Ideas for a Summer Bucket List

We had a great summer!  It was full of fun times at home, two family reunions, trips to visit friends, a big family vacation to Montana and a couple camping trips!

Last year we made a summer bucket list but because this was a busy summer as it was, we did not have a bucket list, we just lived!

Here are a few of the places we went, ideas that you can add to your summer bucket list.

Go to the zoo

Visits spray park

Take in the local fair

Go for a hike

Go camping (and collect wood for a campfire)

Go fishing or just take a trip on a boat (we don't own a boat so I never thought we would get a chance like this, but while camping you never know who you will run into that DOES have a boat!)

Another Trip to the Bird Sanctuary

We have collected more bread, so we took a trip back to the Bird Sanctuary.  This time, I wanted to add a little bit of learning into the situation.  On the way to the Sanctuary, I talked to my daughter about what the word "sanctuary" means.  I told her to think about what was around the park (fence) and how that would make the birds feel when they were there.  She said it made them feel safe because no other animals could hurt them.  Could the other animals get in?  How did the birds and ducks get in?  The other animals couldn't get in because they can't fly like the birds and ducks can.  What happens in the winter when it gets cold?  This was my favourite answer: They fly to Mexico like we did!  She was able to answer all of my questions with confidence and in her own words.  She was right every time.  I forgot to take the camera, so here are some more pictures from our trip LAST time!

Water Balloon Fun

Are there a couple of hot days in your forecase?  There have been lots around here and we have been taking advantage of them because for us - summer holidays are almost over!  Back to work.  Back to school.  Back to daycare.  Summer is coming to an end.  So we bought some water balloons!  There were a couple of things that I wanted to see if my daughter could do with the water balloons.  The first thing: Could she drop and try to catch the water balloon before it hit the ground (nope! but we had fun trying) and Could she throw or roll the water balloons to hit a target (using both one hand and both hands).  Yep, she could do that, sometimes.  We laughed and we had lots of fun!  Oh, and PLEASE clean up the mess no matter where you are.  Don't litter!

Sorry there are no pictures.  My camera stopped working.  I tell you, every electronic in this house that I touch, breaks.

Soccer and T-Ball

Take some time today and play some common sports with your children!  Get outside, get some exercise and have fun!  We "learned" how to play soccer and T-Ball when we went camping with the grandparents last week and it was a lot of fun!  We also like to play Basketball, but I wasn't moving that net to the campground . . .

Did you know that 68% of our kids over the age of 12 watch 2 hours or more of television every day.  Every day.  OK, now get off the computer and take those kids outside to play!

Hula Hoops and Jump Ropes

Hula Hoops, jump ropes and hopscotch.  Three of my daughters most favourite things to do in the backyard in the summer, spring and fall.  Just getting active is something that I want to promote to both of my kids, because it is so important today in our society where obesity is a HUGE concern among children.  And we as the parents need to be aware and help put a stop to this growing epedmic.  This was an item on our Summer Bucket List.  Teach my daughter how to hula hoop and jump rope.  I have taught her, but she is still learning.  I got the small hula hoop from the Dollar Store, which was great because she is WAY too small for those big hoops!

Popsicles

Take a look at the forecast.  Is it going to be hot for the next couple of days?  Then get the kids together and make popsicles!  Quick, easy, cheap and fun to make . . . and especially fun to eat.

I personally just made the Kool-Aid as directed on the package.  There are recipes out there that include JELLO in the recipe as well.  I didn't have any on hand but I do want to get some so that I can try it, because I'm not sure what the difference would be!

1 sm. pkg. Jello, any flavor
1 envelope unsweetened Kool-Aid, same flavor
1 c. sugar
2 c. boiling water
2 c. cold water

Learning at the Park

Going to the park in the summer is something that all families do at LEAST once or twice.  Parks are everywhere.  It's a great way to meet up with friends, meet new people and let the kids waste some energy (after some crazy ice cream sundaes perhaps . . .)  But what do the kids LEARN at the park?  Well, let me tell you . . .

• How to play with other children in small groups or pairs
• How to exclude/include children that they don't/do want to play with.  This sounds harsh, but if someone is being mean, not sharing, children WILL exclude them from play and to learn how to do it NICELY or CHANGE the situation is an important life skill.
• How to protect younger siblings/children
• Respecting the property of others
• Jumping from heights
• Climbing fences
• Muscular endurance when mastering the monkey bars

Make Your Own Ice Cream Sundae

What else is there better to do than to make your own ice cream sundae in the summer?  Well, eat it of course!  Simple activity that kept them busy for about half and hour (and yes, I timed it so that we started half an hour before daddy got home so he would be there when the sugar kicked in . . .).  Very simple.  We used some leftover ice cream cake from Dairy Queen as the base and then added in our candy, "dirt and worms" and caramel sauce!  Delicious!

Ice Cube Painting

What a great idea this is!  We have had plenty of hot days this summer and the kids LOVE painting and all other kinds of art, so this was something that I had to try.  I enjoyed this so much and it was SO easy that I will probably do it with my preschoolers at work next June when the weather gets nice!
The first thing we did (24 hours before we painted) was put water in the ice cube trays and then we added food colouring.  My son told me the names of all the colours and my daughter "taught" me how to make purple, orange and green by mixing colours.  I used one of our chopsticks to stir the food colouring in each of the cubes.  Then we put the coloured water in the freezer.

The next day, it was HOT out.  We went outside and sat on the ground with our "paint shirts" on (plus sunscreen - and lots of it!).  I have watercolour paper at work, so that was what we used.  Regular paper will probably not work, but try it!  The original post used white fabric, which would have made a really cool keepsake!  The ice cubes melted REALLY fast but the kids made some beautiful artwork!  Definately a hit and I can't wait to do it again with my preschoolers AND with my own kids again next summer!

Nature Preserves

Learning about and respecting nature is something that is very important to our family.  We took a trip as a family to a local nature perserve a couple of weeks ago.  With us, we took magnifying glasses and bug catchers to see what we could find in the long grass and "forests".  The kids had a great time following daddy along the grassy paths.  We used our magnifying glasses (bought from the Dollar Store) to look at the flowers beside the path, being sure not to touch or pick any of them.  We saw really neat things INSIDE the flowers.  It was a great learning experience for both of them.  Once we finished our hike we sat down and ate a picnic lunch together which was the best part of all!

Don't think that there are not nature preserves close to you.  Ask around.  Check the internet.  I'm not talking about National Parks, these are just areas of land that are meant for the public to hike, ski, walk and enjoy nature.  I didn't even know about this area and I have lived in the city for 11 years - in the area for 28!  So do your research - I bet you will find something close by!

Roller Skating

Last year at a garage sale I picked up some Roller Skates for my girl and thought we would try it out this week!  She balanced very well, but always needed to hold my hand to move herself forwards.  She loved it and can't wait to do it again.  She even wants to try ice skating again this winter, so we will see how that goes!

Always be sure to wear protective gear when biking, roller skating, ice skating or roller blading.

• Helmet
• Knee Pads
• Elbow Pads

Spray Parks and Paddling Pools

The kids and I took a trip with friends a couple of weeks ago to a city about 3 hours away from us.  We had lots of things planned for the kids to do, but one of the things on our "to do list" was to visit a spray park - to knock yet another item off of our Summer Bucket List.  We have visited the spray park at the park beside us many times this summer, but it's always fun to explore new ones!  And to our wonderful surprise, not only did this city have spray parks, they also had PADDLING POOLS!  Yes, this is a wonderful surprise because we have none, zero, nada, zip in our own city.  The kids had a blast and we knocked something off our list that wasn't even on it!

Taking a trip to the Spray Park or Paddling Pool?  Make sure you pack a park bag and put the following items in it!

• Water Bottles
• Hats
• First Aid Kit
• Sunscreen
• Bug Spray
• Tylenol
• Sunglasses
• Comb

Bulk Bubble Dispenser

What a great idea!  Instead of having the kids spill the whole containter of bubbles while they are playing so that I have to go out and buy brand new bubbles, I can make my own and if they spill it, they can refill it!  I can't say that I made the bubble solution in the container, though.  We actually used this at my preschool and another teacher made the solution and at the end of the June, I just took it home with me.  I got two cups - one for each kid - and a bubble wand and let them have fun.  My son is still learning how to blow bubbles.  He blows so hard that sometimes he actually falls over.  It's quite funny actually.  My daughter, well, she had a blast popping all of the bubbles that she blew.  They were both able to refill their cups when needed (not because of too much bubble blowing but because of spills) and they had so much fun being independent!  Be warned - my son decided that the cement needed a good dose of bubble solution and just watched it pour out while his cup lay abandoned on the grass . . .

• Here are a couple of bubble recipes to get you started!

1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid (Dawn or Joy)
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of sugar

• And this one that I found on Pinterest!

12 cups water
i cup dishsoap
1 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder

Summer Bucket List - Halway Point

Way back in June I came up with the Summer Jar that held our Summer Bucket List!  There were a LOT of things on that list!  How many have we done?  Check it out!  It's halfway through the summer and I think we've done pretty good.  Note - If the item is highlighted in blue, that means that we HAVE done the item but I just have not (due to technical difficulties) got the full length feature on the blog yet.

• Play with sidewalk chalk
• Homemade sprinkler (Pinterest)
• Ice Cube Treasures (Pinterest)
• Night walk with flashlights
• Farmers Market Trip
• Make and Eat Ice Cream Sundaes
• Sidewalk Painting (Pinterest)
• Feed the ducks
• Run through the sprinklers
• Have a picnic
• Blow Bubbles
• Make a pet rock
• Make Your own watering can (Pinterest)
• Jump rope for 20 minutes
• Play Frisbee
• Make and eat a popsicle
• Ice Cube watercolour (Pinterest)
• Plant something in a lemon (Pinterest)
• Bike Painting (Pinterest)
• Go to the park
• Go to a spraypark
• Go on a park scavenger hunt (Pinterest)
• Play hopscotch
• Lay on the grass and look at the clouds
• Take a trip to a Nature Preserve
• Fly a Kite
• Visit the Bird Sanctuary
• Water Balloon fight
• Learn how to play soccer/baseball/basketball
• Learn how to rollerskate

Planting Seeds in a Grapefruit

I found this idea on Pinterest and I'm not sure if it will work or not.  The first part did, so that's great.  Now we just have to wait and see if the seeds grow!  So first we started with a grapefruit beacuse we didn't have lemons AND they are bigger so easier or the kids to handle. 

We went outside and the kids used the spoons to put some dirt into their grapefruit peel. 

 Next they added their seeds.  My daughter put WAY too many in so we just put some of hers into her brothers dirt.  Once the seeds were in, the kids used the spoons to add more dirt.  

Finally when the planting was done, we had to water our grapefruits.  My daughter turned on the tap, added some water and voila!  Her planting job was done.  

 But now we have the problem of watering these plants.  I really don't want to have to use the tap - I just see many things going wrong with that.  I want a simple way that the kids can do to.  Then my husband came up with the idea to use a spray bottle.  Not to hard, just a soft spray and you'll be good to go!  Have fun planting!



Beach Day

So this honestly was not on our Summer Bucket List and I'm not sure how it got missed, but I am adding it now because of course, it was a lot of fun!  There are a few lakes around our city, but we always go to the same location, the valley to the east!  There's beautiful scenery, a little bit quieter than the ones closer to the city and of course, it's closer to "home" so we can spend time with family and friends if they aren't working.  The kids absolutely LOVED the water.  They built sand castles and a "lake" with daddy.  The went out really deep and "made" mommy join them (I don't do cold water, but I did for them).  We had a picnic snack and enjoyed some special family time.  Once finished at the beach, we headed to a small town close by and got some ice cream!  It was a perfect day!

Painting Rocks

I'm so excited that I found the summer bucket list idea on Pinterest!  I always have so many ideas and find some many great ideas, but I find they never get done - but this summer they are!  I went out back to our rock bed and found four large rocks.  I just used basic kids paint and let the kids make their masterpieces.  It kept both of them busy for about 20 minutes, which - if your a parent, you know this - IT'S A LONG TIME!

FYI: We don't use paint shirts in our house, we paint shirtless.

Farmers Market

Another item has been checked off our Summer Bucket List!  We took the city bus downtown and went shopping at the local Farmers Market.  We've been taking the bus a lot lately.  Yes, we do have a car.  But the kids love the experience of the city bus and I REALLY don't like trying to park downtown, so we ALWAYS take a bus when we go downtown.
Our shopping list today:
Buns
Jam
Cookies
NOT on our Shopping List, but still in the bag:
Dill Dip
Balloon Yo Yo's for the kids

Visit the Bird Sanctuary

The next item on the Summer Bucket List was visiting the Bird Sanctuary.  Birds are not my favourite thing.  As we walked up to the Sanctuary, my heart started to beat just a LITTLE bit faster.  I WAS going to take the kids on my own while my husband was at work, but thankfully he suggested that I wait until he get home.  Good idea, hubby!

We both thought our son would be afraid of the ducks, geese and swans - but he did really well!  We actually had to stop him from chasing them all over the place.  He even got brave enough to feed one of the geese straight from his hands - just once - then mommy and daddy stopped the fun and made him throw the bread on the ground.

What a fun afternoon!  Beautiful weather and great memories WITH daddy!

Make Your Own Watering Can

The first item on the Summer Bucket List: Make Your Own Watering Can

I had collected the jug and cap a while back because I knew that we would be doing this ONE day.  I found a hammer and a screw (I figured the screw would make a bigger hole) and I showed the kids how to hold the hammer and how to safely hit the screw into the lid.  They both had a lot of fun attempting.  Mommy's fingers got hit a bit, but they were having a great time.  Goodbye manicure that I just got done three days ago . . .

And this is wha the lid looked like when we finished . . .

The holes were still small, so it was taking a long time for the water to come out.  I showed my daughter how to squeeze the carton so that the water would come out faster.  This worked for a while, but her hands got sore after a while. 

So I decided to finish off the water that was in the jug - and this is what happened with my powerful muscles . . .  Verdict: Spend the money and get a watering can.  Not worth it AT ALL!  However, if you are looking for something to keep the kids busy one afternoon - do it!  Just don't expect it to last.