 Summer with Kids)
Summer is my favorite time of year; that must be why it always seems to speed by. Around me, many schools are now starting in the middle of August, and my daughter’s new preschool year starts in just a couple of weeks. Let’s not jump into school supplies and bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils quite yet though.
Here are a few simple ways to savor summer with your children… in green fashion, naturally!
No-Waste Snacks for Outings
As you wind down your summer outings to the beach, park, zoo, etc., don’t forget to avoid the convenience of packaged foods. With a newborn baby and the laid-back mentality summer brings, I’ve found myself getting a little lax (you might even say lazy!) with my snack-packing.
As I come out of the baby haze and enjoy the end of summer, I’m finding myself wanting to get back to greener ways by packing homemade alternatives to snacks in reusable containers (like granola bars- my favorite recipe comes from Katie’s great healthy snacks cookbook). You can find some more great homemade snack ideas here and here.
Letting my daughter choose her container or snack bag sometimes helps her forget about the appeal of snacks that come in wasteful packaging.
Make a Plan
Some days I get in a summer funk where I’m not motivated to get out. The lack of routine just gets the best of me and I find myself succumbing to the ease of a TV show. This makes for kids with too much pent-up energy and also uses more home energy.
Making a plan and sticking to it (as much as possible) has saved us this summer. It keeps me motivated and keeps my preschooler from asking me every five minutes what we are going to do next. Now, she can just look at our chart to see the plans. She knows that the plans are subject to change, but having an idea of what’s coming next has helped us enjoy our summer immensely.
I’m amazed at how much having a plan has kept us from too much TV (on most days). We can also better plan our days to avoid the heat during outings and keep the house cool by how we use our appliances.
Be Intentional
Something I want to focus on for the remaining weeks of summer is making more intentional choices with our outings, and trying to integrate educational opportunities into our everyday living. Taking trips to the zoo, botanical garden, or even just a nature walk or exploring on the beach are great ways to do this.
We’ve even taken to keeping track of the days someone in our family swims by putting a little “s” on the calendar. We’ll count them up at the end of the summer.
Getting the kids involved in summery everyday activities can be a great learning experience for them. Examining the contents of our CSA box and choosing a recipe together, watering the garden and choosing whether waste can be recycled, composted or just tossed are things that happen naturally during the summer, but that I can easily slip into doing by myself, without my kids, if I’m not intentional about it.
A few more ideas from the archives:
- The Benefits of Getting into Nature with Your Kids
- Outdoor Fun: Farm Visits
- WWOOF: Family-Friendly Eco Travel
Do you have any suggestions on savoring what’s left of summer with a green mindset?
About Nicole
Hi Nicole,
I really enjoyed reading your post, because it really focuses on something that has been on my mind lately. Although TV is not a big temptation for my two girls (aged 6 and 9), computer games are (a lot!) and this summer I decided to plan a few activities so that they don’t spend so much time at them. I don’t have a daily schedule (though that’s a nice idea too), but I do have a master list of activities I glance at once in a while, trying to integrate one or several into our daily routine. It mostly focuses on outdoor activities and nature observation, although there are also some indoor related activities, such as cooking summer recipes, reading and drawing. Here are some of them: swimming (in the river or biological swimming pool – along with observation of aquatic life), observing and making a photo catalog of insects, then try to identify at least some of them; making solar prints; building and using a sundial; looking at the stars at night and trying to identify some constelations; riding our bycicles; playing badmington; football; jump rope; and traditional outdoor Portuguese games such as “jogo da malha” (in which you basically try to knock down wooden pins with flat stones).
Needless to say, we’ve so far hardly covered half this list, but the idea is to take it slowly and not as an obligation, but suggestions to follow as we feel like it. I hope my English was clear enough and I wish you and your family a great summer!
I love the “master activity list” idea! That’s something I should work on creating, too!
Making a plan is really necessary for times like summer. for my kids it also been very useful, when everyone know what to do everything is more calm.
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Oh, I love that red schedule of activities! I have one child who wants to know what’s coming next, by his nature, and he would LOVE something like that. I always try to make him a list, but it’s not as fun–or cute–as your “today’s plan” board!
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It’s wonderful you want to avoid t.v. time; so you’ve come up with a solution that works for your family. It’s an idea that may inspire others to create summer memories that are more memorable than sitting in front of a screen. A special summer instead.
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What a beautiful, beautiful post. Clearly these kids are in the best possible hands. And god Bless all of you kids
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We also have prepared a scheduled for this summer, and we put it on the fridge.
Everybody is exited to wake up every morning and go over to the family’s mutual calender, and see our plans and feel like we are all taking the responsibility to execute our mutual plans together. this, I must say, is a brilliant idea.
Thanks dear
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Hi Nic,
Thanks for this post. Making a plan is what I always failed to do. Specially summer there are a lot of activities and time just fly. I love to spend time with my nephews during this days because I feel like a child again with them.
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this sounds like such a perfect day, i think i’m gonna try and follow your suggestions especially the “plan plan plan” ones
)
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These are great tips for fun and ‘green’ things to do with your kids. Sometimes it seems like as fun as summer’s are, it can be stressful to find things for your kids to do that will be entertaining but also not end up making the parents crazy. I especially liked the tip about being intentional and the ways you’ve found to involve the kids. Great stuff!
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I love home made Granolla bars!! YAM!!
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I can totally relate to this. It;s easy to get into a funk (and even live in a way I don’t want to) when I’m not intentionally planning our days.
I love the idea of letting your daughter pick the container. It’s so good to include them and it’s a great way for them to feel excited about their snack, even when it doesn’t come in a shiny package.
Glad you are coming out of the baby haze
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