Two of my kiddos just finished school this past week and now we enter Summer break yay!  As excited as I am for summer, it is my favorite time of year, I can see I have a little apprehension about this summer, considering the Covid-19 situation the entire world has been navigating through. 

 Usually I work up a summer to do list and summer bucket list, because I know having a family summer game plan helps your family make the most of your summer!  On this blog post you can download a free summer bucket list to personalize with your family and free summer daily to do list printable.  

 For years, we have had season passes to Raging Waters our local swim park and many years we have had season passes to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  We typically participate in the "Kids Bowl Free" summer program, we typically attend $1 Summer Movie Program, which we probably won't have this year.  I don't do a complete hour by hour schedule I usually do a daily schedule for example.  Monday home day, Tuesday park/movie day, Wednesday swim day, Thursday bowling/library day, Friday swim day.  Having some sort of schedule at least gives us an idea of what we have planned for the week. We usually schedule a camping trip, lake days, and a couple of nearby road trips during summer break as well.  
There are many benefits to having some kind of summer schedule, it eliminates the never ending questions from the kids "what are we doing today?"  It gives the kids something to look forward to, they each have their favorite day for some it's swim day, for another it's meeting friends at the park day.  A game plan helps ensure that we actually do something, the days seem to go by faster and faster, and it is very easy to let the days, and then weeks go by filled with nothing.  Summer break really does go by too quick.   It is important to have a game plan in place because many families across the country are in the same boat, so if you want to order a backyard pool for example many are sold out or have an estimated ship date for August, yeah that is too late.  Even puzzles that we have ordered have taken a much longer time to get to us.  So now is the time to plan out your summer and order whatever summer fun things you need.  
While I can foresee this summer will be different, I still think it is extremely important to have a summer game plan or even more important.  I know as a parent you probably are already feeling a little drained, and you probably do not want to think about scheduling out summer.  I get it!  We are going into summer and have been cooking all the meals, we are entering summer and have already had to think up of ideas and activities to keep little ones occupied these past months.  Many parents are juggling working from home, many have other hardships that they are experiencing, it feels a little daunting.  On top of all that we have to deal with the still many unknowns.  I understand I have had those "fend for yourself" days, we've had cereal for dinner days and go ahead and play on that tablet because mom is done days.  We really don't know what back to school will look like, many do not know when they will go back into the office and not be telecommuting.    

 Typically there is this built up anticipation from the kids to "be home" for summer break, they look forward to Lego building, backyard trampoline fun and spending time at home, but since we have already been home for the last two months, I don't sense that same anticipation and excitement from them in this season.  They are excited to be done with "distance learning" and the book work, but I don't see the same excitement that I typically see from them about summer.  

 I don't think your summer has to be elaborate to be fun, with a little planning and including the kids in that planning I think summer can still be fun, a good old fashioned summer, just like we had growing up.  Schedule a brainstorming session with the family maybe at your next dinner around the table. Build your own Summer Bucket List, and again I get it, we have already camped in the living room, made s'mores, done chalk art, did canvas painting and sometimes with kids they will say we already did that.  Encourage your kids with the importance of planning and preparation, how you want to have the supplies to accomplish the things they want to do.  Maybe it's something bigger like a DIY project, redecorating their room, maybe it's making sure you have t-shirts and paint to do a tie dye project.  

 So rather than give you a free printable of an already made Summer Bucket List, there are a ton of those out there, I am giving you a BLANK one.  If you have their input and it's what they want to do I think you'll have greater success at scratching off those Summer Bucket List Ideas.  
One thing I am certain of is we only have a limited amount of summers with our kiddos, so I intend on making the most of them.  I might have to remind myself everyday through summer break to savor the simple things and not pull my hair out, that is okay.  I love this song by Dillon Chase about 18 Summers.  I plan on playing it when I have one of those "I am done" moments.  

 I also want to encourage you to schedule in some education stuff, I know, I know, everyone is done with school so am I.  My kiddos love their screen time as much as all the other kids, but I do plan on having them read daily, play some educational games, I also have some workbooks that I will have them do before screen time.  Even if it is coloring, I want them to do something before they get on their electronic devices.  My boys love these Sticker Puzzle Books, that we found on Amazon here is a link to Sticker Extremely Cute Animals. We have a family puzzle we are working on and even now what I have been doing, is everyone has to for example complete 5 pieces before screen time, sometimes I set a timer, everyone has to work on the puzzle together for 10 minutes before they hop on tablets.  

One of my game plans is to try and have them do crafts, games, activities, cleaning their room, and backyard play up until lunch.  I am going to try and keep screen time play for the afternoons when it is too hot to play in the backyard and once they have completed certain things.  Here is a FREE Printable I made for our family!  Summer Daily To Do List
Here are some older summer blog posts I've shared:

 How to Keep Kids Cool and Hydrated During Summer
Homemade S'more Ice Cream

 8 Tips for a Stress Free Summer 

 Free and Cheap Things to Do This Summer

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