Summer Fun List

If you’re as obsessed with Pinterest as I am, you’ve probably seen people posting summer bucket lists. If you haven’t, it’s basically a list of fun things you want to do over the summer. Now, I love the idea, but … really? A summer BUCKET list? Are you not familiar with the concept of a bucket list? Considering this is something I am doing with my kids, I am not super-thrilled with the idea of referring to our list of fun summer activities as things to do before we die.

Hence, the summer FUN list.

We did this for the first time last summer, and it was a HUGE hit. Although our goals were a bit lofty {we had 102 items on there} and we didn’t get them all crossed off in time, it was so much fun to see the boys get so excited when they got to cross something off. It was also awesome to see other people {like my parents and my in-laws} get excited about taking them to do things that were on the list. Our kids were so into the summer fun list last year that we actually used it as punishment {i.e., “If you do not knock off the attitude, we will not do one thing off the summer fun list today.” Worked like a charm.}

Putting together your own summer fun list is really easy — and, as a bonus if your kids are old enough, it’s a great keep-them-busy project {my kids spent about 45 minutes this weekend coming up with ideas. Although I did have to veto several of David’s suggestions, including “Go to the Everglades” and “Meet Macklemore.”}

To begin your own summer fun list, decide how many items you want to include. As I mentioned, last year we had over 100 items, which was too many for us, as we didn’t get to finish everything. This year, we’re aiming for 75-80. So far, here’s what we have, exactly as typed up by David {I think “Sleep outside [mason not included]” is my favorite}:

1. Pittsburgh zoo
2. Go to the creamery
3. Go Fishing
4. Go to black moshannon park
5. Go to a MLB game
6. See FIREWORKS
7. Go to the Washington monument
8. Do the KINDERGARTEN Camp!
9. Go MINI GOLFING!
10. Make MOM [and dad] breakfest IN BED!
11. Make tie-dye t-shirts
12. Make jam or jelly
13. Make popcorn or roast marshmallows on the firepit
14. GO  TO Orchard Park
15. Whipple dam
16. GO Bowling
17. Bernel Road Park
18. Hershey  Park
19. GO TO Discovery Space
20. 2000 Degrees
21. Have a Food Fight
22. Have a water balloon fight
23. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
24. Make pie pops
25. MT. Nittany
26. Delgrossos
27. Lake mokoma
28. Spikes game
29. Scavenger hunt lunch
30. Go to FRICK park!!!!!!!!!!!
31. Grammy and Grampy’s
32. Go golfing
33. Run the bases
34. Ice cream truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
35. See Dolphins
36. Sleep outside [mason not included]
37. Watch a movie outside
38. Play football

When you’re coming up with ideas, be sure to include some easy ones that you’ll be sure to cross off quickly, because it gets the kids excited about the idea of the list. At the same time, adding some that might be a little trickier or that require a little planning is also fun.

Once you have your list, you want to think of a fun way to display it. It can be as simple as a list written on some paper or as fancy as a graphically designed, professional looking poster. Last year, I went with something in the middle: I designed a poster on Vista Print and had it printed out so the boys could just check off items as we did them. {If you decide to do this, be sure to sign up for their emails first, because they are constantly offering free or drastically discounted items.}

Once we finish coming up with our list items, I will update you all on how I decided to do ours this year. But in the meantime, here are some other ideas in case you need a bit more inspiration:

Source: ABC and 123

 Source: Jane of All Crafts

Source: Ike & Co.

Source: Our Fifth House

Source: Home Stories A to Z

Are you doing a summer fun list this year?

If you are, what activities are you including on there?

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