After my kids and husband read my last post, they chastised me not giving more ideas. I don't have pictures of other things we've done...well I do, but I don't have time to go digging for them. . My dad instilled in me a love for learning and I so love that we've done the same thing with our children. I personally, think a 12 week summer vacation is a bit too long. Even as a kid I remember being so very ready to get back to school and a routine the last couple weeks of summer. I think kids forget much of what they're taught at the end of the year when teachers are trying to get them ready for the next grade. It's been proven that not reading for that long does increase the chance for a child to either drop back in their reading skills or not advance like they were doing while in school. I'm not saying I hate long breaks. I love having my kids home for that long but it's encouraged me to find educational value in some of our surprise trips. Sometimes I have to really work at it to make learning fun but here are a few other ideas the kids thought I should've shared in the first post about summer ideas.
CEMETERIES
I know this is weird and maybe even morbid but I like cemeteries. I think it's interesting to see the different types of headstones....sizes, materials they're made with, epitaphs, etc. At least once a summer we go to an old cemetery that I find someplace and we walk around with papers of about 10 questions or scavenger hunt type things. Find the oldest person, the first person buried in the cemetery, the most damaged headstone, (and if we can we try to fix it...pull weeds, stand it back up), how many folks were in the military? The kids like this and sometimes when we're driving someplace one of them will notice a cemetery and tell me about it, "This one looks pretty old. We should go to this one."
MUSEUMS
There are unique museums we've gone to. There's a Popcorn Museum about an hour away from us. They have popcorn makers from the first kind ever made to microwave popcorn, they have old toys the kids can see and play with. That museum wasn't the most exciting and that's when I'm glad I was raised in the family I was...we don't often meet strangers. By the time we left, the old man was our new friend and as joking with the kids and walking us around the museum telling all kinds of fun tidbits. To tie it together, I had brought caramel and cheese popcorn to add to our picnic lunch at a nearby park. The following week I took the kids to the Popcorn Factory. There we saw how large quantities of popcorn was made with all the different flavors. They make about 90 different popcorn flavors. We tasted many the ones I remember most was blueberry popcorn, jalapeno pepper popcorn and then everyone got a small bag to bring home to eat when we have movie night with Jim that night.
YOUR OWN BACKYARD
I like seeing all the beauty in our "backyard" and for free! We've gone to nature hikes at metro parks, we've gone to this beautiful area called Clifton Mill, it's a got a gorge with a rich history. Again..I research the area, what we're seeing and as we go and if it's quiet, I'll share a fun piece of what I learned and it starts new conversations with the kids.
FARMS
Slate Run Farm, a living history museum based on early 1900s is a great place to go. I've also taken the older kids to a similar one in Colorado. I'm sure there's one in everyone's area. This farm is fun especially in the spring when animals have new babies. We once saw a lamb just minutes after it was born. We had to go back several times that summer because my oldest daughter wanted to see "her lamb". The workers there do fun things for the kids to either try or they show them. We've seen lambs sheered, the old school way--without electric trimmers, we've died eggs using all natural things like red onions and beets.
CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT
My husband grew up in Canada and is a huge hockey nut. When our kids are about 18 months old and stable on their feet, we take them ice skating. They all love to ice skate and watch hockey too. Our local ice rink has a "lunch skate" that is only about 1 1/2 hours long and is much cheaper than a night skate. So, I'll take the kids to go skate for an hour. They have their own skates and that saves us money too. Love those buy/sell sports stores! We've never paid more than $10 for a pair skates. Also we don't live too far away from OSU and tickets to their hockey games are much cheaper the Blue Jackets. Though, much to my 18 year olds sadness, fighting isn't allowed in college hockey. She would much rather watch an NHL game.
MAKING CHORES FUN
Cleaning and chores have to get done and honestly, who wants to be stuck inside on a nice summer day? I try to make chores a bit more exciting all the time but in the summer and on rainy days I make it a bit more exciting. I call the cleaning supplies "weapons" because they fight off germs. (This is actually a normal weekly thing we do but in the summer I'll have races or challenges.) The music gets turned up, (again normal thing!), and everyone draws a chore out of a cup and then they're given their 'weapon". Wipe off door knobs & lightswitches=Clorox wipes, dust all wood furniture=Swiffer, take trash all over house=trash bags and Lysol spray, etc. Tho their favorite chore to do is mop the floor in their socks. I hate doing this because it's a huge mess I have to clean up but the floor gets cleaner than it usually does because they will do this for a good hour. I get a bucket of cleaning water, they got mismatched socks I'm about to throw away. They jump in the water bucket and mop the floor. Again, music is usually blasting, kids are sliding around, dancing, splashing all over the place. But they have fun, squabbles don't happen and I get all the tiled areas cleaned.
Again, these are just some more fun ideas that work for us. Go plan some fun things for your family to do before they get home from school and start telling you're "I'm bored." Have fun making happy summer memories with your family.
No comments:
Post a Comment