SAHMs: how do you fill the time during summer?

[nonzerosum]

Like most SAHMs, I both look forward to and dread the summer. My daughter will be turning 5 in a few weeks and has been going to 1/2 day playschool 5 days a week since she was 3.5. She really likes and needs to be occupied. It was easier when my son was a baby, but now that he is 2 he also has definite wants about what he'd like to do. How do you all spend the summers at home when not in Disney or on vacation? Do you plan out your week in advance, or take it as it comes? Do you have strucured activities at home? I'm looking for all kinds of ideas.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

I make a calendar of things I'd like to do and when I'd like to do it. Does it always happen, no. But it's a good guide.

Next week we have VBS. After that we will do the free movies once a week. I just found out that my library does a story time, snack, and craft on Fridays. So we will do that as well. We just moved to a new subdivision in Nov and we have a pool, so we will spend some time at the pool as well. There are few other things I'm going to try to plan - strawberry picking, children's museum, etc. Oh, there is a place here that's almost like a petting zoo but not quite. We won't be going on vacation until the end of July.

With gas prices the way they are, we won't be doing a lot. But I'll spread it out. DS starts school so early, it'll fly by fast anyways.

 

[luvmy2sams]

We avoid rigid schedules like the plague in the summer. DH and I give the kids a heads-up on things that are going on around town during the week, and we give them options if they express interest in an activity. Nothing's set in stone, though.

I've found that as the kids get older there are more things that they're set on doing for the summer (dance lessons, swim lessons, etc.) so that takes up a big chunk of our time. Our library has a weekly storytime and a summer reading challenge so we do that most weeks. Our local theater also has free movies three days a week, so we've got the schedule posted on the fridge.

Our house is stocked with lots of art and crafts stuff, so if the kids get bored we'll do something like that. We've got a game chest and try to play games as a family each evening. The kids like doing this a lot, especially since we've started a challenge with another family to see who can play the most minutes before school starts.

In January we started having a weekly "'Ohana night", usually on Friday nights. DH comes up with a new recipe, and we all cook the meal together. DH also finds a fun craft or new game so that's what we do after dinner. It's never anything elaborate, but the kids really look forward to it.

We've got a quick set pool in the backyard, and the waterpark's about a mile away, so if all else fails, the kids get wet.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We do lots of "day trip" type things...

Zoo - we bought a year long membership for $75.00, so I try to take advantage of that whenever I can

Beach - we're about a 45 minute drive from the beach, so we do lots of day trips there - we pack a cooler for lunch and buy season badges - usually pays for itself in 3 visits, which we'll get in by mid-july.

Boardwalk - amusement rides - we buy the tickets when they're 1/2 price during Easter weekend to cut down on costs.

Park - we have lots of them around us, some walkable, some we drive to. I'm always the mom that has the bag full of chalk, bubbles, balls, frisbees, etc. for everyone to play with, so we spend lots of time there.

Pool - we're lucky that we have one in our development, so since I have to pay for it in my association fees, may as well use it.

We also like to hit up the library, there's a few farms around (1/2 hour ride) to visit with the animals, also a few "pick your own" farms not too far, then we bake with whatever we picked (1 day picking + 1 day cooking = 2 days filled ) children's museum, visiting dad or grandparents at work for lunch

 

[kldmom2000]

I absolutely LOVE summer and can't wait for school to let out! This year my DD's will be almost 8 (a July bday) and nearly 6 (Sept. bday). In previous summers, we've spent a lot of time at the zoo(s) (we have a membership to the science museum that has a reciprocal admission to 4 local zoos), the playground, going to the beach (about 35 min. away), playing in the yard, going to the library, etc., etc.... just so much to do We also have a membership to a local pool club that we started going to last year They really enjoyed that and made some friends there. We are also fortunate to have a few kids their age a few houses down, so they all ride bikes and usually end up in my yard running through the sprinklers and playing with their baby dolls

 

[carj]

I find that having a couple of things loosely planned for the week makes me feel much happier.
We go to the library and participate in the summer reading program. They give coupons for various free things like free ice cream at Dairy Queen. They also have weekly programs. I also visit the library in the neighboring town because their weekly programs are on a different day which sometimes works out better for us.

We have season passes to Six Flags and the Zoo. We try to visit one or the other each week. The zoo day is cheap, we have the passes, free parking and you can bring in food. The Six Flags day is more expensive because you can't bring in food, but you can go in the evening which is fun.

We go to the waterpark on Monday nights after 5. It is half-price and rarely crowded. I can usually only take about 2 hours of the waterpark anyway with 2 kids by myself and they are open until 8.

I have another friend who is also a teacher with 2 kids. We invite the other's kids over and one of us runs errands or just gets away every once in a while. We also get together for lunch somewhere that has an indoor playplace.

I always say that we are going to go to the free movies but it never seems to actually happen!

We go for a 4-5 day visit to my brother's house. They live about 4 hours away.

I visit friends that are close but not close enough to see a lot. I have a friend who lives about 90 minutes away. We will meet for the day and hang out with the kids.

I used to like to take the kids to the mall but my 7 year old is too tall and I don't think that is fair to all the little ones to have a "giant" playing.

We will miss VBS, that is the week we are going to Disney. I am thinking that we might let them go to a friend's church for that though.

That's all I can think of right now. In the past we got a museum pass as it is good at many locations around the country but our museum is under construction

 

[thegrimdwarf]

My suggestion would be to reach out to the moms of the kids your daughter likes from school, and see if they're interested in weekly playdates or outings. I have a great group of SAHM friends. We're spread out over several different towns, and during the school year we all have different schedules so getting together with the kids is hard. But once school lets out, we meet-up once a week at someone's house (we rotate), and plan a weekly field trip (the beach, the zoo, the park...whatever) - so there's at least 2 things to do each week. It's a sanity-saver, for sure.

Good luck!

 

[dspads]

I need to have some sort of plan or we will go crazy!

-We usually do 2 paid activities -swim lessons (1/2 hour everyday for 2 weeks) and a camp (which means 3 hrs a day for 1 week). Those weeks I build my shedule around that.

-sign up for as many free library groups as we can - which may mean 3 or 4 hour long activities that I attend with the kids.

-For any days/weeks with no structure I put a loose plan in my head. We have a pool so that helps (though it can be a pain, too).

Example:
6am-9am - waking up, breakfast, getting dressed, household chores for me, inside play for the kids

9am-11am - play outside (no pool. bikes, sports stuff, swingset, etc. If lucky I can squeeze in some gardening/reading/phone time) OR do weekly errand (grocery store, etc)

11am-12pm - lunch

After lunch will be pool time or playdate or local 'free' activity

Local free activities we do are playgrounds, nature trails, beach, mall (if rainy), town petting zoo. I scan the local papers for ideas and often find free or low-cost workshop type stuff. Then I plan for some not-free activities like a trip to the aquarium, planetarium, fun-zone type place. We'll often do this with a friend.

Another thing I do is keep a mental list of activites we can when bored or that the boys can do together when I need to get something done. Examples may be water paints, a new sticker craft, plant seeds together, play with a toy they haven't in a long time (their Little People are stored in a bin in the attic and I pull them out every now and then and they play with them for hours), printables, bake cookies. Hmm, actually my list right now is plant marigold seeds, make icecream, and numbers traceables & other printable activites.

I am NOT saying that I do all this or this is how it goes everyday. But I need to have some ideas & structure or we will end up doing nothing and I will go crazy )

Oh, another thing I do is a baby-sitting trade with a friend. We watch each others kids so we can have some free time for errands, etc. With both boys in preschool I never have to go grocery shopping with them both and I find when I have to it is maddening!!!!! We try to do it once a week but it's usually more like 2-3 times per month.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I second the library activities. We have done story/craft times, free movies, summer reading program, etc.

My neices always come over at least once to go blueberry picking, and several times to swim. We've also had a water day, and a bubble day, with other families in our neighborhood.

One year when DS was little, he and I visited all the playgrounds within a reasonable distance, another year the same with libraries. (Not sure with gas prices this year, but if towns around you are close together, it might be an option.)

For this year, we have a zoo membership that has a reciprocal to the science museum, so will do those a few times. VBS takes up a week. And a toy store around here has some craft activities you can sign up for, so I put in for two of those.

I've also been meaning to have a "birthday" party for DS and his friends' Webkinz. - Just simple cupcakes and playtime, but have the kids all bring a party item (paper goods, pack of balloons, etc.) to be donated to Birthday Wishes or a local homeless shleter.


And of course, every year I start off with the best intentions to "keep up on school skills." We never seem to get very far on it, but this year I plan to have some stuff already prepped, so I can pull projects out quickly when needed. So far I've thought of -

a "write a letter to Grandpa" kit - with paper, pencil, stickers, etc. all together in a baggie.

a yard stick for DS and some neighbor kids to measure and record the distances between their houses.

some kid-geared maps to study places we've been or are going.

stuff to make a "reading tent" on a rainy day.

Plus I have a book of Science Things to Make and Do and another book with mazes and dot-to-dots and stuff.

Good luck, and happy sunshine!

 

[bellebud]

I remember reading an article written by a mom who didn't have tons of money to spend on summer activities or camps, but who wanted some structure for the summertime for her and the kids. On each week of her calendar, she wrote a theme for the week, then a certain day of the week was library day to research that theme (or you could just use any books you might have at home and the internet), then another day was making a meal for that theme, then another day was making a craft or something for the theme, then another day was a movie about the theme... and maybe i'm missing something else - it was a few years ago I read it, but I thought it was really cool! I tried it, didn't get through the whole summer, but picked themes and wrote them down and did some. Dinosaurs was a theme - so monday we would have researched dino's, tuesday we would have made lunch that looked like what they would have eaten, wednesday we would have drew and colored dinosaurs, thursday we would have watched an appropriate dino movie. Another theme was airplanes, so our lunch would have been on trays and tiny portions like airplane food used to be, we would have made tons of paper airplanes on craft day... another theme was a favorite animal, another was picking a country... you could really do a lot of different things w/ it.

hth! This summer we'll be going away a lot, so the time we're home, we'll just be home playing and swimming. I can't wait to not have a schedule! Counting the days till summer vacation!!

 

[Sonoma]

We like to learn about something over the summer. This summer, the kids have decided to learn about Ohio Indians. We have a Historical Society Pass so we can get into a bunch of Indian sites for free.

Last year we studied about Space and flight history over the summer. We live about 90 minutes from the Air Force Museum (free admission) so we visited several times to check out something that we had read about or seen in a movie.

The kids have even chosen zoo animals to learn about. We find movies and books about them and then visit the zoo. We have even been able to talk to zoo keepers about the animals.

The local metro parks are great and have some free programs. The rangers in the nature centers love to answer questions and are usually great with kids.

We also love to pick fruit and then surprise Dad with a special treat. We made jam last summer and then kids made Christmas baskets for their grandparents this winter.

 

[livie1205]

no nothing PLANNED we live in the county not town so with gas prices like they are we will be staying close to home this summer...there are plenty of kids in the area so they will play outside riding bikes or playing in the water...really though I dont know alot of people that really plan out their days during the summer...but I guess I do now...

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We tend to do a lot of short trips and one long one that really breaks up the summer. As soon as school gets out, we're leaving on a 10 day cruise that doesn't get back until June 26. We usually spend 4-5 days at my parent's vacation cabin in the mountains. Then we spend a few days visiting my uncle who lives a couple of hours away. My DH doesn't usually go on the shorter trips since he has to work so I take the kids with my parents and/or my sister.

In between our trips, I try to do at least two things with the boys each week so they're not just sitting around the house. We like to go bowling, miniature golfing or to a local park to ride the train and have a picnic. Several mornings a week, we'll be going to the track at our school. The kids like to play in the middle of the field while I walk around the track and get my exercise. If I have shopping to do, we might spend a few hours walking around the mall. We usually drive up to DH's work a few times and have lunch with him. We'll try to keep the driving to a minimum to save gas, but we can usually find things to do nearby.

 

[Katy Belle]

My summers now are NUTS. We live overseas so in the summer we spend 8 weeks staying with family and friends in the USA! We move around a lot and my in-laws live on a farm, so that helps.

When the boys were younger and we were HOME in the summers I foundt that having a loose schedule helped a bunch. Something to look forward to is always good. It could be a daily something or a weekly something.

One year we brainstormed a bunch of ideas and wrote them on strips of colored paper. One color for easy things to do at home, such as craft projcet, cooking project, etc. One color for outings/day trips. I think there was a third catagory..but I don't know what it would be! So every week we would pull out an "outing" paper and plan it and do it! Like go to the zoo with friends. And every day we would pull out the two other slips and do them.
It was just a fun way to come up with boredom busters!

This summer I am going to do Math Boot Camp with all THREE boys! I am so unhappy with their math curriculum this year, so we will learn a bunch this summer. Plan to spend only about 30 min a day, but we really NEED it!

Have a fun summer!
Katy

 

[megthewonderful]

I love the summer with my kids! We take advantage of library programs, get together with their friends for play dates, or go to a local pool as much as we can since we pay $200 to use it for the summer. This year my oldest is going to soccer camp for a week and taking swimming lessons for 2 weeks. Both are through our town's rec dept and the total cost for both was only $90. We also rotate through the different playgrounds in our town and surrounding towns. The summer usually goes too fast for me! Throughout the year I use my 40% coupons from ACMoore and buy craft supplies and save them until the summer. I try to keep the summers fun, but this year I am hoping to teach my five year old how to read and my 3 year old how to write both uppercase and lowercase letters.

 

[noodleknitter]

We always enjoy the downtime. We read, wander, hike, and swim.

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

Our thing last summer that we started doing is studying different countries...don't laugh. We pick a new country every week and get books from the library, movies, cook food. It really is fun for all of us. Then, when we do other things like the zoo they can tell more about it and enjoy. Needless to say, my kids are so excited about Epcot this summer...my DD is more excited about Epcot than MK! What did I do!

 

[nonzerosum]

There are some awesome ideas here--thanks everyone!!! I've started a list and roughed out a calendar and I'm really excited. Last summer my little one wasn't yet walking and it made for some tiring outings. This summer should be so much easier.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

Lots of great ideas

We are homeschoolers so I try to keep my kid’s learning all summer. They will all do about 1.5 hours of "school" in the morning (on non- camp weeks). We will then fill the rest of the day in with various activities.

We always sign up for the summer program at the library. It is free and I am all about free activities. We also pick a theme for each summer and do activities with a neighbor and her kids. Last year we did Ohio History and visited a lot of unusual places in and around our city. We also take full advantage of out memberships. We look for all of the places we get reciprocal benefits and try to visit if possible. We usually go to a new metro park on Fridays. They usually have something scheduled that is free. We also go to the zoo, children’s museum and historical museum. We ALWAYS pack our lunch since it is healthier and cheaper. Our art museum has free days so we try to go to all of those as well. Our local theater shows free kids movies 2 days a week, so we go to those also. Notice a theme??? Cheap or free! With gas prices it has to be. My older kids are each doing one week of "traditional" day camp as well as one week of theme camp. I have one going to swimming, cheerleading and sports camp. We also have a pool pass (grandma got it for us for Christmas), so we will fill in any extra time with a trip to the pool.

We just try to stay busy. We are in the house a lot during the school year, so summer is out chance to go, go, go.

 

[noodleknitter]

There are some awesome ideas here--thanks everyone!!! I've started a list and roughed out a calendar and I'm really excited. Last summer my little one wasn't yet walking and it made for some tiring outings. This summer should be so much easier.

It will be so much easier! I bet!