These family child care summer activity favorites come directly from a local provider. Perhaps there are a couple of ideas listed below that you could try out with the children in your life.

1) We live near a wooded trail/pond area so we do lot’s of nature hikes. Even if you don’t live near a wooded trail area you can turn any walk/hike into a scavenger hunt by looking up and down and all around. I encourage the kids to observe the various trees, shrubs, rocks, plants, flowers, birds, bugs, wild-life, anything we happen to come across. We bring binoculars, magnifying glasses, bug-catchers, and other items to make it an enjoyable adventure like sunscreen, water, snacks, camera, first-aid kit, etc. We also bring zip-lock bags for things we may want to keep – pinecones, acorns, leaves, etc.

2)”Car Wash” – a great way to get all the outdoor toys/equipment cleaned up too. I provide buckets, sponges, water, and soap and the kids have a BLAST getting everything cleaned up.

3) Parachute Play, Relays/Obstacle Courses/Junior Olympics (we will incorporate this with the summer Olympics coming in July), Hula Hoops, Jump-roping, flying kites on a windy day, playing in the warm summer rain in our swim suits, BUBBLES, cloud watching.

4) We keep track of the books we read through-out the summer and at the end of the summer we have a “Back To School” party with prizes awarded for our summer reading efforts. (We especially LOVE outdoor storytime!)

5) Other favorites – rock painting, nature collages, pajama parties with movies & pop corn on a rainy day, baking/cooking activities like home-made strawberry jelly or Monster cookies, music/movement/dance, painting with ice-cubes, fairy garden, bug collecting, water/sprinkler play.

6) Another favorite is  having field trips that “come to us” – like the Como Park Zoo, Petting Zoo, Reptile Zoo, Pony Rides, Dakota Wild Animals, etc.