Keep the kids busy this summer....

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Be a tourist in your own backyard. I see a lot of posts by parents wondering how to keep their kids busy this summer. With everyone feeling the economic crunch traveling is out for many of us. So I thought I would share some ideas to keep those kids busy during the summer break. I was racking my brain trying to come up with stuff to do this summer with my 12 year old daughter. I wanted things close to home that would not break my wallet. I did some digging and decided to become a tourist in my own backyard. I live in a very rural area, but have a couple of cities close by. Some of things I came up with are free while other ones will cost me a bit. I am buying season tickets to the local amusement park. I figured I would take her for a day or two and when I looked into the prices it is cheaper to buy season passes than it is for two visits. I am buying a tent and we will camp overnight at least once. All kids love the idea of camping. It's a good way to kill a couple of days and what I would pay for gas on the drive I can spend on a campsite. An art gallery near here has a pretty colorful exhibition going on this month. I will take her there for a day and then there is a free Shakespeare in the park play. Yes, my 12 year old likes Shakespeare, go figure..lol. I will pack a cooler and will go to the park from the gallery and have a picnic. They are doing two plays this summer so we will hit the local zoo another day and then the park for the another picnic and play. We have a historical army fort near here that does re-enactments every summer. We will hit at least one, maybe two if she is into it. There are plenty of fairs and festivals so we will pick and choose. For free things we have a local park with a beach so we will have plenty of picnics. I live near Niagara Falls so we will head up there for a day or two and wander around the way tourists do checking things out and snapping pictures. We have a free concert series so we will go for some of those. We also have a local jazz festival and we will spend a day there. Some days we will spend baking and decorating cookies and other things. Some evenings will be spent making smores over the fire pit. I have been trying to get healthier so some evenings will be spent playing tennis working off the smores...lol. For rainy days there are movies, games and puzzles. When she was younger I would just try to make everyday things fun. Decorating sugar cookies makes a mess, but even the smallest hands enjoy it. Making yogurt pops can be fun to make and fun to eat. They are healthier than most store-bought treats and kids have a blast making them. If you live where you can have a pool this is fantastic and will keep them occupied for many days and you can relax yourself, just don't forget the sunblock. Any kind of crafts they can handle, make a scrapbook. Something as simple as melting crayons together to make multiple colors can be fun for small children. We used to do what we called "bad hair days," get out some gel and let them go at it (your hair and theirs.) Buy a soccer ball or kickball, that is fun all summer. Usually any other kids in the neighborhood or park will want to join if they see you. Soccer works best because all kids have a clue how to play so there is less fighting. A walk everyday is a good way to get out of the house and let them burn some energy. Another thing to do is look at everyday things and find ways to make them fun. A race to see who can clean up the most in a certain amount of time gets them to help and makes it fun. Let them help make simple lunches. It's messy, but you can even make cleaning up part of the fun. It can be difficult to fill the days, but if you think outside the box it makes it much easier. I hope this helps some of the stay at home parents out there.