Summer Activities Day 5: Car Wash Station

Last summer, my son announced to us that when he grew up he wanted to be a car wash man. He was mesmerized by the automated process of the car wash, and saw that there were people who got to help work there. He decided that would be the job of his dreams. To prepare, he would constantly ask to wash his Little Tykes car and his little wagon. We would have a bucket with soapy water, a sponge, and some towels. Then let him have fun with the water hose as he washed it all off. He would play this for almost an hour, and it was one of those great things that was providing him some life skills and helping motor skill development at the same time!

This little activity takes little time to prepare, and although I think this is more geared towards little ones, it can be enjoyed by everyone. Perhaps you can get your 'big' kids to help you with the real deal. I'm just not sure if they'll think it's as much 'fun' as your little ones will!

I've seen these really elaborate ideas on Pinterest using pvc pipes, pool noodles, etc., but honestly, just a bucket and soap is all you need for this fun activity. Sometimes the best ideas are the most simple. You don't have to have a 'Pinterest-worthy' activity to have a fun time.

Summer Activities Day 4: Water Table Activities

The next couple of days I am focusing on just the little ones, and today is all about water table activities. We have a small, simple water table, that my 4 year old really loves. It can be played with as is on a hot day, or you can use some of these activities to change things up a little!


Water Beads

Water beads is a go to sensory play activity for my son, who hates getting his hands dirty (he is actually getting better with this, as long as there is a way for him to wash his hands nearby!). I don't do water beads often, as they take 6 hours to expand-which means I have to have it planned out when we play with them. However, my son will play with these for a long time. I add measuring spoons, cups, scoops, etc. to this sensory fun!

Soapy bubbles

Something else we've tried is adding dawn dish soap and allowing the bubbles to foam up. Here is a fun ocean play activity idea from Pinterest. I will warn you though, if you add food color, it will stain their hands for a while! I do like to add seashells to things like this and the water beads. I've also added alphabet magnets for my son to search for and find-fun and educational!

Muddy puddles 

Muddy puddles can be made from dirt and water, or cornstarch, cocoa, and water to form ooblek. I like to add construction vehicles to this kind of sensory play, and when they're finished, you can create a washing station to wash them off!

What are some other ways you can use a water table?

Summer Activities Day 3: Free Bowling

Bowling is a fun summer (or anytime) activity with the whole family! Kids Bowl Free allows a kid, aged 2-15, 2 free games per day. You only have to buy shoes, plus games for the adults playing. We normally go a couple of times per month, but even if you only go once, it's a savings to sign up!

For your little tykes, I am so glad bowling alleys have these dino friends to give the ball enough momentum that you aren't having to call the bowling alley employees every few minutes to go fetch the ball 🤣 Or is that just us? 

Personally, I have never been that great at bowling...and when I say not great, I really mean terrible! Having kids has helped a lot, seeing how we have to have the little gutter bars up now. My husband, on the other hand, does pretty decent. He even has his own balls and shoes! 

Ready to sign up? Click here to go to their site and sign your child up today! Dates are good until August 18, for my location, I'm not sure how other locations are done.  

Summer Activities Day 2: Library Summer Reading Program

As a homeschooler, the library was always one of my favorite places to be. I remember while my mom stayed with my younger siblings in the children's section, I would peruse the Non-Fiction isles looking at books on historic figures and events and then go to the Fiction isle and check out the next book in the series I was reading. I have such wonderful memories at the library! Now it's such a blessing to see my son get excited to hear that it's library day.

Most libraries have a summer reading program. You receive a chart that you color in for every hour of reading and return it for prizes. This was created to help encourage kids to read, but if you are like my family, we read all the time! A reading program is basically getting coupons for something we already do :)  

Not only does the library normally offer some sort of summer program, but they normally offer classes as well. My siblings and I have gone for things like crochet, arts and crafts, music, history, etc. Check your library's schedule to find out more. They also host library books sales, where I've gotten many of the classics for very cheap. 

If you are signed up for a reading program, here are some of my favorite series books to read aloud as a family:

Little House on the Prairie

These books are called classics for a reason. Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura,  Carrie and Grace all felt like family to me as we read the series. I felt like I was within the four walls of the shanty, and could relate to Laura's sense of adventure whenever they moved. We are using the Playful Pioneers this year and I am looking forward to introducing him to these books. Get to know this pioneer family and learn what it was like to live during this time! 

Little Britches

A lot of people aren't as familiar with these books as the Little House books. With this book series you get to see a little boy in the early 1900s grow up to be a man. Just like in the Little House books, there are so many life lessons to be learned as you read about this real life little cowboy (just like in the Little House books, the books are about the author-writing about his life as an adult).  I will warn you, that there is some mild language in these. My mom would just skip over some of the words as she read these aloud to us. 

Chronicles of Narnia 

As a preteen/early teenager this was my favorite series of all time. I remember getting The Magicians Nephew  when I was 12 and having the world of Narnia come alive. This series introduced me to the world of magic and dragons, dwarves and a not-very-tame-lion named Aslan. Watch your child become wide eyed with wonder as they discover these lands for the first time. This was my gateway to other magical lands as I am a huge Tolkien fan as well!

Anne of Green Gables

Allow your imagination to grow as you discover a kindred spirit in Anne -with an e. Learn about this orphan who found a home in a strange place, and won the hearts of all who met her. She's smart, spunky, and a little vain, and she learns many life lessons as she grows up in Prince Edward Island. Young and old alike will love this series!

Summer Activities Day 1: Fun Food

I thought I would start this 10 day blogging challenge with something near and dear to my heart: food! ha! Nothing quite tries my patience and yet helps me bond quite like cooking with my child. As a part of school, over the past couple of years, we've made walrus waffles, caterpillar pancakes, and snowman pizza. The level of 'help' has increased over the years, and now he will come into the kitchen when I'm cooking supper and asked to do something for me.

Summer time can also be a time for fun foods. Here are some of my favorites that we've done, and you can easily do too with your kids!

Owl Toast

This idea came from here. Whole wheat English muffins are a staple during the summer around here. They make great breakfast sandwiches and mini pizzas (hey! that's also a great fun food!). I saw this idea and we added peanut butter strawberries, bananas and blueberries. My son loved it, and ate lots of fruit at the same time. Score!

Banana Yogurt Split

I've seen this idea several places on Pinterest. Using the same berries that I purchased for the owl toast, I quickly put together this fun take on a dessert favorite. Yogurt, bananas, berries, granola...delicious!

Dirt Cups

I don't know a child alive who doesn't enjoy a good dirt cup. I used to love these as a kid, however, now I question gummy worms with chocolate. Why, just why?! Did you know they sell these in a kit at the grocery store? This makes it much easier for your child to be able to help, and it makes several, so you could make it with siblings, or friends!

Pizza

Pizza has always been an our go to for the whole family getting in on making something. The one pictured above, I used the Pioneer Woman's dough recipe, homemade tomato sauce (which you can see the recipe for in this very, very old post of mine), fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, mushrooms and basil. Other times we've gotten frozen dough from Walmart, tomato sauce from a jar, and simply added pepperoni and cheese. Sometimes we've made funny faces, other times we've kept it simple. No matter your cooking level, or child involvement in the process, this is a fun one to do together!


What is your go to 'fun food' that your whole family enjoys? Let me know in the comments below! Want to make sure you don't miss out on a summer activity post? Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. See you tomorrow!

10 Day Blogging Challenge

Now that my husband is out for the summer, I *should* have a bit more time for blogging. A fellow Timberdoodle blogger, shared a 10 day blogging challenge, and I've decided to do one too! So for the next 10 days I'll be sharing 10 ways we are having an unplugged summer. It might be an outside play idea, craft, toy, recipe, etc.

Would you join me each day for this challenge? There are several ways to follow me, to make sure you see each day's content. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and finally you can follow me here on blogger. Thank you for reading!

Now for a picture of my sweet babies playing together. Here Little Man is playing dress up. The army coat is supposed to be a doctor coat (I guess I know what I can get him for his birthday now!) and he is giving baby sister a shot. Something you see when you watch TV less, or aren't on a device, you will notice your kids playing together more! I know it was true for me and my siblings as well.

10 Activity Ideas to Have a Device Free Road Trip!

Ah, summer vacation! Pristine beaches, breathtaking mountains, hiking, swimming, whatever your end destination, there is first the road trip. I've always loved the journey to the destination, and then I had kids! 'Are we there yet?' 'I'm done playing with this toy' *sobbing* 'Mom I spilled all of my ________ on the carseat!!'
Over the past 5 years of being a mom, I've discovered a few ways of keeping my son entertained on the journey. A few of these suggestions are actually my sister's ideas, but I wanted to share them with you, today! If you're like me, and having an unplugged summer, you want the portable DVD player as a last resort. Hopefully these ideas will help you as you prepare for summer vacation! Here are 10 screen free ways to entertain your kids on the road:

Search and Find Books

Is my kid the only one who will look at a search and find book for a half hour or more? Since he was little he enjoyed books like this one Nickelodeon Paw Patrol - Look and Find - PI Kids and even some of the more advance ones. We probably have 5 or so search and find books and they are road trip essentials for us!


Felt Books

My sister made this one for my son. It has sandwhich making, buttoning flower petals, color popcicle stick sorting, and more! She found ideas on pinterest and DIY-ed it herself. If you are like me, and lazy don't have a lot of time, here is something you could buy already made:Melissa & Doug Soft Activity Book – Little Chef (Developmental Toys, Interactive Cloth Lift-the-Flap Baby Book, Machine Washable) It's a bit young now for my son, but the 2-4 age range would be perfect!

On the Go Color packs from the Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree normally has popular characters on these road trip ready packs! I normally pick up one or two every time I go to the store, as I don't go to the Dollar Tree often, and you never know when they will be out of stock of something. Speaking of Dollar Tree, here are a couple more things you can get from there to entertain your child.

Unwrapping through the States

Another sister idea, but when they went on a trip to Vermont, my sister fixed up a small gift for my younger siblings to unwrap for every state. It was normally something from the dollar tree. Perhaps a felt coloring page,  national geographic book to look at, adult coloring book (yes, they have all these at the Dollar tree!). When we traveled a couple of states away, we used a 'every hour' kind of a deal. We will do the same thing this year, since we are traveling several hours, but not leaving our state! For Little Man's age, little toys, craft packs, sticker scenes, and whiteboards are great things to unwrap!

State Printable

Another thing my sister would do once they reached a new state, is have a printout like this one. She would actually have my siblings do the printable before they opened up the gift. This provides entertainment, and education-win, win!

Water Wow

I've talked about these before, but they are great for church, trips, and basically anytime! Something I have noticed about these, though, is that the 'brushes' do wear out eventually and don't 'paint' as well as they used to. We have had them for over 2 years now, so I still think that it's worth the money. They are pretty inexpensive and come in all sorts of different themes. If your child is like mine, and eventually learns how to unscrew the brush, it's only a tiny amount of water that's spilled! I think I may get a new Water Wow for our trip this summer, since ours are getting a bit old. Here are some great ones to choose from! Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow! Under the Sea Reusable Water-Reveal Activity Pad, Chunky-Size Water Pen Melissa & Doug Water Coloring & Painting Book, (Water Wow Animal - On the Go Travel Activity)

Coloring Books

This may seem like a 'duh' one, but I am adding it so I can say that I recommend one that also has activities in it. Even though my son can't unscramble words yet, or do all the activities, he enjoys doing his own thing on those pages. It just adds some extra time to the activity, making it almost like a 2-in-1! Here is my son's favorite one (which I can sometimes find at the Dollar tree!) Paw Patrol Coloring Books - 2 Pack

Sticker Activities

You can normally find sticker scenes, or pads at the Dollar Tree, but I find that those can sometimes have stickers that are hard to get off. I am linking a Melissa and Doug activity pad, since they normally have higher quality products.Melissa & Doug Safari Puffy Sticker Play Set (Activity Pads, Reusable Puffy Sticker Play Set, Double-Sided Background, 42 Stickers)

Toys in a plastic container

This sounds very random, but my son has a small screwable container where he has a couple of hot-wheel cars, a couple of tiny figures (superhero, pawpatrol, etc.) and some plastic bugs...yep, bugs. He LOVES this thing. I used to keep categorized toys in a Ziploc and would give him one category at a time, but he will play with this little container for much, much longer! I have no idea why, but I thought I would share. I don't know if it's because he got to decorate it with his name and stickers, or that it is small enough to fit in his cup holder. I just don't know.


Magnet Tins

One like this-T.S. Shure Farm Magnetic Tin Playset is a great little person thing to play with. I will warn you though, you will not come home with the same number of pieces you started with! They seem to get everywhere! However, my son really enjoyed playing with this, and it can serve dual purpose, as it's a great quiet time or church activity as well.


Did I miss anything? What are some things you've found work well on road trips with kids?

Did you know I'm on Pinterest now? Go follow me there, where you can pin this and other ideas!