Children's Activities for the Summer Holidays

Schedule weekly fields trips to locations your kids may have never explored.

Summer holidays are an ideal time to catch up with family and friends while enjoying a barbecue or water fun. When the kids are out of school, don't keep them idle over the summer holidays. Plan ahead to prepare activities that will keep them engaged and allow them to appreciate their extended break. From crafts projects to day field trips and outdoor events, the nice summer weather is an optimal time to get the kids off the couch and up and moving.

Fruit Kabobs

Whether you're celebrating the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day or any other summertime holiday, don't leave the cookout preparation for yourself. Allow your children the chance to make their own fruit kabobs by purchasing skewers and a variety of their favorite fruits. Cut off the ends of the wooden skewers or use colorful plastic sticks and let them create a variety of fruit combinations. Give them rice cereal chunks and marshmallows to use in their kabobs for a sweet treat.

Yard Sale

Help your kids plan a garage sale during their summer holiday.

Put your kids to work helping sort out junk in the garage and put them and their friends in charge of a neighborhood yard sale. Assist them in how you want items priced and organized but allow them to take ownership of the project. From making fresh lemonade for customers to creating signs to post throughout the neighborhood, give them a project to teach the responsibilities and fun of hosting a garage sale.

Museum Field Trip

If your kids will not be registered in a summer camp program, join forces with some of your friends and coworkers who also have children and create your own weekly summer camp where the kids can rotate from house to house. Make each parent responsible for creating and managing an end-of-the-week field trip on Friday or Saturday where the kids can get together to tour different historical locations and museums. Ask for group discounts at museums and parks if you're traveling with many kids.

Educational Fun

Your child's learning doesn't have to stop when the school bell rings. Assign your kids a variety of age-appropriate assignments geared around the holidays. A trip to your local arts and crafts store for red, white and blue glitter is a nice start for young ones to decorate a glitter flag creation. Ask them to write the reasons they love being an American. For older kids, challenge them to create their own U.S. history trivia game using index cards and colored markers. Get the entire family together and keep track of winning points and award your kids with a pizza party or ice cream.

References

• Kaboose: Summer Activities
• Apples 4 The Teacher: Fun Summer Activities for Kids