7 Easy Summer Activities That Won’t Break The Bank
Summer is the time for fun and imagination; so we start looking for ideas and planning summer activities. Things can get a bit pricey depending on the activities you pick. Here are seven summer activities that won’t break the bank and will make this a summer to remember!
Painting Wildflower Shadows
Wildflower painting is simple, beautiful, and satisfying for little hands. All you need is watercolor paint, water, a few old paintbrushes, or just use your fingers. And, of course, you need some wildflowers! So let them find the perfect flower and shadow. This activity is sure to be full of surprises. A caterpillar or ladybug may stop by to be in the painting; you may need to paint the flowers as they blow in the wind. It frees the imagination and opens the door for conversation about nature all around you.
Adventure Stick
Making an adventure stick is an activity everyone should try; make it a classic in your home for all the seasons!
What is an Adventure stick?
A memento of items collected on a nature walk.
- First, you find a walking stick and wrap rubber bands around it.
- Then you weave anything you find along the way into the bands of the adventure stick.
- When you get home, you can discuss all the things you found. What you found first and last, where you found them.
It’s a great way to work on memory skills and learn about the sequence of events.
Sidewalk Games
You can use sidewalk chalk to create so many games! Don’t limit yourself to tic tac toe and hopscotch. Create your own games and bring the learning outdoors. You can incorporate other toys or objects into the game. For little kids, you can write numbers or letters in squares and play a matching game. For older kids, you could create a more complicated math game where they subtract and multiply, then they fill the answer box with objects. Draw long lines creating paths that you have to stay on, or play a color-coding game.
The possibilities really are endless, and the clean-up is so easy; once you start, the ideas will flow.
Beach Art
One of the best things about living in Nocatee, Florida, is that we’re much closer to the beach than most people. That means Beach Art! You can create mandalas with shells, flowers, sticks, and sand designs. Make a sundial in the sand and decorate it with all the things you find. While being close to the beach is a blessing, you don’t have to live by one to create beach art; a sandbox will work just as well. Take a walk by a body of water and collect some objects to use in your sandbox beach art.
Nature Egg Carton
Make a nature collection in an egg carton; it’s a perfect size and has lots of little compartments to organize all your finds. You could even color code the spaces and make them more of a challenge to fill. Decorating your carton for the season makes it even more fun! Just don’t forget to clean out your carton before using it.
Sensory Bottles
If you have a kiddo who has sensory needs, then this is the perfect activity. Especially for those who love water and dropping things into it. Get some different-sized glass jars with large open tops and fill them with water. Then start dropping in all your favorite nature finds. You can add in some interesting pieces that your little one may not think to add. Then when you close them up and have a look at what you’ve got, you can point out the items you added and have them point out what they added.
Adventure Bag
This is a fun activity for kids of all ages. Have your child pick out what they think they’ll need on your nature walk. Of course, you can throw in a few discovery items, and don’t forget the snacks and drinks. They’ll feel like a real explorer and get a sense of all the things you can do in the wild. For little kids, this enhances their curiosity and gives them confidence. For older kids, it’s an opportunity to talk about jobs in nature or organizations that preserve nature and how they can get involved if that’s something they feel pulled towards.
