3 Tips to Organize Your Summer
As summer approaches, some parents are excited about some down time after the busy school year, but some are anxious about having to keep their kids busy so they don’t get bored.
When my kids were little it was a bit of both. Having them around more meant I wasn’t able to work on business tasks as easily, but everyone in our family really enjoys summer activities, so it was nice to be able to look forward to those.
In this post I’ll share some tips to help you have a great summer!
The first time I was home with my kids in the summer (other than when I was on maternity leave with each of them), I looked forward to making lots of great memories. However, I struggled leading up to summer because my inclination was to plan and organize our summer in great detail, but I didn’t want to be like Danny Tanner in this old clip from Full House.
That clipboard of fun didn’t work out very well for Danny and his family and I didn’t think it would work very well for mine either. So, I tried to come up with a balanced approach.
Find Out What Each Member of Your Family Wants To Do This Summer
This may be an obvious starting point, but it’s important. Just like in the video, everyone in your family likely has ideas of how they’d like to spend their time this summer. You can’t plan your summer if you don’t know what everyone is hoping to do.
You can use my Summer Brainstorming Ideas Printable if you need a starting point. There are a few different categories to get everyone thinking a bit outside the box too.
Start With Bigger Things You Definitely Want To Do
Once you have a list, you can start creating your routine and schedule. Pull out your calendar, see what big things are already booked (weddings, vacations, parties, etc.). Then plan some of the other big things you’d like to do during the summer.
We all love camping, so when planning our summer, I included several camping trips.
Nothing quite like a meal cooked over a fire in the great outdoors…mmmm….
Both kids enjoyed going to VBS and there were 2 they wanted to attend that year (one in July and one in August). We also signed my son up for a half-day soccer camp for a week in July.
We ordered tickets for the Metro Toronto Zoo using our AirMiles and since they were open-ended tickets we could fit that excursion in any time.
Polar bears are my favourite animal.
We also bought season’s passes for Marineland that year {this was before all the controversy surrounding their treatment of animals}. The kids mainly wanted to go on rides and it’s much cheaper there than at Canada’s Wonderland. It’s a 1 1/2 hour drive so we didn’t plan to go very often but you get your money’s worth even after going for 2 days.
The beluga whales were SO cute! We got splashed many times and loved every minute of it. The kids enjoyed the belugas every bit as much as all the rides.
We planned to go to a few Blue Jays games that summer too. We’re big fans.
Once we had some of the “bigger” activities and events with specific dates, I could see where we needed to fill in the rest of the summer.
Next Consider Smaller Activities
Once you have the bigger pieces of your summer figured out, it’s time to look at all the smaller things you want to prioritize.
On a smaller scale, we planned to beat the heat by doing some of these activities:
- Running through the sprinkler
- Having water balloon fights
- Going to splash pads
- Going to the beach
We also wanted to enjoy the outdoors doing things like:
- Hunting bugs
- Riding bikes
- Going to a variety of parks
- Playing catch
- Having picnics
- Going for walks along paths we see when we’re driving places but that we never actually explore
Those were a bunch of fun things that we planned to incorporate into that summer, but they mostly involved going somewhere together and/or a bit of pre-planning.
Plan for Unstructured Time
After planning for the big activities and smaller places to go, there is still a lot of down time at home. My kids enjoyed playing together at that age, as well as spending time on their own. And they were pretty creative at finding things to do (most of the time!).
But, on unstructured days at home, there can be some “I’m bored” moments. Especially when telling them they can NOT spend the entire summer in front of a screen, there were plenty of comments like “What else is there to do except video games, TV, streaming, etc.?” What to do in those times?
I’m a list person. I love my “to do” lists. But it’s OK for kids to be “bored” sometimes because it’s important for them to develop their creativity, imagination, and self-initiative, so they don’t rely on adult-directed activities or media stimulation as much. Summer is the perfect time for building these important life skills because it’s not as structured as the rest of the year is.
There are lots of GREAT ideas online for summer routines, activities, and boredom busters. Here are a few examples of what I found.
- I love the idea of limiting media time with media cards to be “spent” or “saved” throughout the day in this post from Organizing Made Fun. More cards can be earned by doing tasks around the house too!
- I like all the ideas and the categories on this “I’m Bored” checklist from Happy Simple Mom!
- Andrea Dekker creates a daily “Fun To Do” list. Check out some of her activities and how this list helps save her sanity in the summer.
There are a TON of other examples like these!
So here’s what I did when my kids were little: I organized a few areas in our house that encourage my kids to do things they like, so they enjoyed their summer (and I enjoyed mine!). But, I didn’t overly structure what we actually did during those down times. It was a stretch for me (I’m all about being organized!!) but it was good for all of us.
1. I created a craft / activity area in the basement with lots of things the kids could work on. They each had a number of craft projects and activities they received as gifts but hadn’t necessarily had time to work on, so those were included in this area. I also kept a stash so I can replenish it throughout the summer.
2. I helped them organize their toys (in their rooms, in the basement, and on the main floor) so they could find things and be inspired to play with some toys they had forgotten about.
3. I organized their puzzles and games so they could be used more and set up a challenge to complete each puzzle and play each game at least once over the summer.
4. I registered them in the summer reading challenge at the library (they were both motivated by challenges and rewards so this was right up their alley).
5. I gave each of them a summer journal. They could write in it or draw pictures in it from time to time to show what they did during the summer. For their first entry I suggested they brainstorm some of the things they would like to do this summer.
By providing these spaces and tools, my kids could unleash their creativity, which feels much more freeing to me than using a calendar or chart or list with ideas.
My kids aren’t perfect and when my preventative “boredom busting plan” failed sometimes, I had to rely on my own creative ideas. And when I got stuck…I resorted to some of those great suggestions online.
Between the bigger things we already had planned for summer, the smaller activities, and the creative things that happened in our unstructured time, it turned out to be a great summer! The balance of structure and freedom worked for all four of us.
Do you organize your summer or leave it unstructured or a balance of both?
Happy organizing!
I am a professional organizer and author, ready to help you declutter and organize the overwhelming areas in your home and develop systems that will work with your family’s lifestyle to help keep you organized!
