Summer Activities at Home

I'm working on putting together a list library events, church events, and community events this summer (Find that here!). But for the days when you want to be at home, here is a growing list of simple, but fun activities you can do at home to keep kids entertained on rainy days or when school is out. I've included some affiliate links from Amazon to hopefully help you find some good deals. If you click on them and buy anything (not just what I've linked!), I get a super small commission at no extra cost to you.

I hope this helps you prepare for a fun summer with your kids!!

• Contractor Paper - I'm starting here because this is *key* to helping for easy clean up for some of the activities I'm adding at the bottom of this list haha! You can get contractor paper/kraft paper/butcher paper on Amazon in different widths (we have this one for covering a smaller space), but the best deal is to run to Home Depot or Lowe's and spend under $20 for a BIG roll! Harbor Freight has also had good deals on narrow rolls too, so it might be worth a trip there to check. We cover our table or the floor and then bring out the kinetic sand, playdough, markers, paint, anything messy! It makes a great space for practicing handwriting and math problems or drawing a town with roads for playing with cars.
  
  
  
  
  
• Painter's Tape - While we're talking about easy clean up solutions, let's talk about painter's tape. Yes, it helps hold the paper on the table in place, but it has so many other uses in play! My kids will use painter's tape to make parking spaces and roads all across the floor for their small cars and trains, set up hopscotch in the kitchen, create shapes and art on windows....they come up with more ideas on their own than I could ever think of. Masking tape works too, but painter's tape seems to be easier for little hands to remove without damaging any surfaces in the house. I just grabbed this pack from Amazon recently.
  
  
• Movie Theater - One of my kids' favorite activities! Let the kids make "movie tickets" from paper, pick out a movie and some snacks (as simple as popcorn or go big on a theme matching the movie), and everyone settle down for some movie time. On rainy days ,this will often turn into "movie marathon."
  
  
• Sidewalk chalk - We don't have a paved driveway, but the porch is always full of new artwork, so I buy sidewalk chalk in bulk. Get creative thinking of where they can draw! Mine like to take chalk to the playground and draw. You can even set up some concrete pavers in a walkway or flowered where they will get washed off in the rain. Use the painter's tape you picked up to make stained glass style art, or to make a "frame" around any other sidewalk chalk art. On rainy days, use chalk to create masterpieces on dark construction paper too!
  
  
• Play dough - It's a classic toy that keeps my kids entertained for hours! Do I love it when they mix all the colors into one big grey pile? Not really, no....but they don't seem to mind....and then they say it's outer space play dough haha! Playing with playdough is great for building the muscles in little hands, which will help them when they are learning to write. While I'm putting together this blog, my kids are playing with a dentist playdough set a friend gave them. I didn't find the exact one on Amazon, but this one is similar! Here is a good variety pack too. We've made our own play dough a couple of times too, and really like being able to add scents with vanilla extract or peppermint extract or lavender flowers. In our experience, the homemade play dough lasts at least 6 months, as long as you keep it in a sealed container. Here's a link to instructions on my blog for how to make your own!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kinetic Sand - If you're not a fan of dry play dough that gets left out....you should get some kinetic sand! It sweeps up easily if it gets on the floor, and still provides hours of creative entertainment for all my kids. My sister put together kinetic sand kits for my two oldest when they were little, using plastic storage boxes and some simple toys they could use to play with the sand. You can put together different theme boxes to get out on different days, or keep everything together. Pinterest and Amazon are full of good ideas for how to put together some kinetic sand theme boxes.  I will say I made the mistake of getting "slime sand" on accident one time, and it's not the same! I haven't tried making my own kinetic sand yet, but here are several links to ones you can try.
  
  
• Rocks - Roll out that contractor paper, get the rocks the kids have been collecting from every parking lot and playground they've visited, set out some paint, and let them get creative! After they're dry, they have a new set of homemade stacking toys. For a slightly less messy option for preschoolers, you can give them a paintbrush and a cup of water and let them "paint" the rocks with water.

• Rice - Is there colorful rice all over my floor right now? Yes, but have my kids been well entertained when I’m cooking the last few days? Also yes! There are lots of variations for how to make colored rice for a sensory bin, but we went super simple and it seems to work! Pour some rice into a zip bag, add just a smidge of food coloring (we used the kind in the jar), and mix mix mix mix! Once all the food coloring is incorporated to the rice, you can pour it into a big ton or bowl and play like you would play with sand! We made three bags: one with pink and purple food coloring (one color on each side so you wind up with variations of the two colors, very cool!), one with orange and yellow, and one with green and blue. Since I didn’t use a TON of food coloring, these came out somewhat pastel, which I like!

• Puzzles - I like keeping a puzzle out for people to work on as they walk by. I don't keep one out all the time, but every once in a while you'll find one on our table or bar. Check the thrift store for some super inexpensive puzzles! We've found several brand new ones there recently!
  
  
• Nail Salon - Trace your hands and let your littles practice painting nails! We've done this with old nail polish, but I found empty nail polish bottles online and I think I'm going to order some and fill them with some washable paint in various colors!
  
  
  
  
  
• Summer Reading- Several libraries in the area offer incentives to encourage reading at home this summer! I'll be adding related local events to this page as I hear of those, but there are other companies that also work to encourage summer reading if you aren't able to make it to those events. Here's a few I've found.
  - BJU Press Journey Forth Summer Reading
  - The Good and The Beautiful Summer Reading
  - Sonlight Summer Reading Challenge Kit
  - Book It! by Pizza Hut (year round)
  - Chuck E Cheese (lots of incentives, not just reading, and not just summer)
  - Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading (year round)