90 days of summer fun

90 Days of Summer Fun

Summer is here and with it come the children that need to be entertained. This list is 90 different ideas to help entertain said children through the summer months. Some ideas are for young children and some for older. Some ideas need more than one child, and some can be done with just you and your little one. Some ideas go better with boys and others are set aside for girls. Some of these ideas can be hours of fun and others are quick, easy, throw it together, I just need you to be quiet for ten minutes!!! I tried to put this together keeping in mind the average family, in Mesa AZ, thus most of the outdoor actives are in the beginning. There are many, what most people call rainy day activities (you are going to die from the heat if you go outside activities) in this list too that can be used through out the year and no matter the season. Also, you will find the symbol * through out this list. This means that this is just my two cents. Take it for what it is worth.

Day 1- This is the first day of summer! Celebrate! Do something with your kids to mark the end of the school year and the beginning of these fun days you get to have with them all day. Burn their school work, get a few fireworks, make confetti and throw it up in the air (outside!), have a party! Let them make decorations and maybe even bake a cake. (Happy Birthday Summer)

Day 2- Make a chain. *After you have had your fun it is time to plan. Sit down with a calendar and figure out the summer. How many days are there? Are you taking any trips? Summer Camp? Swimming lessons? Do you want to get a pool pass? Zoo pass? Set up play dates? What birthdays are there? Holidays? What are your plans? *Ask your kids what they want to do this summer (within reason) and WRITE THEM DOWN. Then make a chain. Using colored paper, cut strips, (the number of days left in the summer) and staple them them together. Then have your kids draw small cut outs of the things you have planned or are coming up. For example, if you have a birthday in July have the kids draw out and cut out a picture of a cake or a ballon or a present. Punch a hole in the picture-cutout and tie it to the the right day on your chain. You can do this for the first of each month (write the name of the month down on a paper, cut it out, hang it up) You can do this for almost anything! The more you hang up the more fun it is. Father’s day, 4th of July, the day you leave to go camping, the half way day, even the longest day of the year! Have fun. You can even make up days! (polkadot day) Each day take off one link as a count down to the end of the summer.

Day 3- Go to the neighborhood park. Don’t discount the park! As long as the weather is good they can play for the amount of time you need to finally read that chapter in that book you’ve been meaning to finish. Have them go to the bathroom before you leave and bring snacks (non-dehydrating ones) and plenty of water. Don’t forget the sunscreen! *In fact, just put a new bottle in your car for the summer.

Day 4- Make a cup line. (or “cup-stop”) How many cups does your child go through in a day? Using a string tie the string somewhere in the kitchen (the closer to the water, the better) Let the kids pick out or decorate a cup with their names and attach the cups to the string with clothes line pins. When they want a drink of water have them use their cup through out the day and put it back on the string when they are done. Now instead of cleaning every cup you own everyday all summer long you just clean their cups once a day and put them back. *I prefer a “cup-stop”. I get a cheap mat at the dollar store, place it next to the refrigerator. I let the kids pick out whatever cup they want as long as it is not glass and can hold a good amount of liquid. Because I wash the cups everyday any decor or writing you put on it will wash off, I just have the rule the cup belong on the table or the “cup-stop”. It takes about 3 to 4 days to train them to follow this new line of thinking. Put a big note (they can even make it) on the door where you keep your cups reminding them of their new “Summer Cup”.

Day 5- Bike wash/Car wash. Have the kids help you wash the car, or set out their bikes and let them wash their bikes. Kids love doing this!

Day 6- Go to the library. You will be amazed at what is free at the library. Check out their summer programs, check out their free classes, check out the games and shows they have. If all else fails, check out a book!

Day 7- Toss the bean bag into the hula hoop. You can play this game inside or outside. If the weather is nice go outside. Place a hula hoop or two on the ground and then draw a line that the kids can not cross. Have them throw bean bags trying to get them in the circles. P.S. You don’t NEED hula hoops, and you don’t NEED bean bags. *A circle of sticks and a rock work too.

Day 8- Feed the ducks at Freestone Park. There is a playground there and lots of shady spots to sit and let the kids feed the ducks. *Bread is fine but corn meal or corn seed is better!

Day 9- It’s time for a science day! Ever wanted to try that neat diet coke and mentos thing? Let’s do it. Get a 2 litter bottle of diet coke and some mentoes. Drop the mentoes in the bottle and watch it go wild. The kids will love it! If you feel like being super mom you can look up the science behind why it does that or just ask them to explain why they think it does that. Write down those “kid” answers, I’m sure they will come up with good ones.

Day 10- Pudding on a cookie sheet. This one is messy and meant for younger toddlers. However, I know of some “older” kids that when I told them about this one they wanted me to let them know when I was going to do it because they wanted to try it out too. So . . . enter at your own risk. Place a large cloth sheet outside. Get one cookie sheet for every child and place about 1/2 cup of chocolate puddle on each cookie sheet. Let the kids draw in the pudding, lick their fingers and make a mess. Take pictures. *As far as I’m concerned, if you ever let your child just make a mess, you must take pictures!

Day 11- Silly String Fight. I got this one from a friend. She said she goes down to the dollar store and gets a bunch of silly string cans. Brings them back home and lets them go wild! Again, have the camera ready!

Day 12- Try out one of the free water splash pads. I go to the one at SanTan Market Place. It is in the shade! However, I have heard that the one at Tempe Town Lake is awesome!

Day 13- Sidewalk chalk. Bless the soul who came up with sidewalk chalk! Kids love this stuff. Hours of fun. *Don’t pass up the opportunity to play with them.

Day 14- Make a letter or draw something for Dad. Father’s Day should be around the corner. Get out the construction paper, scissors, and glue and let the kids make something for their Dad. (if dad is not an option, grandpa, uncle, the nice old man down the street, they all work!) *Teach your kids to say thank you to the people in their life that help them everyday. One day without you telling them to they might just thank you.

Day 15- Water ballon fight! Yes! It is here! They have been counting down the days, taking off the links on their chain to this day marked on the calendar. They have invited their friends (who came with a bag of water balloons) and are waiting in anticipation to fill each and every ballon with water. They have set up their teams and are determined to take down the others.  Swimming suits are on. Balloons are full. Let’s play!

Day 16- Nature walk. Before it gets too hot, go for a nature walk. You may not think your street is full of nature, but to your kids, they will see it. Talk with them as you walk and talk about seasons and why it gets hot during the summer and cold during the winter. Spend time with one another and enjoy them. Take your time. Point things out to them as you see them and ask them questions. Get their minds thinking.

Day 17- Reading Hour. Grab every blanket and pillow you can find in the house and make a huge “bed” in the living room. Get books and have a reading hour. You can read out loud, they can read to themselves. They can even just look at picture books. You might find that everyone enjoys this activity so much it becomes a regular thing.

Day 18- Water Pinata. Get a few large balloons and fill them full of water. Don’t worry, they are suppose to be that heavy. Set up a spot where one child can hit the ballon with a bat or large stick and spray the others with the water from that ballon. Safety is key with this one. Putting a line on the ground that the others can’t cross helps.

Day 19- Balloon Ping Pong. Using paper plates and thick popsicle sticks make paddles. (enough for one per child) Then blow up a few balloons and let them bounce them all around the house. They can play in teams or by themselves. Let them come up with their own rules or count how many times they can bounce the balloon on the paddle without touching it or letting it drop to the floor.

Day 20- Play wet sponge tag. It is just like regular tag only you tag them with a wet sponge in your hand.

Day 21- Make treat necklaces. Get a string and cut it long enough to go around each child’s head. Let them put snacks on the string for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Anything that has a hole in it will work. See what you have. Cereal and pretzels are the big winners here.

Day 22- Picnic at the park. The more cheesy you are the more fun they will have. If you have a basket, use it. Have the kids help you put together the picnic. Find I nice shady spot and lay out a large blanket or more then one blanket. Put each child in charge of something. example- Molly is in charge of the grapes. She hands out grapes to everyone. If you want more grapes ask Molly. Jake gives everyone plates and napkins. The less you have to do, the better.

Day 23- Paint day. Get each child a small canvas or shirt to paint. (If you want to display the canvas after they have painted you can control the paint colors to match a room) Small brushes and even fingers can make a beautiful picture.

Day 24- Freeze and thaw. Freeze a toy in a block of ice and then have them think of ways to get it out. Give them a few “tools” to help it along.

Day 25- Play the go and get ABC game. Go through the alphabet naming a letter and have the kids run into their rooms and look for an item that starts with that letter. First one to bring it back wins. (I did this once when I was a teenager babysitting and I had a kid draw the letter x on a paper because he could not find anything that started with that letter. Made us all laugh)

Day 26- Make a pasta picture. Using pasta and glue have the kids make a picture on paper. You can have them “practice” first before you bring out the glue.

Day 27- Pajama day. (this is more fun if they are not already still in their PJ’s) Announce that it is Pajama day and have them go and change back into PJ’s. Pop some popcorn and lay down in the tv room and watch a movie. I even tried to get them to go out to lunch with me in their pajamas but there is always one that just won’t do it!

Day 28- Water balloon catch. Using a few milk cartons, cut the bottom off the milk cartons off and fill a bunch of water balloons. Have the kids toss the balloons in the air and catch them in the milk jugs. They can toss them to each other or just themselves.

Day 29- Star gazing. During the day learn about the stars that are in your area in the sky, and then at night try and find them. You might have to plan a little drive out of town to see them, but you shouldn’t have to go very far. Bring a snack or two with you and make it fun. 

Day 30- Look for bugs. Go outside and look for bugs. Kids love this!

Day 31- Make homemade paper ships and try them out in the bathtub. *I did have a friend that went to Tempe Town Lake and tried to put them in the lake. I don’t know if there are rules against this so please check before you do this.

Day 32- July 4th craft. The 4th of July is coming up. Let’s make a cute craft for the holiday. You can google cute 4th of July craft ideas, we have a cute easy idea at the back of this list, or you can get red, white and blue paper plates and napkins at the dollar store and have the kids be creative. It is a great time to teach and learn about the american flag and why it has 50 stars and 13 stripes.

Day 33- Flour messages! Leave someone a message on their sidewalk or in their yard with a bag of flour. You might have to be big help on this one to make sure they don’t pour the whole bag of flour in one spot. Putting the flour in a ziplock bag and cutting a corner may help. Or you can figure out what you are going to say and cut out the letters in paper using them as a stencils and just sprinkle the flour over the paper too.

Day 34- Make popsicles.

Day 35- Make a maze of yarn. You can use chairs and furniture in your home. Have your kids try and get through the maze with out touching the yarn.

Day 35- Go to home depot or Lowes and participate in their make a craft program.

Day 36- Make and play with Playdoh.

Day 37- Try a new park. Ask around and see where others go to the park and try that one out, or just go for a ride until you find one. Park the car and have fun!

Day 38-  Buy a few fireworks and let the kids (with your help) set them off. 

Day 39- Use your noodle. Get a few pool noodles and cut them in half. Blow up a few balloons and have the kids try, using only the pool noodle, to put the balloons into laundry baskets. The may find that if they work together it is easier to pick up the balloons.

Day 40- Felt friends. You know the felt paper sheets at the craft store? Get a few and cut them up into different shapes. Circles, squares, rectangles. Have the kids make pictures with the shapes. This is also I great idea to have in the purse for quiet actives on the go.

Day 41- Make refrigerator jam from the cheap fruit at the farmer’s market.

Day 42- Make a music video. Have them dress up, play an instrument, plan a dance to a favorite song or do it all on the fly. Record their music video and then play it back for them to see. 

Day 43- Using blue painters tape, map a driving course in the living room to run cars on. Have them go over and under things, around things, and even up and down the furniture and walls.

Day 44- Have a pretty princess day. (For girls) Wear a dress and jewelry. Do their hair cute. Put on a little make up, and paint their finger and toe nails. Then take them out for ice cream or a small treat.

Day 45- Count out $1.00 plus tax (1.07@.99 store/ 1.09@dollar store) put it in a small bag for each child. Teach them about counting and money. Take them down to the dollar store and let them pick out anything they want! They can by a toy, or a treat, or something cute. Whatever, it’s their dollar! *You will be surprised how much longer it takes for them to carefully pick out that one thing when it is their money they are spending and not yours!

Day 46- Get out those board games and play a few games together. Kids love it when you play with them. 

Day 47- Check out a book or video from the library on Yoga and do it together. Kids really like this! They get a kick out of trying to balance on one foot or make to funny poses with their bodies. You can make funny “zen” noises while doing it and make up better names for the poses based on what they look like or what animal stands like that. Super fun!

Day 48- Buy a small craft set from Michael's or Walmart and do the craft together. They have all price ranges and sometimes if you go look at them you may find that you have most of the items already and can make it when you get home. *I like the woodwork aisle because most of them you can just paint. Smaller kids can paint the whole thing one color and older kids and pick out more involved crafts and really make it their own. They have both boy and girl crafts and Michael's has a huge selection to choose from.

Day 49- Make paper airplanes. You can just fold paper or you can let them color them too. You can let them play around the house or you can set up a “who’s plane can fly farther, higher, faster, etc. game”. Let them play freely or set up rules and goals. Really, you can’t go wrong with paper airplanes.

Day 50- Play dress up. Get out those halloween costumes and grab a few things out of your closet and let them put on a fashion show. Take pictures and let them see how funny, cute, pretty, and scary they are!

Day 51- Make a new friend. Set up a play date either at your house, their house or a public place and have them play with a few new friends or friends they have not seen in awhile. Before they come over, or before you go, make a snack or treat with them to give to their new friends. Rice crispy treats always bring kids together.

Day 52- Scavenger hunt. I know as a mom setting up a scavenger hunt seems daunting, but really if you begin with the end in mind and set up three clues thats all there is to it. *The clues don’t have to be a riddle or even rhyme! *I like to have the goal be a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Use regular items or toys in the house for them to find and put the next clue in things, under things and behind things. If you are blunt about the next clue being on the TV, they will look all around the tv until they find it. *Make the clues easy and finding the clues hard. I once taped the next clue on the ceiling of the bathroom. They spent 20 minutes looking in the bathroom for the clue! When they found it they had to read it from up on the ceiling. They loved that one!

Day 53- Magazine collages. There is no wrong way or right way for this one. You can have a purpose for the collage or you can just let them cut out pictures they like. Have scissors and glue sticks ready and let them cut.

Day 54- Measure the house. Get out the tape measure and let the kids measure the floor, the windows, the couch, the TV, plates, their toys, the rug, a book, a pillow, their hands, the dog, anything! What else can we measure?

Day 55- Bring a treat/soda to someone at work. I bring my mom a soda to work all the time. The kids love getting out of the house. Grandma loves seeing the girls, (and showing them off), and grandma gets a soda!

Day 56- Get out the puzzles and do a few puzzles together.

Day 57- Create and the play your own board game. Do this one on a day you feel really involved. They love doing it but “that one is sometimes a bit painful for the mom”

Day 58- Adopt, paint, decorate, and name a pet rock.

Day 59- Balloon Volleyball. Set up a mock volleyball net in the front room. This can be a sheet or even a piece of yarn. Have them play volleyball. You can have them learn the rules of volleyball or make up your own rules. *One I like to do is one spot volleyball. You pick one spot, sit down and you can’t move from that spot. You have to try and reach it from where you are sitting.

Day 60- Make the ultimate fort in your living room. You help! Once you are done, you can play a game or two inside, or read books together.

Day 61- Take funny pictures. Make funny faces, pretend you got scared, dress up, or jump off the couch and take the picture mid-air. Send these pictures to Dad at work or to grandma and grandpa. Let them get a kick out of how silly they can be.

Day 62- Make sock puppets. You can go all out and glue eyes and hair on your sock puppets or you can just use a marker and draw your sock puppets. Either way, let them be creative and come up with names and stories for their puppets. They might even want to put on a show for you.

Day 63- Have them write a letter or draw something for a friend. You can even send it in the mail. How much fun would it be to let them give a receive mail?

Day 64- New Holiday. When they wake up announce that today is . . . polkadot day, purple day, the day of hugs. Spend that whole day coming up with things you do to celebrate it. If it is blue day, maybe you all should wear blue and go to blue ocean for ice cream, or make a list of things that are blue, and eat things that are blue. Have fun!

Day 65- Trace and color themselves on paper. There is a teacher store on Gilbert and southern (by desert book) that sales butcher paper. 

Day 66- Cup stack fun. How high can you make it?

Day 67- Visit Grandma, grandpa, family close by. Even if they are a couple of hours away, just make a day of it and go see the family. 

Day 68- Bake cookies or treats together. You can eat them yourselves or you can bring them to a friend's house. (or you can drop by your visiting teaching) :)

Day 69- Make an indoor obstacle course. They have to hop from one pillow to the next, then crawl through the legs in the chair. Have them climb over a box, and then jump over a pile of clothes with out touching it. Let them come up with the next step and see what they come up with. You can also do this outside, but at this point in the game, they might melt.

Day 70- Play hide and seek!!!

Day 71- Have a picnic in a weird place in your house. Eat under the table, or in a closet (if it is big enough). If they are well behaved have everyone sit on the kitchen table or the counters in the kitchen. If you have a rule of no food in the TV or family room, brake it and put down a blanket and let them have a picnic.

Day 72- Go to the dollar movies. (superstition mall on Tuesday is $2 for 3D)

Day 73- M&M drawings and Don’t eat Pete. Grab a bag or two of plain m&m’s and let them draw or make shapes with the little candies. Play don’t eat pete and when they are done, let them finish off the candy.

Day 74- Fun with a ball. What new game can your kids come up with with a ball. Try different sizes and try things that are round like a ball. Let them come up with the rules and see how many different games they can play with one ball in a day.

Day 75- Dance! Turn up the music as loud as it can go and dance!

Day 76- What sinks in the water, what will float? Fill up the bathtub a little way and have the kids grab different things from around the house to see what will float, and what will sink. *Can you find something that does both or will sink halfway? We can!

Day 77- Have a campout in the front room. Make a mock camp fire and “roast” marshmallows. Pull out the sleeping bags. If your front room is big enough or you have a small enough tent, set it up. They will spend hours going in and out, zipping it up, unzipping it. Bringing in their toys. If you are so kind, maybe they can even spend the night in the tent!

Day 78- Pull out all the arts and crafts you want used up or gone from your stash and have them try and use every little piece to make something neat or fun. Nothing left over!

Day 79- Throw a birthday party for a doll, toy, or pet. Have the kids come up with decorations and “gifts” for the item or pet. Make birthday hats and sing to it. You might even make a cake! Make it fun and silly!

Day 80- Go to Stapley or Brimhall’s school pools. They are a couple of bucks to get in and play in the water. If you don’t want to pay for a public pool, find a friend, or if you have a pool invite a few people over.

Day 81- Put on a play. Dress up, write a screen and act out your favorite kid stories. Make one up. Have the video camera ready!

Day 82- Make and/or blow bubbles outside. It is cheap and easy fun to blow bubbles. If you make your own bubbles, having or getting a kiddy pool makes it so you can make huge bubbles. A few pipe cleaners or a wire hanger bent into a circle and you have bubbles as big as you can make them. Let the kids try other things they can find around the house as well to see if they can make more bubbles.

Day 83- Dollar store coloring books and crayons. They have activity books there too. Each kid gets to pick one to have as their own for the day. Put them away when they are done and only pull them out when you need to. It makes them more special.

Day 84- Go to the visitor’s center down at the Mesa Temple and watch one of the short films they have. If they are up for it, why not watch them all?

Day 85- Have a petting zoo in your front room. Have your kids find all their stuffed animals and have them set up a petting zoo complete with cages, food and water bowls and anything that pet might need. Then crawl around to the different animals and talk about what they eat and if they make sounds. Pet each one and pretend like one or more of them is making too much noise, or trying to eat your fingers, or keeps falling asleep. Just because you are not at the zoo does not mean you can’t learn about the animals.

Day 86- As a family, do service for someone you know. You could help with yard or house work, bring someone dinner, or just spend time with someone who needs some company. There are always opportunities to serve.

Day 87- The kids decide dinner. (We do this every leap year too) Go to the store and let the kids pick out dinner. Be prepared to eat frozen pizza, cool ranch chips and ice cream. Whatever they pick you eat! (even if you have never heard of that brand of cookie before)

Day 88- Go through and get rid of clothes and toys that your kids no longer need/use. The end of the summer is here. Now would be a good time to pull all those clothes and toys out that they don’t use or wear. You can box things up for a latter time, take a trip down to DI, or have a yard sale. Clean up and clean out. Time to get ready for the new school year.

Day 89- Get ready for school. If you have a list that was given to you for the items that your child is going to need this next coming school year, make a day of it and get everyone ready for school. Set up a day in your calendar and plan to get what you need that day. You can make a list organized by store and what you need at that store. As the summer goes by put aside a few dollars each week and you won’t have to worry about how much it is going to cost either. Clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, paper, pencils, folders, and everything else. As you remember them write them down or your big list. When the day come to go, you will be ready.

Day 90- Last day of the summer party! This can be upbeat and happy. Yeah! The new school year is here! Or you can treat it like an “over the hill” party. Summer is dead. Whatever you do, remember to have fun and enjoy the last day you have with your precious little ones all day. You can’t get this summer back ever, so make the most of it!