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In this post, I’ll be talking about…

Enjoying some downtime in the summer…for a bit
Getting back into the swing of things…in a laidback summer sort of way
Creating a (loose) structure for kids at home during the summer months
Learning from mistakes and wins of summers past
Fun & unique summer activities to keep things interesting…at home
Summertime goals for a healthy, happy family

So if you’re looking for some ideas (and validation) of things to do during the summer that’s not just meaningless busyness - or sports leagues - read on…

Enjoying some downtime in the summer…for a bit

Summer’s here! Yay! It’s always such a huge high to end the craziness of a school year and be able to let loose from so much structure. Especially if your kids take any classes outside the home.

It also can lead to a sort of letdown after the initial excitement wears off. You know, that “Well, now what are we going to do?” moment when you realize the world is your oyster…but you don’t really have anything pressing. It can be tempting for the kids to just do nothing. Which, hey, a breather is definitely necessary, especially after busy seasons of life.

But once that “breather” time has had its moment, it’s time to get back to getting active and not let do-nothing habits take over.

In our home, we homeschool for much of the year but do take a few weeks off during the summer months. This past school year was busier than usual as my daughter took some classes in a homeschool tutorial program -sort of like a hybrid homeschool situation. She loved the opportunity to get to do a bit of socializing, now that she’s in high school, and enjoyed only having to take classes she thought she’d enjoy.

It also kept us running to and from her school two days each week, so life was faster-paced than in past years.

We definitely breathed a sigh of relief when the school year ended so we could redeem that time (and gas money).

Getting back into the swing of things…in a laidback summer sort of way

On a typical school day, after breakfast, we do family worship followed by history and/or science together, maybe a read-aloud depending on the season. And then we break for individual lessons. The older two kids would do their lessons independently and my youngest and I would work on his lessons (math, reading) together and then he’d finish off independently with his handwriting.

Having the extra classes away put my daughter behind in some of her lessons here at home, so one thing we’re doing differently this summer is playing a bit of catch-up on some of our lessons, in a very relaxed way.

Creating a (loose) structure for kids at home during the summer months

To be honest, it’s sort of nice to have some light lessons to finish up because it helps smooth the transition from school to summer without feeling too much like a school year, but to help structure our days. One thing I did differently this year is intentionally planning some subjects to cover over the summer instead of just stopping school completely, even though I’m not calling it “school.”

Our current summer morning routine starts the same as during the regular school year with family worship after breakfast. Next, we are working through an agriculture course which is perfect for summer gardening. It also ties in a lot of health and faith-based thoughts with gardening, so that has been a lovely Bible-based science class that we will continue through the summer and into the fall.

After that, we break for individual tasks. My daughter works through some of her math she didn’t quite get finished during the school year, and my boys work on inventions, building, or craft projects or go outside while I work on my website. My youngest son (age 9) is very into bugs and animals. So he also spends a lot of time outside studying ants, spiders, flies, etc. He has a pocket microscope, magnifying glass, net, multiple buckets and containers, and we recently found a little bug-catching, scissor-handled, bubble-pincher thing from Dollar Tree. Although it’s very cheaply made, it’s been fun for him to be able to pick up critters without getting bitten or accidentally squishing the bugs. We’ve already had to glue it, but I’m hoping we can modify it to make it last a while since the idea of it is really great!

Update: we’ve upgraded to this handy dandy bug catcher with magnifying glass which seems much sturdier. So we’ll see how he likes it!

Learning from mistakes and wins of summers past

One thing we learned from joining a summer softball league last year is that it is not how we want to spend our summers. Last year our two older kids joined a softball league for the first (and hopefully last) time. It was insane! While I have always loved to play ball, this was a whole new level of competition…and busyness!

Anyway, we did NOT join the league again this summer. Hallelujah! However, even though we knew we wanted to live a slower summer this year, we still want our kids to have plenty to stay active and productive without being just plain busy.

If you live on some land, this is a no-brainer. When I was a farm kid, I definitely kept busy with yard work, gardening, animal caretaking, and general maintenance (we even re-roofed our house one summer!) during the summer months. Glorious!

But living in a subdivision forces you to really get creative - especially if you’re on a tight budget. And don’t have a pool. :)

Fun & unique summer activities to keep things interesting…at home

So here are some affordable ways we have found to keep busy, productive, and active during the summer months to keep our home, bodies, and mental health in good shape.

Handicrafts - If you hate crafts, don’t worry. So do I! Most of it is junk. But I love when my kids can learn actual useful skills like sewing, building, and the like. My sons (12 and 9) like to create things out of scrap wood, a 3D printer, hot glue, and whatever else they can find. They get inspiration from library books, audio stories, and this book of inventions my youngest just got for his birthday.
My daughter (15) has had a sewing machine for the past 5 years and has messed around making little things like doll clothes, pencil pouches, and other crafts all this time. This year she’s been drafting and making her own clothes so is really taking her skills to a whole new level. Pretty amazing to me as I’m not a sewist, but I love that she loves it!
Gardening - Our soil is awful, but we still grow a few things every year and are slowly building the soil. It’s been fun seeing my kids take more interest in learning the in’s and out’s of gardening since we’ve been going through the agriculture course together.
My daughter isn’t into vegetable gardening but is starting a Guinea Pig garden for her two piggies to get some outside time and forage around through herbs and yummies. She’s also very artsy so is interested in cut flower gardening as well.
We also have a hydroponic Tower Garden which makes it easy to get the right balance of nutrients vs. fighting bad soil. I’m getting a late start but will grow things like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers on our tower this year. Last year I did all greens which did great until summer really heated up.
Yardwork - Hey, even in a subdivision, there’s plenty to work out outside in addition to our veggie garden. I’m a fan of landscaping and am often inspired by Laura from Garden Answer and her lush gardens! So we spend a lot of time outside designing, planting, transplanting, pruning, dead-heading, and watering our landscaping.
My oldest son does our mowing (and a neighbor’s yard) and most of the weed eating. My youngest son also likes to weed eat and use our old-fashioned reel lawn mower. He also helps quite a bit with pruning bushes, picking up sticks, and weeding. And he helps me keep things free of Japanese beetles and other pests.
Family workouts - working out with friends and family is something I’ve enjoyed my whole life. I don’t take it too seriously and we always get the giggles whatever we’re doing - whether it’s a made-up circuit workout where we rotate around to different stations using printable kids workout cards, or a video workout on YouTube.
Enticing them outside - One of the first things we bought when we moved here was a trampoline for our yard - something my husband and I always wanted when we were kids but never had. (Don’t worry, we had plenty of other things). My kids have spent hours on it. We also love badminton, pickleball (Aldi find!), Blitzball, corn hole, basketball, and a ninja line for keeping things interesting, active, and outside.
Making movement fun and accessible - as a former private practice PT, I’ve got quite a few fun pieces of portable exercise equipment. I keep some of the smaller things in a basket and move pieces around to different rooms so my kids will be tempted to use them. ;) I also switch things out regularly to keep them fresh and exciting. Probably the most-used items are my exercise ball and the pull-up bar.
Active toys - Speaking of the pull-up bar…my youngest son liked to practice dunking through the space between it and the doorframe. So for his birthday, we got him a basketball goal for the back of his door that has a timer and keeps score. It has kept him active for hours - mostly dunking, so tons of jumping. Our kids also spend time rollerblading, biking, and scootering whenever possible.
Pets!! Our pets keep us busy and so entertained! We have 2 kitty brothers who are young and very feisty. So they are a ton of fun! We also have a dog who loves to play and is such a sweetheart! She is a great companion and always ready to chase the soccer ball, run with us, or go for a walk in the neighborhood. Definitely helps us stay very active having our fur-buddies around! I’ve also got a backyard agility course for our pup on my wish list (or maybe will just make our own), which would give my daughter lots to keep her busy since she’s a fan of animal training.
Water - Sadly, we do not have a pool, but do get to swim at the neighbor’s on occasion. We do have a hose, water balloons, and water guns though, which is fun on a hot day. And you can’t go wrong with a basic sprinkler either!

Summertime goals for a healthy, happy family

Ultimately, summertime is a great time to soak up more family time with fewer responsibilities on the school front and put more emphasis on physical activity and productive movement for things like gardening and yard work. It’s a great time to create memories working together as a family to grow your own food and steward whatever you have been given the responsibility to take care of - however big or small that may be.

It’s also a great opportunity to spend time playing with the kids - especially rewarding after a job well done. Like a swim or water play after mowing the lawn or working in the garden. Or get out corn hole or badminton for some active family relaxation in the evening when things are cooling off.

There are a lot of inexpensive ways to encourage not just activity, but productivity and family bonding by creating a movement-rich environment for the summer months.

What are some summertime activities your family enjoys?

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