Sweet summertime! It’s here! I have spent the last year “pinning” (by that, I mean on Pinterest, of course), so many cool ideas to try this summer. Add in the BFIAR (Before Five in a Row) learning fun that I have started with “the baby” (yes, she is 3 now, but she’ll always be my baby) and this season is well on its way to becoming our “intentional summer” — a summer of intentional FUN!
Using ideas from my Pinterest boards, along with some suggestions from the children, and a little inspiration from Little Wonders’ Days, I decided to make a summer “bucket list”, and, using the ideas from the list, a Summer Bucket of Fun!
Using mulit-colored and natural jumbo craft sticks, I color coded our activities. The green sticks represent places to go, yellow sticks represent outdoor activities, red sticks represent food, and so on (see complete list below). I simply used a label maker to write the ideas on the sticks, and decorated a plain decorative “paint can” (from the craft store) with various colored ribbons. And, Voila! Our Summer Bucket of Fun! Now I can just ask a child to choose a certain color stick from the bucket, then set out for another day of summer fun!
To go along with my personal bucket list of fun and exciting ideas, activities, places to visit, and foods to enjoy, I am excited for the opportunity to join and co-host the All Year Round Blog Carnival ~ Summer edition! – a collection of summer posts sharing seasonal thoughts, pictures, activities, crafts, recipes, books, art, nature study, projects, celebrations and more. You are invited to join us and link up your old and new summer posts below in the linky. The summer carnival will remain open for new links until September 1st. Be sure you come back often and share your great summer links!
OUR SUMMER BUCKET LIST
* activities in bold have been completed
OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! {17} Green
“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
- Botanical Garden
- Busch Gardens
- Seaworld
- The Beach!
- Indoor Ice Skating
- Bowling
- Rays Baseball Game
- Downtown Disney
- Family Movie
On June 24, in the midst of Tropical Storm Debby, we took all the kids for a meal at Zaxby’s and then to see the movie Brave. Awesome movie! - Nature Walk
- Mini Golf
- Tea Party at a Tea Room
- Art Walk
- Clearwater Aquarium
- Frozen Yogurt
- Dairyland
- Taco Bus
OUTDOOR FUN {13} Yellow
“It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air.”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
- Sidewalk Chalk Paint
- Sidewalk Chalk
- Pool Noodle Beading
- Blow Bubbles
- Fairy Garden
- Nature Scavenger Hunt
- Kool-Aid Ice Cube Painting (Also make Kool-Aid Ice Cubes to put into Sprite)
- Sponge Balls
- Ice Excavating
- Alphabet Soup Game
- Sponge Blocks
- Surprise Water Balloon Fight
- Tie Dye-ing
FOOD FUN {6} Red
“Try them, try them, and you may! Try them and you may, I say.”
― Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham
- Make Our Own Ice Cream
- Ice Cream Sundae Bar
- Decorate Our Own Cupcakes
- Make Our Own Snow Cones
- Teddy Bear Picnic
- Eat watermelon (& if feeling adventurous, have a watermelon seed spitting contest)
SUMMER SENSORY PLAY {5} Orange
“If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.”
― Dr. Seuss, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
- Make Our Own Beach Sand
- Ocean Sensory Bin 1 (Water Beads)
Water beads (a new favorite around here) were the medium for this all blue ocean themed sensory box. Squishy squishy! - Ocean Sensory Bin 2 (Aquarium Gravel)
Aquarium gravel and lots of ocean critters. Lots of scooping and digging fun! - Patriotic Sensory Play
- Paint Bags
SUMMER NIGHTS {3} Purple
“How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss
- Outdoor Movie
- Watch a Fireworks Display
- Glow Jars
RAINY DAY ACTIVITIES {6} Aqua
“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat
- Marshmallow Tinker Toys
- Ocean in a Bottle
- Colorful Clouds
- Play a Board Game
- Scratch n’ Sniff Painting
- Puffy Paint
ALPHABET ACTIVITIES {3} Natural
“My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It s the letter I use to spell yuzz a ma tuzz. You ll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond Z and start poking around ” ― Dr. Seuss
- ABC Book
- ABC Sensory Bin
- ABC Pretzels
SUMMER READING BFIAR
- ABC Bunny
- Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
- Yellow Ball
- Corduroy
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
- Ask Mr. Bear
All Year Round Blog Carnival: Summer Edition co-hosts:
sunnydaytodaymama, Mama Smiles, Winding Circle, The Mahogany Way, Smiling like Sunshine, Home Baked, famiglia&seoul, All Things Beautiful, Like Mama~Like Daughter,
Plain Vanilla Mom, Little Homeschool Blessings, Simple Whimsy, 2 Big, 2 Little
Please link to the URL of your summer themed post. You’re very welcome to get a button, share this post, and let your friends know about the carnival. You can find out more about All Year Round here and also follow All Year Round on Pinterest.
About Janne
