SUMMER FUN

Yay Summer!!!

One of the ongoing struggles we have in our home is maintaining interest in activities throughout the summer…

The following ideas will hopefully get you started doing something fun on those weeks that you’re home during the Summer.

It may be helpful to have a different incentive each week, or one big incentive at the end of summer.

For example, for Fluffy Pants week I might have my kids collectively earn points that will go toward getting our pets new toys or treats. For Arts week, kids could earn a sketchbook or journal. If I did Fashion week at the end of summer, my kids might need to participate in ⅔ of the activities throughout the summer to earn a higher budget for school clothes. For Zombie week, I might promise not to eat their brains. You get the picture.

Have fun!

FLUFFY PANTS WEEK

• Watch funny pet videos
• Make funny pet videos
• Animal drawing contest
• Search up fun facts about your favorite animal, print them off with pictures
• Extra walks for the dog
• Groom the pet!
• Make a cat castle
• Re-enact a scene from Dog-Man or Bad Kitty
• Make cat or dog treats (looks like an animal but for us to eat – pancakes, decorated cookies or cupcakes)
• Make cat or dog treats (for the cat or dog)
• Watch “Cats and Dogs” or another animal movie (Buddy, Old Yeller, The Way Home, a Dog’s Purpose…)

FORTNITE WEEK

• Make forts
• Cardboard and duck tape weapons and armor
• Real life exercises that would help you in the game of Fortnite
• Watch survival tips videos (for surviving stranded on a desert island, days without power, stranded in a snowstorm, etc.)
• Make a poster to invite friends to join in cardboard war at a specific date/time
• Play video games- tournament on one day (put a time limit on this one)
• Everyone learn how to floss

ZOMBIE WEEK

• Brain health – meditate, eat fish, exercise four times this week
• Brain food (looks)- spaghetti
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies or Disney Zombies
• Create a music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or another. Put on zombie make up.
• Make slime
• Make a mystery shake (edible ingredients unknown to others)
• Have Jello for dinner
• Create eulogies and epitaphs – what would you want people to say at your funeral?
• If you had to “pick” someone’s brain, whose would it be? Choose someone you admire and do a brief presentation to everyone else on why you’d want their brain.

DANCE TILL YOU DROP WEEK

• Freeze dance
• Do the Hokey Pokey
• Dance camp by older sisters (conditioning, stretching, dance moves)
• Have someone else pick a song for you, and Choreograph a dance to go with it
• Given descriptive terms (i.e. bold, upbeat, fast, flowing, hypnotic, slow…) create dance moves – someone will give you the song after you choreograph it
• Create a dance video
• Make treats for the dance production
• Sell tickets to friends for dance, the chicken dance, Music video from Zombie week, and scene from Dog-man

ROLE PLAY GAME WEEK

• Create a RPG
• Dressed in character, play the RPG for kid 1
• Play the RPG for kid 2
• Play the RPG for kid 3

BUG WEEK

• Eat Ants on Logs for snacks
• Have a picnic and invite the ants and bees to join you
• Start a bug collection (no bugs that bite!) and see if you can keep them alive all week
• Bug drawing contest (draw pictures of bugs – bugs can’t draw, silly!)
• If possible, sleep outside
• Watch A Bug’s Life
• Learn about the animals in your neighborhood, and the food chain where you live
• Go to a nature center, draw what you see, find out names of bugs

ARTS WEEK

• Go to an art gallery around Tabernacle and Main Street, grab a cupcake at 25 Main
• Art lessons by older siblings and Bob Ross, or videos online
• Pick from the following categories to practice drawing: noses, eyes, rainbow unicorns, Marvel characters, landscapes, faces, Anime, llamas, etc.
• Pick a famous artist and dress up like them when you draw/paint
• Supplies from Michael’s, frames from DI?
• Food art – every meal should be a picture
• Body art – do nails, make-up, hair, face painting
• Live art – watch a video of people who perform as statues. Dress up and be a statue – have a contest to see who can hold a pose the longest.

CULINARY WEEK

• Watch a season of your favorite baking show (The Great British Baking Show, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, Nailed It, Sugar Rush, The Big Family Cooking Showdown, Cupcake Wars…)
• Before the week starts, plan a menu for the week (with supervision). Each person should participate in making at least one meal and one treat.
• Before the week starts, pick a treat or something you’d like to make
• Decorate cupcakes or cookies
• Create healthy snacks (granola, ants on logs, cookie cutter shaped sandwiches)
• Watch a documentary on healthy eating. Draw a picture about what you learned and share it with your family.
• Every time your parents ask you to do a chore, say “That sounds delicious!” (then do the chore)
• Bake treats for a neighbor
• Document your baking with photos, send pictures to your grandparents

SPORTS WEEK

• Make a list of the sports you plan to do this week, depending on your resources. Assemble all the equipment you need.
• Plan to make an inspirational sports video documenting your activities.
• Depending on how many kids will participate, you may pick from the following:
• Football/flag football, Soccer, Tennis, Pickleball, Golf, Volleyball, Spikeball, Ultimate frisbee (or regular frisbee)
• Roller blading/roller skating, biking, hiking, swimming
• Tag at a park, ping pong, foosball, air hockey
• Watch an inspirational sports movie (Rudy, Miracle, Cool Runnings, Coach Carter, Field of Dreams, the Karate Kid, Remember the Titans, We Are Marshall…)
• Find out about one of your favorite athletes – What did they have to do to get to where they are? What are the character traits that helped them succeed? What do you have in common with them?

FASHION WEEK

• Review modesty, modesty song
• Thrift store shopping for fashion show, pick out an outfit for someone else to wear.
• Drawing contest for clothes
• Do hair and make-up for fasion show
• Invite friends to a fashion show – wear the clothes your sibling picked out for you.
• Clothing inventory for school, send extras to thrift store
• Shop for school clothes

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS WEEK

• If you’re spontaneous or indecisive, this is the week for you!
• Put options for activities on pieces of paper, and have everyone involved pull out what activities you will do this week.
• If there are any disputes, settle them with Rock Paper Scissors (two out of three).
• This is a good option for a short week as well, when you’ll be out of town part of the time or have other things going on.

YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME WEEK

• Treat every day like it’s April Fools’ (with jokes that won’t get anyone hurt or in trouble)
• Check out a book of jokes. Pick out your favorites and memorize them
• Have a “don’t smile” contest with a sibling or parent, see who can go the longest
• When you’re asked to do a chore, pretend you’re excited about it and skip all the way there and back
• Share the funniest experiences you’ve had as a family
• Find a real newspaper and see what you can do with Silly Putty
• Dress up like your sibling for a day (if it won’t get you in trouble)
• See how many times you can say “supercalifragilisticexpealidocious”
• Practice tongue twisters
• Read a funny book (Bad Kitty, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Book with No Pictures, the Pidgeon Needs a Bath, I Want My Hat Back, How to Babysit a Grandma, Dragons Love Tacos, Dog Man…)
• Watch a funny show (Here Comes the Boom, Boss Baby, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Despicable Me, Shrek…)

SERVICE WEEK

• Brainstorm service ideas Sunday
• Neighborhood cleanup
• Doorbell ditching with treats
• Secret sibling service throughout the week (note, service, gift)
• Organize your room
• Breakfast in bed for Mom or Dad, OR make dinner for the family one night
• Count minutes of time spent in service, at the end of the week number of minutes determines how many water balloons you get for a water balloon fight