Ways for Parents to Keep Kids Busy and Not Go Broke This Summer
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Kids often see summer as a time to do whatever they please in endless fun activities without responsibilities or pressures. With too much free time, they may get into bad habits and behaviors. Providing structure in the summer is helpful for most families to keep kids on track and prepare them for the next school year. The demands of filling in time with activities for kids in the summer add financial stress, and taking time off from work may be difficult. Here are a few suggestions for parents to keep kids busy and not go broke.
Setting a Budget
1. Assess financial resources available for summer activities.
Make a list of things your kids would like to do this summer, estimate costs, and create your budget. Look for free and discounted activities. Remember, there are fun activities you can have with things found in the home and free web tutorials. Some ideas are:
● Build a Fort using blankets, tables, couches, boxes or pillows, and a flashlight.
● Kids can learn to draw figures with free video tutorials from Art for Kids.
● Let your kids watch stories read by sports heroes, astronauts or celebrities.
2. Allocate a specific budget for kids' summer activities.
Try creating a summer activity list and start budgeting for the added expenses you will incur. Low-cost, free, or discounted activities in your area are just as much fun and great ways to make memories with your family.
● Use cash, not credit.
● Track your spending.
● Focus on free/discounted activities.
Practical and affordable ways to keep kids busy.
● Museums and attractions like zoos may offer a free discounted pass or free days.
● Parks and Nature preserves have much to offer with discounts and annual fees.
● Local community pool or YMCA on a discounted family pool pass.
● Having fun in your backyard with a game of tag or softball, riding bikes, or letting your child climb some low tree branches with you nearby is exciting for them.
● Low-cost items like sidewalk chalk and blowing bubbles are also fun.
Outdoor Activities
Check to see what parks or playgrounds are in your area. These are great ways to spend the day with your kids. Outdoor activities offer social interaction, help channel pent-up energy, promote physical and mental health, and help to improve sleep. Many parks have playground equipment and splash pads; they may have a lake with canoes or boats, fishing, picnic tables, and concession stands. Parks are a great place to organize picnics and playdates as they offer tables, shelters, trails, and many opportunities to experience nature and fun.
- By taking your kids on hikes in nature areas, you build your child's appreciation for nature and the outdoors, which offer fresh air and a chance to explore and discuss what they see.
- Look for trails with manageable distances and difficulty, possibly paved. Hiking Project and AllTrails can help you find family-friendly hiking trails and nature reserves near you.
- For birding, bring kids binoculars and a colorful kid's birding guide. Use a Plant identification guide for kids to learn about plant life. Encourage kids to get up close and take notice of tiny details like leaf shape, plant structure, and types of flowers or plants.
- You can do much with a hose and sprinkler or create your own with a pool noodle. Use a tarp for a slip-and-slide. Water balloons can be used for dodgeball or racing with water buckets. Utilize affordable options like sprinklers, water balloons, and inflatable pools.
Indoor Activities
The library has a lot of great things to do, like story hour, puppet shows, and other fun events. You can also do workshops and check out books, music, and movies. Most libraries have a summer reading program that offers reading themes, workshops, and activities. Your library may have online school readiness programs and early literacy workshops. Create a cozy reading nook at home and have a book club with kids and their friends to discuss stories or books they've read
Community Activities
Most local community centers have summer daytime hours and fitness and basketball equipment available. Most centers are free or discounted. These centers may provide many programs like:
● Creative Arts – music or dance
● Recreation/Fitness/sports like basketball or sports leagues
● Clubs
● computer labs
A community center summer program can turn the aimless hours into productive learning and social time that promotes fitness and friendship.
Arts and Crafts
Encourage creativity by showing interest in your child's artistic expression and letting them try a few different types of art. Have fun with their creativity, take them to artistic events and concerts, and praise their creative efforts.
Use inexpensive materials and recycled items for crafting. Find paper or fabric scraps, old magazines, feathers, glue, glitter, and other items to create collages and art pieces. Make sculptures with homemade play dough. Food coloring and water work to create watercolor paintings.
Organize art competitions or showcase kids' creations at home:
● Define the rules and your needs.
● Determine how you're going to pick a winner.
● Offer a prize.
Designate a space in the home to create a collage of your child's art, put it on the fridge, clip it to a string, etc.
There are annual national art competitions like: U.S. Kids Magazine's Cover Contest; check out online art competitions or use your imagination to create a Google Doodle based on a theme.
Volunteer work and community service.
Inspire your children to give; volunteering has well-documented benefits for health and well-being.
Younger kids can:
● Build birdhouses with you and donate them to a local park or nature center.
● Help pick up litter and clean their neighborhood.
Older kids can:
● Lend a hand at the animal shelter.
● Help with planting, watering, and weeding, and learn how to grow plants and vegetables at community gardens.
● Check with a local food bank to see if they need volunteers to sort and distribute food.
Various activity options are available to families to keep kids busy while keeping costs low during the summer. Structuring kids during the summer while having quality time and making memories may put extra stress on parents. Consider using Marriage In a Box for helpful suggestions and guidance through dealing with pressure from what to do with kids on summer vacation.
Marriage In a Box is an excellent resource that provides access to the simple tools and techniques professionals use for relationship issues. You can set goals, earn rewards and find marriage coaching on the site. Check out the available kit and sources of information online.
Sign up for a free trial of the Marriage In A Box online tracking tool!