dessert.

• Learn a new craft, starting with a kit or an instruction booklet.

• Watch how a prism breaks light into a rainbow of colors.

• Plan and cook a family meal.

• Learn to "walk the dog" and "rock the baby" with a yo-yo.

• Make a thank-you card, using cartoon characters clipped from a newspaper. (Draw your words of thanks in a "bubble."
  Pick a bunch of flowers and take them to a neighbor. (Don't pick them from a neighbor's garden!)
  By Peggy Middendorf, Lynn Berardo and Mary Brence Martin, three moms who have lots of experience in dealing with summertime boredom and screen deprivation.