Frugal Friday: Summer Fun! (Ideas & More)
Happy Frugal Friday! And happy summer!
Today I want to post some ideas for activities that you can do this summer that are both frugal and fun. I've shared many of these before, but I wanted to compile the list a little better so it's accessible to anyone who is looking to rock their summer vacation this year. :) I know we are!
Have you seen my SUMMER PLAN yet?
We've used this system for a couple of years now, and it works great. We've already had a week of summer and it's been great. My kids look forward to doing their chores every day so they can participate in the activities. Here's what this week looked like for us:
I wanted to share with you our adventures this week to demonstrate that a lot of fun can be had little or no money. The themes for each day work really well. It keeps just the right amount of structure in the week, but still allows for plenty of flexibility.
Along with these planned activities, we also had time for several spontaneous activities. Examples from this week were a spontaneous evening hike up a mountain near our house to watch the sunset with daddy, a snow cone party (that ended in a snowball fight) at the neighbor's house, and lots of play time with friends. It was a fun week.
Need ideas for activities? Don't get bogged down on this. Here's a list I created with over a 100 ideas. I've found that the best resource is the kids. Ask them what they want to do. Give a spending limit if you need to. Or print out a list and have them pick. You could spend all week searching and planning activities. That's one of the downsides of the internet I think. Just pick some stuff and go with it. Spend the time making the memories, not planning the activities. :)
Well I hope that gives you somewhere to start. Here's a few more ideas for activities for each theme. Enjoy and Happy Summer!
Today I want to post some ideas for activities that you can do this summer that are both frugal and fun. I've shared many of these before, but I wanted to compile the list a little better so it's accessible to anyone who is looking to rock their summer vacation this year. :) I know we are!
Have you seen my SUMMER PLAN yet?
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| You can download my summer plan at this link |
Make Something Monday - We made marshmallow tinker toy towers! A neighbor boy came over and joined in the fun. Afterwards they all stuffed themselves full of marshmallows and were not hungry for dinner. Cheap fun. A bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks.
Library Trip Tuesday - We headed off to the library (we used to walk, but now we check out way too many books...) and signed up for the summer reading program. Does your library have one? They are WONDERFUL for keeping kids reading all summer long. We checked out books and the boys read to their heart's content. The quietest day of the week is always library day around here.
Wet, Wet, Wednesday - We went to the local splash pad. Free fun. I realized once we were there we should have invited some friends to come, but the boys had a blast anyway. Many of the kids that were there were having a water fight with cups of water. The little ones floated sticks down the river.
Thinking Thursday - On the schedule was learning some typing skills (at my older boys request), but at the time that sounded so BORING. So we quickly changed the schedule and did a few other things. First we learned a new game. I had a game board book that I've had for years and we pulled it out and learned a new game. It was fun, but not exciting enough for my younger boy. He decided he wanted to do treasure hunts. So we took turns creating treasure hunts for each other. We wrote down clues on slips of paper and hid them around the house and yard. It was a blast. No expensive treasures needed. A hug from Mom was the treasure at the end of my hunt. Making memories.
Field Trip Friday - Today we have plans to ride our bikes to the local drugstore to get $1 ice cream cones. The boys have been looking forward to it all week.
I wanted to share with you our adventures this week to demonstrate that a lot of fun can be had little or no money. The themes for each day work really well. It keeps just the right amount of structure in the week, but still allows for plenty of flexibility.
Along with these planned activities, we also had time for several spontaneous activities. Examples from this week were a spontaneous evening hike up a mountain near our house to watch the sunset with daddy, a snow cone party (that ended in a snowball fight) at the neighbor's house, and lots of play time with friends. It was a fun week.
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| Beautiful view of the sunset from our hike this week |
Need ideas for activities? Don't get bogged down on this. Here's a list I created with over a 100 ideas. I've found that the best resource is the kids. Ask them what they want to do. Give a spending limit if you need to. Or print out a list and have them pick. You could spend all week searching and planning activities. That's one of the downsides of the internet I think. Just pick some stuff and go with it. Spend the time making the memories, not planning the activities. :)
Well I hope that gives you somewhere to start. Here's a few more ideas for activities for each theme. Enjoy and Happy Summer!
Got summer plans? I'd love to hear your ideas. What do you do to make summer special?
Make Something Monday -
Make Marshmallow Tinker Toys (see instructions above)
Library Trip Tuesday -
Wet, Wet, Wednesday -
Wash the Car
Thinking Thursday -
Make up Treasure Hunts (see instructions above)
Learn a new game (here are some fun ideas)
Field Trip Friday -
Go to a new park
Go on a picnic
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