Summertime Fun

Oh my, It's summertime. We have a lot of fun things planned for Summer. Since I'm not doing my school position anymore I have 2 days off during the week. That means I have more time for fun, yay! We will be doing fun playdates and playing outside as much as possible. We have a new water table to keep cool. Right now our summer themes are a little more broad but I will definitely be posting lots on Instagram and Facebook this summer. These are in no particular order this time they will be grouped in outings and in-home activities.

Outings-

We have some friends that we will plan playdates/field trips with almost weekly over the summer. We also have my niece who is younger than my son and we will have her some days and will do playdates with my sister on other days. My little guy plays a lot with adults since while I'm doing EI he's the only kid with the sitter. Hopefully, he'll get to play with the neighbor boy who just turned 2. I'm glad he will have a peer that's older that can be a good model for him.

There are a lot of Free activities at the local libraries and park districts, so I always suggest checking with those places. Sometimes the library will want you to register for activities or story times so they have enough supplies or room. We will try to join the drop-in story time the next town over because we are unincorporated and don't belong to our local library. Of course, the toddler story times are on days I have to work so we'll try on days I have a cancelation.

A nearby town has a Kids Lunch Hour Entertainment on Tuesdays so we'll get to go to those with my sister. It has 10 minute Storytime and then a child entertainer which should be fun. I will also keep my eyes out for other activities like that as well. Facebook is often a good place to find events like that in your area.

Zoo-

We have a membership to the local zoo and there are a couple of smaller zoos in the area as well that we will be checking out. Again zoos often have some special summer events going on and you can check their Facebook page or their website for events. I also go to their website to find the map so I can print it out and laminate it. My little guy will probably be too small to really understand how the map is used but older kids can use a dry-erase marker to circle which animals they really want to see. They can draw a line of which ways to go to get to those animals or check off the animals they saw. I know when I nannied we marked off the animals we saw each time so we could try to see all the animals at least once by the end of summer.

You can also print up the animal pictures to make like a picture schedule as well if that would benefit your child. Some children do better with transitions if they know what is coming. You could also use it to make a personalized social story for them to know what to expect. Or while you're at the zoo take pictures and then make a book or just look at the pictures on your phone, so you can discuss what you saw afterward (33-36 months of the Rossetti "Relates recent experiences through verbalization").

Parks-

Just going down to the local park is a great activity. You can work on language like "up/down" and counting stairs with the slide and "stop, go, more" with the swing. Some have splash pad areas for some water fun. There are usually other kids there to have some good peer models. Since Covid so many kids had been trapped at home, and now that people are getting out more it can help with some socialization that so many kids are lacking sometimes. You might find a new friend that you didn't even know lived near by and can meet them at the park for some playdates. Or you might just see the same kids over and over again at the park.

Arboretum-

We have a local arboretum that we belong to. There are parks to climb on and slides. We can walk around and name the colors of the flowers and go through the gardens. There are kid gardens to play in. Throughout the summer they have different special events and crafts to do in the Children's area. I'm waiting for the Asain Fest at the end of the year. It's my favorite but we haven't been since Covid. They didn't do it for a couple of years and then it got rain out last year. It's so much fun to learn about new cultures. We're not really wanting to go to the city to go to Chinatown so all the fun culture of Asian fest will have to do.

Play themes at home-

When we're at home we'll have some themed fun as well. It'll be a little looser in the summer than usual but we're also more active and want to be out as much as possible.

Dinosaurs

My little one loves Dinosaurs these days. Some big squishier Dinosaurs will be coming out to play. He likes to bring things outside and I feel like Dinosurs is a good outside activity. Letting them walk in the grass or in our rock box. It doesn't just have to be for trucks.

Water

Of course in the hot summer, cool water is the way to go. We'll be playing at this water table a lot. Working on pouring and splashing all summer long. Maybe some ice cubes to play with in there and color pompoms. I saw a fun water pump in there to keep the water raining on the top. I'll be getting pump soon for sure. Putting some soap in there to make some bubbles. You can wash cars and outside toys in the water table. Maybe after playing with the Dinosaurs in the rocks, we can wash them in the water table. He's been playing with his water table even with no water in them at all. He's liking the cups and little toys that came with it. Whatever keeps him happy.

Picnic

We will be having some picnics in the backyard and when we're out and about. His Wonderfold Wagon has a tray for him to eat on the go. He has a picnic table in the backyard as well. I think lunches are just more fun outside. After playing at the water table, lunch at the picnic table, while he dries off, will be good. Playing picnic with pretend foods is always fun as well. Melissa and Doug has some fun foods, cutting foods, cookies, muffins, and sandwiches. They have it all. This summer I think I will be getting into my box of pretend foods more for some pretend picnics as well.

Playdoh

We are getting into Playdoh and I have a ton of things to go with the Playdoh like molds and tools. We've only gotten out a few cookie cutters and rolling pins for now. He's still getting used to not eating the Playdoh.

Art projects

We are getting into some art projects as well. We have our Veggie Paint and will paint pictures for the Grandparents. We made a flower pot with his hand prints on them for Mother Days. We will be making a handprint 4th of July shirt. Maybe we'll make Daddy a shirt for Fathers Day too.

Gardening

We have some veggies we're growing in a raised garden bed and in the ground garden. We also have some flowers and herbs. My little guy will help me water my plants. We have watering restrictions so some days we will need to use the watering cans. He will also be able to take the water from his water table in a little watering can to water the plants. I can't wait to watch them grow and make us some yummy foods. I have cucucumbers, tomatoes, zuchinnis and sweet peppers that he should be able to eat soon. Hopefully I'll get my strawberries going ASAP. We plan on moving soon, so next year I'll be planting blueberry bushes as well. They can take a year or two before you get blueberries on them, so we'll wait.

Make sure you're following me on Facebook and/or Instagram at SassySpeechy to see all that we do over the summer. It's so much easier to post on there than a big blog here. We plan to stay busy. I'd love to see what you do over the summer as well.