1. Drive-in movies: We are blessed to have a drive-in movie theatre where we live and we are absolutely going to utilize it! The kids are dying to see The Incredibles 2 and they’ve been begging me to see Ant-Man and the Wasp since they heard it was being filmed. When we go to the drive-in, we usually take two cars so that we can bring all of the kids in the minivan but enjoy the spacious “trunk” of the SUV. We also bring a few chairs and blankets since the second film runs very late and at least some of the gang tends to fall asleep before the end. We make sure to have a hearty dinner before we go but we usually treat the kids to popcorn or treats while we’re there. At least one visit to the drive-in is an absolute must for us!
I had to include this old pic so you wouldn’t think I keep my kids in the trunk when we go! HA!
2. Roller skating: We’re a roller skating loving family and after a birthday party recently, we actually discovered that even our toddler is good at skating! It’s crazy to see those tiny feet pulling that off. Anyway, roller skating is such a fun and active thing to do as a family! Our local rink has a bunch of different themed days and sales too!
3. Beach: Living mere minutes from the beach makes it an absolute necessity to visit! We’ll get a bunch of other bucket things done there too, like making a sandcastle and swimming! Maybe bury somebody and dig a moat too! Our closest beach has a boardwalk and some amazing shops on Main Street also. I just love looking at everything the have, especially the home decor stuff!
4. Miniature golf: I have to admit that miniature golf is one of my favorites even though I’m really not that good at it. We have tons of mini golf courses nearby and I always love to take them to different ones. We also have some indoor courses with glow in the dark obstacles. That’s a pretty interesting experience that the kids seem to get a kick out of!
5. Museum: We already have tickets to the Game Masters exhibit at the Franklin Institute and the kids are excited! I’d love to get to a historical museum too. I’m a sucker for museums, I’d visit just about all of them if I could. That’s why I love Washington, D.C. so much!
6. Roast marshmallows: It wouldn’t be summer if I didn’t sit by the fire roasting hot dogs and making s’mores with the kids! We bring out a Bluetooth speaker and listen to some tunes while we watch the fire go! We have a fire pit table but I can’t wait until we’ve built a whole fire pit out of stone!
7. Paint rocks to hide: Most areas in the country seem to be participating in a [town] Rocks game where you paint rocks and hide them all over your town. My kids get so excited when they find them and it’s such a great creative activity to see how they end up painting the rocks they hide. Inexpensive craft for all!
8. Pick-your-own farm: You’ve got to stock up on healthy snacks this season, why not make a whole thing of it and go pick them yourself?! We’ve been doing this since I was a kid, particularly for apples and berries. Some of the farms let you pet animals and have all kinds of fresh treats that they sell too.
9. Homemade strawberry lemonade: Of all of the things to drink this summer, I’m a big fan of a variety of lemonades. Strawberry lemonade is my favorite but I’m thinking about trying a watermelon mint too. Mint and lemon are so refreshing to me! Another thing I do is freeze lemons to use as ice cubes in my water! Yum!
10. Zoo: We’re lucky enough to have a FREE zoo nearby but I think that this year, I’m also going to take them to the Philadelphia Zoo to see some of my favorite animals. They even have a baby gorilla there! I have to work on that with my toddler since she’s currently afraid of gorillas and I love them!
11. Water balloon fight: That’s an extremely realistic expectation and HOW FUN ARE WATER BALLOON FIGHTS?! I’m envisioning a really awesome water balloon fight with my dad’s family so that’s nine kids and four adults running around! Ice cold water on a particularly hot day sounds perfect!
12. Nature hike: We’re actually headed to the Poconos in August and I must say that this is like the perfect place to hike. When we went five years ago, we saw all kinds of wildlife like deer, foxes, rabbits, and at night we actually heard bears rooting around in neighboring home’s garbage (Um, don’t go far at night! Haha!) There are beautiful sights to see out there and we are really looking forward to it!
13. Sports games: It can get really pricey with our family but I really want to get them to a game this year! Whether it’s minor league, preseason, or whatever, I just really want to give them that experience!
14. Festival: I’m particularly into food truck festivals and in our area, they do a seafood festival but that’s at the end of the season and usually after the kids are back in school. There are a ton of themed festivals around though. We also frequent our local renaissance faire but they’ve wrapped up the season before summer starts.
15. Homemade popsicles: There are umpteen ways to reinvent the popsicle and I like making them healthy and yummy! I feel like you can’t go wrong with some fruit bars or maybe I’ll freeze some of that homemade lemonade!
16. Kickball: Of all of the backyard games, I feel like kickball is the easiest because all you need is a ball and some basics! Get the whole family involved, everybody’s running around and having fun plus some great exercise! Count us in!
17. BBQ: I am all about the par-tays in the summer! Have a bunch of loved ones over, grill up your favorites, and play a bunch of games! My husband makes the best grilled shrimp I’ve ever had and his burgers are really flavorful too.
18. Aquarium: Specifically for the rainy days (Side note: It has rained for like a month straight so it better rain like just enough to water crops this summer because this is nuts!), I want to head over to the aquarium! I love petting the stingrays and seeing what the penguins and walruses are up to at our big aquarium.
19. Family game nights: At least one night a week, it’s so important to sit together with the family and just exercise your mind and laughter with some board games! I’ve talked about some of my favorite board games before but I’m sure I’ll be breaking out some new ones to share this summer. I think Scattergories will always be my number one favorite! What’s yours?? I’m always looking for more games!
20. Crafts: I’m sure everyone will do a little bit of crafting time with their kids but I’ve also been eyeing up some of the inexpensive classes at our local craft stores! My Michael’s and A.C. Moore do craft classes for the kids and I know some Hobby Lobby stores do as well! There’s baking, tie dye shirts, wood crafts, all kinds of neat things I’d love for my kids to do! I’m seeing prices as low as $2 per class per child and that’s affordable, even for big families like mine!
21. Amusement park: Talk about prices that can get steep! The thing is that I love roller coasters and water parks so much that we have to at least visit one park this summer. We’ve got tons of local prospects as far as water and amusement parks go and then all of the pier parks on the boardwalk too!
22. READ! Reading lists come out all over the place and they’re decent for suggestions but I know I always hated being told what I should read! I say head over to a book store or to your local library and let the kids pick out something that catches their eye! I plan to visit the library at least a few times and ours actually has a bunch of free activities that they do as well.
23. Sidewalk chalk: Another way to let out all of that creative energy is to pick up sidewalk chalk! They have all kinds of varieties now compared to when we were kids, like glittery and even sidewalk paint. It could be fun to make a game of it by giving everyone a theme or where you describe something and everyone draws their version of it.
24. Picnic: Is any summer ever complete without a picnic?! We usually go to a nearby body of water or park and lay everything out on a big blanket. It’s particularly fun to do picnics near the beach when fireworks are starting! I like to bring something special like homemade cookies or strawberries with dip!
25. Make a bucket list! These are all ideas that we’ve had in my house but I know that this isn’t even nearly the end of it. I’ve put out a dry erase board for everyone to write down ideas that they have and I plan to ask my parents for suggestions too! Scavenger hunts, escape rooms, I’m certain our list has so many more things it’s missing!
This is a great list Tiffany! We were thinking of going to the Drive In. I haven’t been to an open one and would like to go.
We are already planning a day at the museum. I day at the beach and a baseball game would also be great to do this summer!
My list isn’t that long for this summer, but making popsicles from scratch! crafts! picnics! and berry picking!