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6 Ways to Make the Most of Summer Break

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This post is sponsored by Stonyfield, a brand we’ve used constantly for the last five years and they are always part of the best summer activities for kids!

Our summer break here is only 8 weeks long (we go back to school at the end of July!) and so I feel like I always really want to make the most of summer  fun for kids before my girls go back, especially since Ani is starting kindergarten this year and Star will be going to preschool a few days a week.

Now that we’re back from our first trip of the summer and settling into daily summer life, I’ve been thinking about how summer activities for kids we’ll spend the remaining seven weeks.

things to do with kids in summer

For me, I don’t want a very rigid schedule (where’s the fun in that?) but I do want to have some sort of framework in place so that the summer doesn’t go to waste and that we don’t all go a little crazy.

We’re huge fans of Stonyfield® Organic Kids® around here, and I’m thrilled to partner with them to share some of my tricks for making the most of summer and how we plan for fun things to do with kids in summer.

Stonyfield® Organic is still the #1 organic kids yogurt brand and they’ve been making amazing organic yogurt for the past 35 years.

Plus, last year they reduced the sugar content across their entire Stonyfield® Organic Kids® portfolio, so they now all have between 25% – 40% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt. Hallelujah!

fun summer activities

I also love that Stonyfield® Organic Kids® yogurt is available in a bunch of different formats, from cups to pouches, tubes to smoothies, so that there is always an option that’s convenient and delicious no matter where our fun summer activities take us.

Here’s my little check-list as I prep our summer schedule and activities:

summer activities for toddlers

Have everyone choose two fun summer activities they want to do

This is always one of my favorite things when we’re planning summer fun for kids – it’s so fun to see what ideal summer activities for toddlers and elementary schoolers look like. For Ella, this is a trip to the children’s museum and rock climbing. For Ani, it’s swimming lessons and visiting the local water park. Star wants to go to the pool (easy!) and visit the park one morning before it gets too hot (this. . .less easy). This way, at the end of the summer, everyone feels like they had the summer fun they wanted.

Schedule outings and events right away

I feel like summer slips away so quickly, especially with everyone’s vacation schedules all over the place. So I try to get summer activities for the kids and for me on the calendar right away or they don’t happen. Whether that’s scheduling pool trips with friends, hosting a birthday lunch, having a craft party with the girls’ friends or having a summer book club, the quicker those get on the calendar, the more likely these fun summer activities are to actually happen.

summer activities for kids

Make a media list

I’m a list lover and also not a good spur of the moment person, so it’s VERY helpful for me to come up with a list of books I want to read aloud, movies we want to watch as a family, audiobooks we’ll listen to, and books for them to read on their own.

Create a go-to list of fun summer activities for kids

I like to have two lists of fun summer activities so that when anyone starts to feel bored or restless, I’m not on the spot to come up with ideas. One list is solo summer ideas for kids (reading, planting seeds, games the girls can play together without an adult, writing letters to their cousins, etc) and one is a list of fun summer activities for us to do together on a free morning or afternoon, like going to the pool, hitting library story time, visiting the pet store, having movie morning or playing games together.

Get a big summer calendar to track your fun summer activities

For the last few summers, we’ve gotten a big calendar to hang on the wall so that everyone can see the entire summer at a glance, how many weeks we have left of summer, when we’re traveling and also write down everyone’s summer bucket lists, our media list, and go-to summer activities for kids all in one place. It’s a fun record of our summer and helps us pace ourselves.

Figure out what supplies you need and keep them on hand

I don’t love making extra trips to the store (especially because an extra trip can eat up all the time that we were supposed to be spending on actual fun summer activities) so I try to make sure I keep everything we need for our summer activities for kids on hand. I buy plenty of sunscreen so we’re ready for any fun summer activities outdoors, I keep boxes of Stonyfield® Organic Kids® pouches in the freezer so that we can grab them for easy snacks that stay cold when we head to the pool, and I stock up on craft kits and coloring supplies so those are easily accessible too since crafts are basically my girls’ idea of the best summer activities for kids of all time.

fun summer activities

All of these help me feel like we made the summer fun for kids AND parents and that when we head back to school in seven weeks, everyone will feel like they had their fill of fun summer activities.

And when school starts back up again, you know we’ll be packing those Stonyfield® Organic Kids® pouches in the girls’ lunch boxes, since the frozen pouches work as an ice pack and then are thawed by lunchtime.

I’d love to hear what your best tricks are for organizing your summer activities for kids and the whole family!

summer fun for kids

This is a sponsored post written in partnership with Stonyfield® Organic Kids®, a brand I’ve loved for years!

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11 Comments

  1. I keep forgetting to freeze the pouches for my toddler’s lunch box! They’re her favorite- and of course she’ll no longer eat from a regular yogurt cup anymore!

    1. I buy the Go-Gurt tubes because sometimes I eat like a 5 year old and I just toss the box in the freezer from the get-go. This way, there always ready to go.

  2. When you bring them to the pool frozen do you keep them in a cooler? I’ve never frozen yogurt pouches. I’m interested in what they’d be like!

  3. Any chance you would be willing to share your list of go-to summer activities and your bucket list? i love everything you do, and I have to tell you that you changed my life with the Read-Aloud Family recommendation!

  4. In your stories a few weeks ago, you mentioned a free calendar download you use and print. Can you send that link?

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