Fun summer activities to do with your kids in and around your home

It’s summer and the living is eas…”Mom…I’m bored!” Ok, maybe not so easy if you’re a parent with small kids! This is almost every parent’s least favourite phrase, but definitely one the kids like to pull out on long hot summer days. How can you keep your kids occupied without breaking the bank or your sanity? I ran a home daycare for a few years and learned a lot about keeping kids busy.

Here are some fun (and cheap!) ways to avoid a mid-summer boredom meltdown.

Get outside!

Toronto is full of some amazing parks with really fun features. Dufferin Grove is a favourite at my house. There is a big wading pool and an incredible Farmer’s Market every Thursday from 3pm  to 7pm. But the piece de resistance? The giant sand pit! Running water, shovels and buckets, planks of wood – this is every kid’s dream! They can get dirty, build a castle with a moat and let their imaginations run wild.

Build a fairy house in your garden

You don’t need to be a craft expert to pull this sweet activity off and it can be stretched out over the year by taking nature walks to search for fairy house treasures. Take a walk through the trails in your neighbourhood park or down by Lake Ontario to find smooth beach glass, cool rocks, abandoned snail shells, bottle caps, leaves and sticks to add to your fairy’s abode.

If you want to get really inspired, Michaels has a great section of fairy accessories. Or you can keep it simple and search Pinterest for easy DIY fairy houses made out of recycled material you likely have around the house. To really capture your little one’s imagination, you can secretly add items that the fairies bring when no one’s around.

Bubbles!

Every kid loves bubbles and there are a few ways to make this simple summer activity really cool. By adding glycerin to a solution of dish soap and water you can make bubbles that bounce! Glycerin can be found in most grocery stores; it toughens the skin of the bubbles so they last longer.

Make a game of it and see how long a bubble will last or even if you can gently hold one in your hands. You can level up with the glycerin solution by purchasing a giant bubble wand and make enormous bubbles! Even as an adult I found this activity pretty captivating.

Scavenger hunt

This can be done indoors on a rainy day or outside in the backyard or park. At home, have your kids find items from every room in the house or if you’re headed to a park, make a list of nature items – a cool rock, flowers of different colours, items with different textures…the possibilities are endless!

Have a car/toy wash

Grab a bucket and some dish soap, a few sponges and get to work! Kids love to “help” and most of them love water play. I lost track of the amount of times my daughter and her friends played this game for hours during the summer months. We’ve washed trikes, bikes, toy animals, dolls, plastic dishes – the list goes on. Keep in mind that too much soap on your grass can cause it to yellow, so rotate from the lawn to the pavement if you can.

Make some magic mud

This is a really easy and super fun activity, but it can get messy! Thankfully the clean up isn’t too bad. Simply mix water and cornstarch until you get a bizarre soft-solid…well, goop is the best word to describe it.

The particles of the cornstarch don’t dissolve in water so if you move slowly through the mixture it feels like thick mud, but if you squeeze it or press on it, the particles come together and it becomes solid for a moment before quickly melting again. It is truly a sensation to be experienced first hand.

We added small plastic animals and spoons to the bowl and it kept my daughter busy for so long! You can do it outdoors and the “mud” will wash away easily with the hose. Inside, if you let any drips that have spilled dry out, they sweep up easily.

Hopefully these ideas offer your kids some fun times! And a few moments of peace for parents and caregivers.