Four Tips for Planning a Great Summer with Your Kids

Summer is COMING! Yikes – what to do with the kids?

Thursday is our last day of school, and my brain is going into overdrive – what am I going to do to make it a fun, sane summer for everyone?

Because there are so many factors that go into summer planning, it was helpful for me mentally work through these Planning Tips so I could make some decisions. Take a piece of paper and write down your own ideas as you read through this (and I’d love to hear your summer planning tips in the comments!)

Summer Planning Tip #1: Take stock of the season your family is in

As the end of school comes faster than you can say “ice cream!”, it helps to stop for a minute and take stock – what does this season look like for us as a family?

Last summer, we were living in my parents’ home while we waited for our new house to be built, and my husband was doing tons of overtime at work.  The goal of that summer was to survive with my parents’ immaculate house intact while living there with two young kids, and to find low-cost activities since we were madly saving for a down payment on our new house.   This meant that we didn’t spend a lot of time at home and got out to find low-cost activities to do – a lot of time at our community pool!

This summer, we are enjoying our new home, but still saving for the many projects that come with buying a new house – installing ceiling fans, a backyard, etc.  My kids are one year older and they have more friends and new neighbors to play with, and I found a babysitter who can help for a few hours during the week.  Mercifully, it’s looking like my husband will be working little or no overtime. My daughter has blossomed socially and has many interests. My son is barely out of toddler stage and still needs a lot of monitoring, as he’s busy exploring his world!

What is your stage of life right now? Do you have a baby on the way, are you moving soon, will someone be graduating, are you saving for a college fund or is there extra money for vacations?

Acknowledging the stage your family is in can help set realistic expectations for what your summer will look like. 

Summer Planning Tip #2: Write down a little goal statement for the summer. This sounds a little nerdy, but it can be sort of mental compass for your summer. Keep it loose and realistic, while acknowledging your hopes for the summer.  It could be general or specific, like to read 15 books over the summer. Mine is to learn, explore and have fun with my children while continuing to nudge forward momentum on my side business, in this order of priority.   If the summer gets going and I feel like I’m not making progress, I can go back to my goal statement. Are we having fun, exploring and learning together?  Then it’s a great summer.

What would your summer goal statement be?

Summer Tip #3: Ask yourself 5 key questions as you plan your summer activities.

1. What’s my summer activity budget?   A budget will dictate the types of activities you do during the summer, whether it’s a specialty kids camp, or finding local free activities.  Our daughter really wants to take horse lessons, but a budget check-in with my husband will decide whether that means horse camp, or putting a nickel in the little horse ride in our WalMart entrance).  There may be trade-offs too – like doing free activities when we’re in town to help fund the summer vacation we want.    

2. Who do I want my children to spend time with this summer?  This includes family members and friends.  I want our kids to spend time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This will mean a trip to Colorado, and play dates at my in-laws.

Play dates are da bomb. If your kids have friends they love playing with, it’s a great way to trade-off free time with other moms. Even having friends over helps, because it helps entertain your kids and minimizes the every-5-minutes interruptions!

3. What do I want my kids to learn this summer?  Make a short list for each child. Do they have particular interests, or need help in a certain subject before the next school year starts?

This question opens up so many thoughts for me – I know I need to potty train my three year old – which means some focused time at home with him.  I’d also like for him to start being able to recognize at least some letters and numbers as prep for preschool this fall.

For my daughter, I want to continue to encourage her love of reading and continue to find books that hold her interest.  Reading will always be a huge part of our summer. We will participate in the summer reading program at our local library, and spend time reading together. Reading is a perfect, fun way to continue education with kids through the summer. I want to experiment more with finding audiobooks my daughter enjoys as well.

I’d also love to find things that will help my children to continue to grow in their faith, and love and knowledge of Jesus.  I found a devotional book that we may try to work through over the summer.  Reading specific books may be part of this too.

5. What activities would my kids enjoy?  This question will shape the activities you choose. My daughter loves reading, arts and crafts and swimming. My son loves playing with his ball, cars and trucks. Both really enjoy a good TV show or movie.  

With this in mind, try making a list together of all the things you’d like to do this summer, and post it where everyone can see it. Every time you do one of those things, mark it off the list – both your kids and you will feel accomplished.  This list is great for those times too when you hit a lull and need some ideas.

6. How much time do I need for work?  Look at your work schedule and projects coming up. As a SAHM with a flexible side-hustle, I have the luxury of choosing my own hours. But I have to intentionally decide when I will spend hours on work during the summer, and incorporate it into the plan for my kids, otherwise it won’t happen.

Summer Planning Tip #4: Make a general plan, in pencil (not engraved on stone tablets!)

A general plan for summer activities can be a great sanity saver, and helps with all the questions about “what are we doing today/ this afternoon/ tomorrow?”

One thing I’m trying this summer is to have a general plan for the week.  Here’s how:         

1. First, mark on the calendar the scheduled things I’ve already planned. For us, that’s swim lessons and our local Summer Movie Fun one morning a week with friends.   This leaves the rest of the week to plan.
2. Try a general rhythm for the day, based on your kids energy levels and naptimes.  Adjust as needed. For example, I’ve found if I do activities in the mornings with my kids and help them get their wiggles out early, it helps the day go better. 
3. Try a general rhythm for the week, based on when you need to get household tasks and work done. Mondays are usually our catch up day for laundry and dishes after a busy weekend, so if we do an activity, it will be short and simple.  Fridays and weekends we can plan more time for activities.  If you want to get even more specific, you can try time-blocking.

Whatever the highs and lows of summer end up looking like, the most important thing is to spend time with your children and connect with them in meaningful ways. This can be as simple as taking 15 minutes to go outside and blow bubbles with them.  When you’re with them, be all in. For me, I’m going to make sure my headphones are off and the phone is down. This is one of 18 precious summers I have with my kids.