Pursuing Beautiful: 15 Fun Summer Activities

I am all about making Summers memorable over here.
We only have 18 summers with out kids, so I personally want to make them count.

I know there is this unspoken pressure on us moms about being the most amazing "Cruise Directors" for our kids summer vacation and I think that shouldn't be the case.
We really need to get over having to entertain our kids every minute of the day.

Yes, it's summer vacation and yes, there should be some intentional and memorable times, but it's ok if they get bored...

If they are never bored, they'll never learn how to entertain themselves. 

If someone is always planning every minute for them, they won't know how to plan for themselves. 

If they are stuck in front of the screen all day long, they won't use their imaginations to fuel real, fun play. 

In the past, I tried to do one of those days of fun summers. You know, "Make something Monday" and "Field trip Friday", etc. And all it did for us was make us tired and over scheduled.

So this year we made a list of a few things we wanted to accomplish this summer and if we get to all of them...Great!

If we don't, we always have next year! 

2014 Summer Bucket List


1. Sea World! 

My kids LOVE Sea World and there is one not too far from where we live. So we will be heading down to visit Shamu and Friends very soon. If you have one close by, go! It's a great park and so much fun for all ages!

Tips: Take drinks to help with the heat! but throw out the straws (animal safety), Take bathing suits because they have the splash pads open and are lots of fun, they also have a pretty good dining plan that may be beneficial to your family...check it out.


2. Stay-cation

This year we aren't taking an "official" vacation because we are building a pool, so according to my husband our pool is our vacation for the next 10 years...yeah right! Anyways, the weekend our pool opens we are planning a stay-cation! We won't see anyone or go anywhere! We will stay by our pool and play all weekend long! If you don't have a typical vacation planned, or even if you do, take a weekend and stay home and make it fun! Maybe a pajama weekend, or a movie marathon weekend or even a video game weekend! Whatever your family likes to do! Sweetness in life has some great ideas for stay-cations which you can check out here.


3. Scavenger Hunt

Here is a good printable for both readers and non-readers. Here's a 'summer-long' one. You could even do a photo scavenger hunt to change it up some!  Check out my Summer Fun Board for more ideas here. 


4. Summer Movies

One thing we do every summer is check out the local Theaters Summer Movies. Many theaters offer low prices on scheduled family friendly films throughout the summer! Cinemark has theaters all over you can check out if there is one in your area here. 

5. Cousin Camp! 

One thing we are really looking forward to this year is Cousin Camp! We are taking 3 days and the cousins are coming over and we are going to have lots of fun activities, crafts and even bible lessons and just spend some sweet time together with family! We will end with a fun family barbecue and it's gonna be awesome! I have lots of fun ideas and I can't wait to post pictures soon! Follow my pinterest board here. 


6. Find a New Hobby

We are going to hobby lobby and finding a new hobby for each kid! From looming to sketching...something to fight the "I'm bored" cries!


7. Beach Days!

We are fortunate to have a beach close by. It's not a great beach, but it's a beach! My kids can spend all day at the beach, boogie boarding, building sand castles and searching for sea shells!
Quick tip: Take something to shade you, like a pop up tent...it will help make the day more pleasant and beat that afternoon sun!


8. Science Fun

We try to do some fun science projects in the summer. You can see my Science Fun pins here.





9. Go Geocaching!

Ok, we have never done this, but hear lots of great things about it and I think my kids would love it. I can't tell you much other than it's like a treasure hunt. Read more about it here.


10. Outdoor Movie Night.
  


This would be so fun!


11. Spontaneous Weekend!

We are just gonna go somewhere! There are lots of places near us that we can take a day trip to so one weekend...we are just gonna go and have fun! No planning...just go!


12. Factory Fun.

I plan to take the kids to a factory. This is great because it's part field trip/ part learning fun! Check out the factories/field trips in your area here.  The website is geared toward homeschoolers but it has an extensive list of filed trip places for all over the U.S.


13. Summer Reading Awards

I am giving my kids rewards for their summer reading goals. We will either head to the library or half price bookstore and they will make goals for reading. At the end we will do something fun when they get to their goal!


14. Pick Berries

There's a farm nearby where we can pick berries and do other fun things. And maybe with our yummy berries we can make some yummy treats! Southern Living has 101 things to make with berries here. 


15. Camp, Camp, Camp!

Because a week of fun activities and time away from home is awesome!

I hope you have a ton of fun things planned for Summer! You can check out more summer time fun when you follow me on Pinterest! 

Happy Summer Friends! 

You are His!

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