Summer Ideas - Part 2

By Katharine Grubb

Counting pennies this summer?  Or are you looking for things to do in between day camp and the week at the beach?  Here’s a lengthy list of activites for you and your preschooler. All require little preparation and little expense and are just right for ages 3 and up.  

1. Play War with a deck of cards. 
2. Play Candy Land, and every time you land on your favorite color, eat a handful of your favorite snack, like popcorn. 
3. What state parks are nearby? Visit one for a hike, lunch and maybe a little wading.
4. Take photographs all summer of your family and friends, and then make a scrapbook called People We Love.
5. Try a new recipe, like homemade tortillas or gazpacho. 
6. June is National Candy Month so, make homemade candy.
7. Plan for a weekly play date with other moms in your community.
8. Play hide and seek.
9. Grow tomatoes.
10. Make homemade playdough.
11. Make homemade musical instruments, and play along with your favorite songs. 
12. Make sugar cookies.
13. Visit your local playground or drive across town and visit one you’ve never been to before.
14. Create a Word Notebook. Every time your preschooler reads a word, write it in the notebook. You can also collect words from magazines and paste them there.
15. Practice counting to 100. 
16. Practice counting by 2s. 
17. Practice counting by 5s. 
18. Practice counting by 10s. 
19. Get out the tape measure. How tall is everyone in your family? How tall are your child’s favorite toys? 
20. Play Go Fish. 
21. Print dot-to-dot pages from the computer. 
22. Try a new fruit or vegetable every week. 
23. Gather all your legos, Duplos and K’Nex together and build the biggest structure you can. 
24. Visit your local fire station. 
25. Find an easy book on George Washington at your local library. Read it before celebrating Independence Day.

Need more ideas? Do a search on Pinterest for preschool activites. And don’t forget to take lots of photos -- you can have an amazing summer with your child and spend very little money.

Part 2 of 4 - Check back the next 2 Thursdays (and last week) for more ideas!