5 Steps to SummaTime

Hey Friends!

I wanted to take a hot second this morning to tell you about what I'm doing this summer to keep my kids off the TV (ish) and exercise their brains and bodies.
Summer is official today for a lot of you all in central Indiana and I know there are mixed feelings about it. Or maybe it's just me. To each their own!
Questions like: What are we going to do all day, or what are they going to do all day (if you are a working mom) might fill your mind. 

It's ok, that's totally legit. Summer can sometimes feel like a string of empty days that need to be filled; and in some ways that is true. But if we have a basic plan for those days, summer can be a really relaxing time that recharges you and your kiddies from the school year. 

The first bit of advice about summer schedules is to hold loosely. Summer and flexibility go hand in hand and if you are anything like me, if I don't give myself permission to flex beforehand, I feel guilty letting go of my schedule. Sometimes kids are having a good time at the pool and they are getting along, stay longer. Sometimes you want to stay longer at a playdate talking to a mom and you miss nap time, go to bed earlier. Sometimes Dad gets off work early and wants to do something fun, flex yo!

The second thing I'm going to tell you is (puts on teacher hat) kids need to be doing enrichment work throughout the summer. It doesn't have to be hard and you don't have to be a teacher to do it. Actually, walk into any teacher store and ask for the summer books and there are usually a few to choose from! I know that the last thing your kids wants to do in the summer is school work - but as a teacher, believe me, you will reap the harvest in the fall. I do 15-20 minutes with my kids every morning. It seriously isn't much. But I use the rest of our day to solidify what we talked about in "school time." For instance, this morning Will and I worked on patterns while Ruby colored a square. All day today I had Will making patterns out of stuff he saw in the store or outside and to Ruby, Will and I pointed out the square shape. Our letters this week are A and B - so finding A and B out in the world is a fun game that we like to play. The actual "school" part is quick and dirty, the enrichment happens all day long and it happens organically. 

Today I was also trying to get Will to do a pattern and he told me "my brain is tired of patterns right now." So then, I stopped. I don't have to kill him with it, he has done enough for me today with his school time.

So - after those two very important aspects of making our summer schedules have been addressed, now let's move on to some action steps that you can do to create your own summer schedule. All it will take is a couple of sheets of paper, a calendar, and 5 easy steps

Step One: Make a Bucket List
Ok seriously with the bucket lists already - see, I can tell what you are thinking. Listen to me when I say this, if you make a list of the things that YOU and YOUR kids want to do, it takes a lot of pressure off to do the "summer things". For instance, a popular bucket list item is to go camping.

I have no desire to go camping. So I will not go camping. Easy peasy. 

When we make our Summer Bucket around here, we use everyone's opinions. Some things on our bucket list:
Plant Tomatoes, Carrots, and Zucchini (that's all Will wanted to plant)
Farmers Markets Downtown, Our Town, and Neighboring Town
SplashPad like everyday (Will's words)
Swim Lessons (Dad's add)
Summer Camp
Run in the Spinkler
Zoo 200 visits (again Will has lofty goals for each of his days)
Outdoor Movie Night
Picnic
Hike
Bubbles
Fireworks and not be afraid (i'll let you guess on whose that is...)
Make a Bird Feeder
Fly a Kite
Feed Ducks
Go Bowling (I seriously love my kid)

and while there are many more, you can see that my goal in this is not to try and keep up with what Pinterest is telling me I need to do with my kids every summer. Instead I'm choosing things that my children like and our excited to do! Make this list as a family so that you can use it to make sure you get to Fall and can say that you made the most out of the time you had with them this year. (working and non working moms alike)

Step Two: Print a Calendar
You knew I was going to tell you to do this. You knew it.
You need to have a hard copy calendar that you can use to plan and manipulate your days this summer. I have a planner, don't get me wrong, but to make my summer plans I printed off a separate calendar for May, June, and July of this year.

Step Three: Fill Calendar with Events
Any events that you already have scheduled need to go on your calendar FIRST! I seriously learned this the hard way. After making June, I realized that both my kiddies have camp 3 days a week in June. (ugh!) I had Zoo trips penciled (note that I said penciled, because you have to leave room to flex) in on days that my kids would be WIPED from camp. So I printed off a new one and started all over again. Whatevs.

Step Four: Plan Your Weekly Groove
Listen, you've got to have a weekly routine. So for each day, I have a goal:
Monday: Craft Day - they make something. And let me tell you, those tiny $1 kid crafts at Micheals work great. Or maybe just some drawing paper and markers. You don't have to be that much of a part of it even!
Tuesday: Travel and Adventure - we go somewhere. Zoo, Splashpad, Pool, Children's Museum, Blueberry Picking, Playdates - we go on Tuesdays. I picked this day for two reasons: 1. My mom is off on Tuesdays and I'm hoping I can drag her along once or twice. 2. My kids don't have camp on Tuesdays. That should tell you that your days are all yours to label them whatever you want.
Wednesdays: Sensory Days - I've got a high energy kid with lots of sensory needs so I made a sensory day. I have 4 sensory bins with rice, water beads, pompoms, and beans in them (post about those coming soon) and I'll pull one of those down and tell them that they have an hour with it. I do this, outside. Because water beads never actually stay inside the bin and rice against my hard floor in the kitchen is too tempting a noise to resist for a 4 and 2 year old.
Thursdays: Service Days/Family Bucket Day - We do something for someone else. I had Will brainstorm some people he would like to bless and we will work through the list (with my assistance) this summer. Personally I do this because Will is a selfish little beast (as most 4 year olds are) and I want him to have an outward heart. Especially in the summer it can be easy for kids to remember that there are other people in the world. Our Family Bucket List items happen after dinner, because that's when we are always sure to get RadDad!!  So we do the bucket list items that are family affairs. Obviously summer camp and such of that nature is done personally and is a scheduled time, but things like hiking and flying a kite are fun family things to do.
Fridays: Bucket Days - Fun Fridays is what we call them. I can sometimes convince RadDad to carve out a Friday afternoon for us, so we do our bucket list items (that don't require all of us or RadDad doesn't really care to miss) on this day. 
Saturdays and Sundays I leave open. We like to do house projects those days or just spend the day at the pool. Whatever it is, I don't schedule these days.

Finally, after all of this is said and done - go back through your week and pepper in your adult chores (or is you have older kids, your kid chores). Will's chores right now are to help with the laundry (which is Thursday and Friday), clean his room (Sundays), and set/clear the dinner table (every night).

Step Five: Create a Daily Groove
So now you need that daily groove - and this is where having those calendar days in our so so helpful. You need to determine how your day will go each day of the week. Here is a picture of my calendar:

It's a loose outline of each day so that I can stay on track, me. I do not show this to my children. I DO NOT show this to RadDad, mostly because he would just shake his head at me. :) 

Here is a brief outline of our day, based on our schedule, and OUR needs. I'll do June since that is when we have Summer Camp:

So I just use that routine and I plug in the things that I want to do with my kids - the letters that we are going to have that week, the places we are going to visit, the crafts that we are going to do. I actually write all of that out so that I am prepared and I know where I'm going and what I need for the following week. 

Now listen to me, I'm a little neurotic. I get that. I'm completely aware. But this is a system that works for keeping my kids and I on track in the summertime. It can be really frustrating to try and tear kids away from TV and devices in the middle of summer. I just wanted a schedule that would help me to not have to fight about it with my kids. It's easier than it looks and when it is done, it's awesome.

Nothing too Fancy.