Family Staycation
If you plan on staying home this summer, transform your week into a fun-packed Family Staycation! I recently shared these ideas with Live! Kelly & Ryan!
THE “STAYCATION” SCHEDULE
Even during the more relaxed days of summer, kids thrive with a schedule of things to look forward to and keep them busy. Make it colorful, post it up on the wall. Try to stick to it!
CAMP MONDAY!
OUR TOWN TUES!
WET WED!
TRY-SOMETHING-NEW THURSDAY!
FAMILY EATS FRIDAY!
CAMP MONDAY
Wake Up & Walk with Nature
Go on a morning walk and hunt for items to use later in your afternoon craft. This can include rocks, leaves, sticks, pinecones, needles, blooms and anything particular on “The Nature Gathering” List! Laminate and use Expo markers to use again and again!
Crafternoon Nature Craft: Pressed Flower Project
Now, taking the nature items collected from your walk, you settle down to do the nature craft of pressed flowers this Monday!
Have kids collect different blooms during their morning walk, identify what’s growing and make this really pretty craft all at the same time! Press flowers between two bricks, two paper towels and dry 2.5-3 minutes in the microwave! (This speeds up the normal drying process of pressing flowers between books and avoids moldy pages.) Place in a shadow box or glass diploma frame and secure flower heads with white glue or double-stick foam squares to secure placement.
Tip: for large, dense bloom heads like carnations, dry in the microwave and then set out a few hours to assure any residual moisture is completely evaporated.
Glow in the Dark Storytime
To keep reading and oral history alive, have kids snuggle together at night and each tell an oral story--it doesn’t have to be scary! Have lots of glow-in-the-dark items like necklaces, bracelets, etc. in addition to the DIY Glow-in-the-Dark Jars -- that can be used over and over again!
Jars
White Paint
Glow in the Dark Paint
Small paint brushes
Water
Apron! (Glow in the dark paint is largely waterproof)
First, dot the exterior of the jars with white paint, this is your base.
Once dry, then go over the dots with various shades of glow-in-the-dark paint, which tends to be thin.
Repeat at least three times.
Once dry, fill with water which helps to magnify the effect.
Expose to UV light. and then take outside for an artsy glow you made yourself!
TOUR OUR TOWN TUESDAY
Take this opportunity to know your local community better and play tourist! Whether you live in a city or a smaller community, there is always something to explore.
Hire a private guide. You can customize a private tour to hit exactly the sites you wish to see, and they also make accommodations for families with special needs.
Take an outdoor tour like an open, double-decker bus, Segway, bike riding, walking food tour!
Create your own, customized tour by reading a guide book, and challenge yourself to visit things on your list you simply haven’t gotten to!
If you live in a smaller town, visit a nearby farm and take a tour; check out a farmer’s market and as the manager how the vendors are soured, and the best finds of the season!
Visit an iconic restaurant: It’s time for a treat! Every town has a signature restaurant or perhaps even, a famous foodstuff that would make for a special treat! Serendipity in NYC, Ben’s Chili Bowl or Georgetown Cupcakes in DC, Double Rainbow Ice cream in San Francisco, etc.
Lots of museums have guided tours for families that are geared towards kids! From classes to demonstration to educational sessions, most of these programs are free, and you simply have to sign up in advance to attend. Virtual courses are still be offered, and if you go to the information booth at a museum in-person, ask for a kid-specific museum guide, which might be printed or via audio!
WET WEDNESDAY!
We tend to get the restless wiggles on Hump Day, so Wednesdays are set aside for active waterplay: if you don’t have a pool, no sweat! These games you can create quickly and repeat to get your kids soaked. So today is about creating and playing water games that keep in mind water-saving strategies for states in drought.
Super Soaker Sponge Stars
I love a craft that doubles as a game, and after making these sponge stars, you dunk them in a bucket of water and play a game of “super soaker”!
Cut a sponge into fourths. Do this with 2 sponges.
Stack the two sponges atop each other, alternating colors if your have two colors.
Cinch in the center with a string, which creates a sponge asterick!
Make several. Soak in a bucket of water and play a game of sponge tag!
DIY $1 Dollar Sprinkler
Kids love to run and play in the sprinkler, and you can make one out of a pool noodle, scissors, ducktape, a metal skewer and a hose with running water.
Cut off about 4 inches of the foam noodle. Cut that section into smaller pieces and plug up one end of the noodle.
Use duct tape to secure the plug.
Take a skewer—I used a bamboo appetizer skewer to poke holes—down the length of the noodle
insert hose. Take any extra foam pieces and wedge around hose to create another plug.
Further secure with duct tape. Turn on hose and enjoy your homemade sprinkler!
TRY SOMETHING NEW THURSDAY!
Family members alternate each week in teaching others something they do well OR, the entire family learns how to do something new together.
Examples:
How to solve a Rubix Cube
Ballet shoes + stretchy bands. How to do ballet stretches for better flexibility.
How to knit.
How to start a gratitude journal.
How to do double unders and other magical tricks with a jump rope. Jumprope.
How to plant a succulent garden.
How to do tricks with a soccer ball.
How to do mat Pilates!
FAMILY EATS FRIDAY
Fridays can be the hardest day of the week energy-wise to get motivated to make meals, so divide and conquer with your family and assign each family member a meal to take on! Adults help by brainstorming ideas on a Bistro whiteboard, so kids can pick and choose what they are making each Friday with relative ease:
Kids Handle Breakfast: Bear-y Happy Toast
Teach kids how to make this yummy cute toast, and they just might skip and hop down to the kitchen to cook!
Sandwich & Snack Shop
Playing store is a favorite! Set up a Snack Shop that’s open for business every Friday at 11 am and 2 pm, and have kids set the menu, serve real snacks, fruit, water, juice, cookies, small sandwiches--and charge you with play money! There’s lots of lessons in this.
If you don’t have a tent, dedicate a portion of your kitchen counter. If you don’t have a counter, kids can make one out of an oversized box. It’s about creativity and fun!
Parents Handle Dinner
I love a picnic-style early dinner for Fridays that you can carry to a local park, eat on your lawn or eat out back and watch a movie. Plus, the food we always eat tastes so much better when we eat it elsewhere!