4 hours ago
I've said it already, but I'll say it again, I feel like this year it's more important than ever to make good use of the summer. I don't know about you, but the last three months have really worn me down. it feels like the world is alternately going insane or falling apart. For every disappointment and stress that I've felt, I'm sure my kids have had their own version of it, despite how hard I've tried to shield them from things.
So I want summer to be a break from all that. I want to try not to allow the things that we can't do to discourage me from doing the things we can do. I want all the summer memories, and maybe the fact that some of the memories will be different will just make it stand out more for my kids.
So these are a few of the things I'm working into my summer planner.
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Teaching Games
As homeschool students, maybe it's even more important for me to put some effort into teaching them childhood games that remember - where else are they going to get them? These are a few on my list:
Trampoline Games - You know "crack the egg", "pop the popcorn", "fly high". Basically torturing an unsuspecting child in the middle by seeing how high you can launch them. Any others I'm missing?
H.O.R.S.E. - We have a basketball hoop, and it needs more use. Is there a more fun way to practice spelling? I remember as a kid sometimes playing E.N.C.Y.C.L.O.P.E.D.I.A. instead of H.O.R.S.E. to make the game last longer!
Catch - Like serious catch, with baseball glove and ball. I want my kids to be comfortable with the basics of sports, even though I'm about the least sporty person you'll ever meet. I'm sure it won't take much for my kids to surpass me, but I want them to learn.
Hand Clapping Games - If you are a girl, I'm sure you remember doing hand-clapping games as a kid, right? I need to brush off that knowledge and teach my kids some (especially my girls - seems like that was mostly a girl thing in my memory anyway?).
I found this article with a bunch more old-school game ideas, so I might add a few more as we go!
Crafts And Activities
I am not the most crafty mom either (ie. not crafty at all), but these activities looked doable, and like they would keep my kids busy for quite a while.
Spray Bottle Sidewalk Paint - I found this recipe here. There is also a similar squirt-chalk recipe, and I already got cheap squirt bottles to use at Dollar General!
Tic Tac Toe Rocks - On Pinterest I saw smooth rocks painted colorfully with tic-tac-toe symbols on it, along with a little wooden tic-tac-toe board. Sure you could play tic-tac-toe on paper, but I thought it might be fun to break out the paint and make a board like that with the kids.
Homemade Bouncy Balls - This recipe looked really interesting - they are not like true bouncy balls, but this would be an interesting science experiment to try this summer.
Ice Cream Playdough - This ice cream/frosting play dough recipe looks exciting. It looks like really ice cream! And it's edible, so if Georgie tries to eat it I won't have to worry.
Puffy Paint Ice Cream Cones - My kids would have so much fun with this puffy paint picture project.
Homemade Bubbles - I saw this fun idea for homemade bubbles in a drink dispenser - this would honestly keep my kids busy all day!
Glow Sticks In The Kiddie Pool - Every summer I get a kiddie pool, which is always a winner for any hot days we have at home - but I really like the idea of putting some glow stick in the water once it starts to get dark!
Make Bird Feeders - I'm thinking the toilet-paper-roll variety. You know, you roll them in peanut butter and bird seed and tie a string through it. Keeping it simple.
Treasure Hunt - I found these cute treasure hunt printables, and I think it would be fun to buy some candy and make the kids search for it one day. It would be super simple and cheap, but I know my kids, they'll probably talk about it for the rest of the summer.
Origami "Fortune Teller" With Boredom Busters - There are directions to make one here, and this boredom buster list gave me some ideas. This would be our go-to for the inevitable "I'm bored". The rule might be that my kids have to do whatever they get, even if it's a chore!
Reading Challenge - We are doing our library's reading challenge, but I also challenged my big kids that they would get a little prize for each set of five books that they read. They've been working hard to get their prizes!
Bible Memory Verse Challenge - This one is still in the works, but I'm thinking of coming up with a chart, and for each set of five verses that they memorize, they'll earn some special treat or prize. I have memory verse cards they can work off of, and some fun Bible memory verse apps I found.
Out Of The House
I still am trying to plan a few days to get out of the house, even though we are kind of limited on where we can go. These were a few ideas.
Nature Hikes - We are lucky enough to live down the road from a state park, so we are going to work in regular nature hikes. my kids love hiking in the summer especially and looking at all the mountain plants and flowers! Gwen requested we bring notebooks next time for recording our observations, so that's what we will do.
Play In A Creek - I know a little picnic spot with a creek, but we haven't been there in ages. I'm putting a day for wading in the creek on our calendar.
Drive In Movie - This is a "maybe", but even though our theaters are all still closed, I heard that some drive-in theaters are open. Maybe this is the year to give it a try?
Swimming - I really want to try to go swimming at least once this summer (aside from the fact that pools are requiring masks only while walking to the pool, but not at any other time...honestly, what is even the point? These mask rules are so often nonsensical.)
Park Days - I had grand plans for a million park days this summer, but I think we're going to trim down and only go every couple weeks. Maybe I'm just turning into a home body with all the weirdness out there? But the kids are park-deprived, so we will definitely make an effort to visit a few of our favorites!
Historical Sites - There are a couple historical sites in our state that I really wanted to visit in the spring, then everything shut down. We are going to try to make a day trip or weekend trip out of them this summer instead! Possibly in August, so we can count them as days for next school year.
Fishing - I should also mention that we plan to squeeze a few more fishing days in this summer! We just don't know where yet. Maybe someday we'll actually catch a fish.
Stargazing - We finally got our big telescope set up, and we are ready to schedule a summer star-gazing night! We go somewhere away from all houses, usually with candy or Sonic slushes in tow, and see what we can see.
At Home
Porch Camping - We do this every year, and it's always a highlight. Derek will set up our tent on the porch, complete with air mattresses and sleeping bags, and we all sleep out there at least one night. We usually leave it up a couple extra days too, and the kids play or read out there.
Trampoline Sleepover - Derek suggested that he might string some battery-operated lights on the net around our trampoline, and I was thinking we could let the kids have a sleepover out there (one of us will sleep out there with them). Will we sleep well? Probably not, but it will be a fun memory!
Campfire - If our fire ban ever gets lifted, a campfire is the first thing on our to-do-list! With marshmallows and smores and Rolos, of course.
Regular Game Nights - I want to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly game night, where we play a board game together as a family (with possible the little ones being on our "teams", since they get distracted).
Regular Movie Nights - We want to start introducing the kids to some of our childhood favorites! We watched Pollyanna the other night, and a John Wayne movie is next one the list. For movie night we pile in the living room with pillows and blankets, and have cheap pizza and candy while we watch together.
Food Treats
Firework Fruit Kabobs - I was going to make some variety of a red/white/blue fruit Kabob for the 4th of July.
Special Kid Drinks - My first variation is koolaid ice cubes in Sprite, and it made the kids' day! But I think even lemonade or infused water in the drink dispenser would be a refreshing summer touch.
Popsicles - We might possibly make some homemade popsicles, or I might make my life easy and just give them an otter-pop on every hot afternoon.
Spaghetti Salad and Broccoli Salad - Every summer I try to make one or both of these salads a few times - they are our traditional summer foods in my family.
Mocktails - This is more for me and Derek, but in the summer I like to try new fruity non-alcoholic drink recipes after the kids go to bed!
That is my full summer list! I rarely get to every single thing I have planned for the summer, but just having it written out on our calendar motivates me to at least try to make some of these ideas happen. (You can read more about the mechanics of my summer planning here.) It's taken me some time to get organized since we've been back from vacation, so this morning I'm working on mapping out when I want to do all this. We still have two months of summer fun ahead of us!
Do you plan any activities to make summer feel special?
Crafts And Activities
I am not the most crafty mom either (ie. not crafty at all), but these activities looked doable, and like they would keep my kids busy for quite a while.
Spray Bottle Sidewalk Paint - I found this recipe here. There is also a similar squirt-chalk recipe, and I already got cheap squirt bottles to use at Dollar General!
Tic Tac Toe Rocks - On Pinterest I saw smooth rocks painted colorfully with tic-tac-toe symbols on it, along with a little wooden tic-tac-toe board. Sure you could play tic-tac-toe on paper, but I thought it might be fun to break out the paint and make a board like that with the kids.
Homemade Bouncy Balls - This recipe looked really interesting - they are not like true bouncy balls, but this would be an interesting science experiment to try this summer.
Ice Cream Playdough - This ice cream/frosting play dough recipe looks exciting. It looks like really ice cream! And it's edible, so if Georgie tries to eat it I won't have to worry.
Puffy Paint Ice Cream Cones - My kids would have so much fun with this puffy paint picture project.
Homemade Bubbles - I saw this fun idea for homemade bubbles in a drink dispenser - this would honestly keep my kids busy all day!
Glow Sticks In The Kiddie Pool - Every summer I get a kiddie pool, which is always a winner for any hot days we have at home - but I really like the idea of putting some glow stick in the water once it starts to get dark!
Make Bird Feeders - I'm thinking the toilet-paper-roll variety. You know, you roll them in peanut butter and bird seed and tie a string through it. Keeping it simple.
Treasure Hunt - I found these cute treasure hunt printables, and I think it would be fun to buy some candy and make the kids search for it one day. It would be super simple and cheap, but I know my kids, they'll probably talk about it for the rest of the summer.
Origami "Fortune Teller" With Boredom Busters - There are directions to make one here, and this boredom buster list gave me some ideas. This would be our go-to for the inevitable "I'm bored". The rule might be that my kids have to do whatever they get, even if it's a chore!
Reading Challenge - We are doing our library's reading challenge, but I also challenged my big kids that they would get a little prize for each set of five books that they read. They've been working hard to get their prizes!
Bible Memory Verse Challenge - This one is still in the works, but I'm thinking of coming up with a chart, and for each set of five verses that they memorize, they'll earn some special treat or prize. I have memory verse cards they can work off of, and some fun Bible memory verse apps I found.
Out Of The House
I still am trying to plan a few days to get out of the house, even though we are kind of limited on where we can go. These were a few ideas.
Nature Hikes - We are lucky enough to live down the road from a state park, so we are going to work in regular nature hikes. my kids love hiking in the summer especially and looking at all the mountain plants and flowers! Gwen requested we bring notebooks next time for recording our observations, so that's what we will do.
Play In A Creek - I know a little picnic spot with a creek, but we haven't been there in ages. I'm putting a day for wading in the creek on our calendar.
Drive In Movie - This is a "maybe", but even though our theaters are all still closed, I heard that some drive-in theaters are open. Maybe this is the year to give it a try?
Swimming - I really want to try to go swimming at least once this summer (aside from the fact that pools are requiring masks only while walking to the pool, but not at any other time...honestly, what is even the point? These mask rules are so often nonsensical.)
Park Days - I had grand plans for a million park days this summer, but I think we're going to trim down and only go every couple weeks. Maybe I'm just turning into a home body with all the weirdness out there? But the kids are park-deprived, so we will definitely make an effort to visit a few of our favorites!
Historical Sites - There are a couple historical sites in our state that I really wanted to visit in the spring, then everything shut down. We are going to try to make a day trip or weekend trip out of them this summer instead! Possibly in August, so we can count them as days for next school year.
Fishing - I should also mention that we plan to squeeze a few more fishing days in this summer! We just don't know where yet. Maybe someday we'll actually catch a fish.
Stargazing - We finally got our big telescope set up, and we are ready to schedule a summer star-gazing night! We go somewhere away from all houses, usually with candy or Sonic slushes in tow, and see what we can see.
At Home
Porch Camping - We do this every year, and it's always a highlight. Derek will set up our tent on the porch, complete with air mattresses and sleeping bags, and we all sleep out there at least one night. We usually leave it up a couple extra days too, and the kids play or read out there.
Trampoline Sleepover - Derek suggested that he might string some battery-operated lights on the net around our trampoline, and I was thinking we could let the kids have a sleepover out there (one of us will sleep out there with them). Will we sleep well? Probably not, but it will be a fun memory!
Campfire - If our fire ban ever gets lifted, a campfire is the first thing on our to-do-list! With marshmallows and smores and Rolos, of course.
Regular Game Nights - I want to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly game night, where we play a board game together as a family (with possible the little ones being on our "teams", since they get distracted).
Regular Movie Nights - We want to start introducing the kids to some of our childhood favorites! We watched Pollyanna the other night, and a John Wayne movie is next one the list. For movie night we pile in the living room with pillows and blankets, and have cheap pizza and candy while we watch together.
Food Treats
Firework Fruit Kabobs - I was going to make some variety of a red/white/blue fruit Kabob for the 4th of July.
Special Kid Drinks - My first variation is koolaid ice cubes in Sprite, and it made the kids' day! But I think even lemonade or infused water in the drink dispenser would be a refreshing summer touch.
Popsicles - We might possibly make some homemade popsicles, or I might make my life easy and just give them an otter-pop on every hot afternoon.
Spaghetti Salad and Broccoli Salad - Every summer I try to make one or both of these salads a few times - they are our traditional summer foods in my family.
Mocktails - This is more for me and Derek, but in the summer I like to try new fruity non-alcoholic drink recipes after the kids go to bed!
---
That is my full summer list! I rarely get to every single thing I have planned for the summer, but just having it written out on our calendar motivates me to at least try to make some of these ideas happen. (You can read more about the mechanics of my summer planning here.) It's taken me some time to get organized since we've been back from vacation, so this morning I'm working on mapping out when I want to do all this. We still have two months of summer fun ahead of us!
Do you plan any activities to make summer feel special?
I didn't start this trying to draw an analogy here, but its kind of like the country right now isn't it? Some days the events in the news are so crazy, it feels like the entire American civilization is hanging by a thread. Maybe one day the last gust of wind, the last crazy event, will break it. I hope our traditions and values, the things we used to all unite around as nation, will be like that thread, strong enough to string our country together amidst all this chaos, but if not...well, it's a good thing that we believers in Christ don't have to place our hope in men, isn't it?
I'd like to insert something I wrote on Instagram a couple weeks ago, for posterity or for any of you who don't follow me over there. This is the bottom line to me:
I had some things I wanted to share this week, but all that is on hold for now, as Instagram was dominated yesterday by black squares. I don’t like getting involved in these things online, but this morning all my thoughts and feelings and discouragements coalesced and clarified. So against my initial instinct to swear off social media and just pray and cocoon with my kids (which still might be what I end up doing), I have a few things to say..First, to those putting your hope in social media campaigns, or conversations, or human organizations, or a political party, or violence, to spur on whatever change you think needs to happen, I think you will be disappointed..I like how someone else (@stopandconsider on Instagram) put it: “The spiritual oppression that all men are under is sin, and from that all the physical vestiges of oppression find their power. The only way that is changed is by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, who died for sinful men to reconcile them to God.”.
The solution to ALL our sin, the sins hidden inside us as well as the sins of murder and theft and racism that dominate the news, is CHRIST, crucified to pay the penalty of death that WE deserved. He is risen to conquer death, heal our souls, and give us victory over that sin..
HE is the One who sets us free, changes hard hearts, and brings peace to our sinful souls and broken world. If you don’t know that peace and reconciliation with God - I pray, I beg you, to seek and find that Truth...And one more thing - if we as Christians are trying to participate in this conversation on racism, rule of law, etc, and we leave out the Gospel, I’m sorry but we are doing it wrong. I’ve been personally convicted of this. What eternal good are we doing if we aren’t taking care to point others to Christ through this tragic situation? What lasting change can be made if we don’t preach the Gospel of Christ, which has the true power to change hearts and save eternal souls?.
It’s time to turn our eyes back to Him, our only true Hope amidst the chaos.
The events of the last few weeks have kind of been the last gust of wind for me, to turn my eyes back to what really matters. These verses in 2 Timothy have been swirling in my brain through the turmoil our nation is facing - reminding me that this is my duty, this is my call:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching...But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:2,5
Paul was writing this to Timothy, who was a young pastor. But when I read those verses to apply them personally, I am reminded to keep my mind on the gospel, and my energy focused on my kids. There are so many voices shouting on social media right now, it's hard to hear anyone, and the limitations of trying to speak the truth online become ever more apparent...but I can preach the Word to my kids. I can be faithful in my efforts to convince, exhort, rebuke, and train them. I can show them how to be watchful in all things by showing them what God's Word says about what is happening in the world, I can present examples of how to endure afflictions while giving thanks to God, I can do the work of an evangelist by pointing them to Jesus's atoning work on the cross always. This is I can fulfill my ministry, the most important one, which has always been to shine the light of Christ in my home to my children, to write the Truth on their hearts.
(A couple photos from my birthday fishing trip last weekend.)
So maybe that's why I have been quiet on social media and my blog lately, because I have been mulling over how I can do better at this. How I can lead their hearts to Jesus, pray for them better, train them in righteousness, and prepare them to stand firm amidst the persecution they will no doubt face someday.
I feel more urgency for this than I used to. I don't want to waste too much time shouting into the noise on social media, when my greatest impact will be whispering truth into the hearts of my children.
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Anyway, I meant for this to be a light, catch-up post, but I guess I needed to get that off my chest first. You all know I like to have fun, and sharing it all on here is part of the fun for me, so those posts are coming too! Thanks for hanging around while I sorted through my thoughts over the last month.
And oh yeah, it's summer. The sun is shining on my legs, and I can practically feel the Vitamin D being manufactured, boosting my mood. The birds chirp from the trees all around, the table umbrella is spinning as the breeze picks up, and I hear some shouting from inside the house that I should probably go attend to. Before I close my laptop, I look up again, and that silvery thread connecting the chair and the railing is still dancing in the wind.
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