Summer Ideas? - Longmont,CO

Don't forget he is at the perfect age to start learning to help with the household chores.

I would make a routine of having him
make his bed,
take his laundry to a designated spot ( you could teach him to sort and load too)
fold the dry laundry
unload the dishwasher
prep meals, make his own pb and J
vacuum
wipe bathroom counters etc
THat would eat up some time

also institue a quiet time each day for an hour while he plays alone and when it's over read a book together

buy a summer workbook to keep sharp on first grade skills

how about a larger jigsaw puzzle that you leave out and work on little by little?

make picture or skype to relatives

explore all your local parks and rate them

Some movie theaters have dicount kids movies in the summer

bowling

mini golf

Good Luck,now if i could just take my own advice.

3 moms found this helpful

If he likes the pool why not go to the pool daily. It will give him exercise and you can teach him how to swim. Maybe he can make some friends there and you can sit by the pool and enjoy the sun. I never really worried about entertaining my kids, they learned to entertain themselves. Buy some pool toys and go to the pool. Enjoy the summer!!

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you've gotten great ideas already so I'll just add the importance of him learning to entertain himself. If he does not play alone without you he isnt developing his own creativity, and building important life skills, like decision making, self direction, independence. My son at five could play alone for hours with match box cars, Legos, our swing set, sand box, sticks, stones, leaves, etc

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I hear ya. My son is getting out of school this coming week. Here's what we are doing:

Ice skating class (he plays hockey, so he needs to practice skating)
Rollerblading (helps strenghten leg muscles)
Scooter time--he loves to ride it
Splash pads at the community parks
Drive In movies
Tennis (bought new rackets just to keep busy)
Picnics at the parks and beaches
Going on a trip to Great Wolf Lodge for a few days
Fishing
Garage sales to find treasures such as books and toys

We also are going to the library and getting lots of books to keep up his reading skills. Our library also has storytimes and other age appropriate activities....check yours too. We will also be practicing math. We'll do this for at least an hour or two a day.

Does your son have a Nintendo DS? That helps keep my kid busy too. Our library carries games for DS, Gamecube, PlayStation, and Wii. Also, there are many websites that offer computer games for kids like Sproutonline and Disney. If you have an Ipad, let him use it. My son always finds some games on there too that he enjoys. You can also check with your local YMCA or community recreation center to see what they have to offer.

You could look into music lessons for him if he's interested in learning to play an instrument.

I hope this helps:)

2 moms found this helpful

My son is the same age, and we have almost exactly the same situation : )

One thing we did before Christmas break, that we're planning to do for summer as well is to make "The List." We basically just sit down with a piece of white poster board (although I've seen people do it on a whiteboard as well) and colorful markers and write all over the posters with ideas for the summer! The list itself takes about an hour (generating ideas, decorating the poster etc.) and you always have a reservoir full of stuff to do every day. They don't have to be BIG things, and we do other stuff as the mood strikes, but we love crossing stuff off of the list as we do it, so we know we've had a great vacation!

We'll be doing OUR list on Wednesday (first day of summer) but ideas we've already floated on our pre-list are:

Make homemade ice cream
Go on a LONG bike ride
Bake a new recipe
Make giant soap bubbles
Ride a new water slide
Go to a new park
Visit the zoo
Learn to fish
Go on a boat
Ride a roller coaster
Make a new friend
Wash the car
Have a bike race
Make a paper boat and float it
Take a hike through the woods
Learn to play chess
Visit a museum
Have lunch at a restaurant
Splash in a fountain
Buy an ice cream from the ice cream truck
Ride on a carrousel
Read a long book together
Go to the movie theater
Jump off of the high dive
Make a cookbook
Do a new puzzle

I'm sure he'll come up with others on Wednesday :)
...

Also, we have an IKEA nearby. The Smalland (childcare) there is free and VERY fun. I drop him off and go sit in the restaurant with my book and a cup of coffee and we each get a revitalizing 90 minutes :)

We also go to the pool almost every day! Last summer it was a great way for him to meet some kids (we were new to the area) because many families are there several times a week. THIS summer, it's a great way to stay connected with school friends without needing an arranged play date every day.

2 moms found this helpful

We have been to the pool 10 times in the past two weeks...I try and go every single day. It wears my kids out, they have a blast, i can visit with other moms.

We still have martial arts lessons two nights a week, we go visit older relatives two afternoons a week, one morning a week I go to a bible study and the kids have play time at church, one morning a week we take an aunt to physical therapy and the kids visit with patients there, and that barely leaves time to schedule a play date or two and the week is over...

I still wish we could fit in library time and trips to the park...but next week is another week...get ye out of the house and find another mother or two to go with you...check out the local free things...here we could also go bowl two free games a week if we could find time to fit that in too...

There is too much for us to do and not enough time in the week...get yourselves out of that house!!!

2 moms found this helpful

This summer, I'm facing nearly the same thing. My son will be starting Kindergarten in fall. I'll be doing what I did as a nanny-- setting up a daily schedule and sticking with it. This will include scheduled playdates, park trips, weekly library trips, lots of backyard/yardwork time, a small amount of tv time (not even daily), plenty of homemade popsicles (smoothies do well for this), and rest time in the afternoon. We'll also make sure to have at least one full-on sit down face to face activity time each day-- playing a game, doing artwork together-- something HE chooses.

We currently do a 45 minute 'Quiet Playtime' every day, using a timer. The rule is that he has five minutes to take his materials (he's quite an inventor these days) and toys to his room and then he's not to make a peep unless he's bleeding or throwing up.

I was a nanny for several families whose mothers worked at home. I suggested we use the old college system of placing a scarf or tie on their home office doorknob for when they were on calls which shouldn't be interrupted. Your son is old enough to understand this visual cue, and if your husband works from home, figure out where 'his' space is and 'your' space is. Likewise, because kids do want to connect with parents who work from home, we set up a couple scheduled times during the day in which that parent would have a few moment with the child. (Say, during a snack time or lunch time-- it says "I'm busy but I am making time for you".) If your son has that regular time with Daddy that he can count on, this will help. If the parent was unavailable when a child wanted to talk to them, we'd write down what the child wanted to say, sometimes a note, sometimes a more formal letter, depending on the child's interest.

Lastly, there's magic in letting our kids be 'bored'. So often we think we have to keep throwing activities their way-- it doesn't give the kids an opportunity to figure out what *they* want to do. Here's a great post on how less of us is more for them:

http://kloppenmum.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/learning-can-b...

I have an only child too, and know that without routines, including routine down time and free play time, I'd go bonkers. So would Kiddo. My last encouragement would be to skip the packaged craft projects and make a found objects drawer or box he has access to. All the weird little bits-- tins from tea, mesh bags from the tomatoes, extra paper plates, craft sticks, surplus chopsticks from take-out, lots of masking tape and rubber bands, cardboard backing from notepads, boxes of all sizes, some containers and lids, flattened cereal boxes, parts of the plunger of an old french press, paper towel and saran wrap tubes-- all of this is in our drawer. My son has been opening it daily and has made a box which flies off a yo-yo (strange, but it's his bliss), a 'bow and arrow' from craft sticks and rubber bands, and a 'butterfly house' out of paper-- all of these were his own ideas and creations and bought me loads of time. If your son is imaginative, the found objects will be his treasure chest. Keep it super simple. Let him paint or glue his creations outside on a cheap vinyl tablecloth and just help him with cutting thicker cardboard-- have him show you where he wants the doors or windows or holes to go by drawing them on for you. Let him lead and figure things out as he goes. Loads of fun! Modeling clay and playdough are also life-savers for me too. Have fun!

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Have you looked for Vacation Bible Schools in your area? They are usually one week, 2-4 hours per day. And nominal fees.

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Most park districts have free stuff going on all summer long at different locations.

Library's also have lots of free summer programs. Check those out.

Swimming is good for your little guy take him a lot. As for the organized sports sometimes kids don't like them because for the first time they are not the "only" one who gets to win or be first or get their first choice. Sign him up anyway for a sport where he is part of a team but still kind of on his own. Tennis, golf, wrestling, swimming. They have teams at his age in all of those things through the local ywca or park district.

Our local gradeschools also have some summer programs. they are arts and crafts and sports things and go from 9 to noon and some of them go all day from 9 to 4. so check into those also.

set your tv amount now (the kids I nanny for get 1/2 hour a day during the school year and a hour a day during the summer) this can be fudged a little by earning extra time. the dad agreed they can have as much more tv time as they spend reading real books. so an actual story for 10 minutes can give more tv time. but reading a picture book with like 2 words per page does not count. don't give in on the nonstop begging you to play with him. playing a game with him is one thing. but he needs to be able to keep himself busy some also.

1 mom found this helpful

It might help to have a scheduled activity that happens a day or two every week. That way he can be around other kids and you can get a short break. Check into your local park & rec dept. They generally have weekly classes or camps at a reasonable price.

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what a perfect time to develop new friendships for him! i'd make that my first priority. if you're already going to the library and the pool (both wonderful activities that you can't really over-do) he'll certainly meet other kids and form some connections. encourage this.
this is also a perfect time to nudge him into letting that wonderful imagination serve him better. there is no need for any child, only or not, to be super-demanding of a parent's time. naturally we want to and should be there for our kids and do things with them but it is NOT a parent's job to entertain 24/7 and we do our kids a huge disservice when we do this.
nothing is as stimulating to a child's creative faculties than a little boredom. keep the tv time strictly limited, and let him loose on everything else. legos are fantastic. so are puzzles, sticks, trees, mud, insects, fort-building, dress-up, let's pretend, firefly chasing, bubble-blowing, reading, drawing, cloud-watching, daydreaming and hey! chores!
if he's totally unused to entertaining himself, start small. set a timer for half an hour and tell him he is not to bug you or his dad in that time. you might start off with whining and complaints, but in a very short time i'll bet you'll find he's off and busy with his own stuff and doesn't realize the time has elapsed.
plan 1 or 2 'big' activities for a day, but outside of that you shouldn't have to micromanage his time at all.
give him this gift now, mama. it will enrich you all.
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful

Take a look at Pinterest for ideas! I LOVE this site because there is a photo that relates to the topic for each subject that you're interested in and you click on it and it takes you to the information.

Here's my board with a lot of summer ideas:

http://pinterest.com/1joy1/summer-fun/

You don't need an account to look, but you need a (free) account to save the "pins" to your boards. I really am using so many of the ideas!!

I think you'll find a lot of ideas and many are really inexpensive. Also... check out other searches on boards from pinterest... type in "arts and crafts", "DIY" "kids", etc.. and so many pins and boards will show up. And you can follow people who have great pins, but you don't necessarily know.

~Joy

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I'm not big on schedules but a general routine is helpful.
Mine was to let the kids have their screen (TV/computer/video games) and play time for an hour or two after breakfast. During that time I would have my coffee, read the paper, clean up the kitchen, maybe do a quick workout video, etc.
Most days we packed sandwiches and headed to the park or pool. I always tried to hook up with another mom so I had someone to hang with (crucial to my sanity!) I know you say you don't really know anyone but didn't your son make friends in kindergarten, is there no one you could call up and say hey, would you and junior like to meet us at the park today?
If we didn't go to the park or pool we sometimes ran errands and went out to lunch, or sometimes we went up to the regional park and hiked around the lake and fed the animals at the petting zoo. My kids did swimming lessons, and kindergym classes at the community center (great places to meet other moms, too!)
We also took day trips once or twice a month, to the beach, the county fair, San Francisco. Again, more fun for you if you go with another mom.
On the days we didn't go out (usually only once or twice a week, I NEEDED to get out of the house, lol!) my kids played inside and outside and helped me around the house, working in the yard, helping with dinner, etc. Since your son is an only I think you should let him invite a friend over as often as possible. That will keep him busy and out of your hair more than anything.
Oh and afternoons we had down time. Even when naps are over you can still have your son spend some quiet time in his room, looking at books, playing with his toys while you relax a bit and then start getting ready to make dinner.
If you still feel like he's still not busy enough you can look into some summer programs, a lot of towns, rec centers and churches offer half day kid's camps at reasonable prices. Also, even though he doesn't like organized sports he may love gymnastics, check into that. Most gyms have rock climbing, trampolines, foam pits, trapezes, etc. It's little boy heaven!

1 mom found this helpful

Many churches have vacation bible school.. check the websites for local churches or make some phone calls. ... it doesnt necessarily have to be your religion.. the churches usually buy the curriculum so most denominatins use the same or similar lessons..

check your parks and rec for kid activities.. many are inexpensive.

swim lessons are usually cheap and fun.

dont limit yourself to your local library.. we go to 2 or 3 libraries.. whichever one is having a special program we are there..

we have several spray parks nearby.. fun and freee.

zoo.. we join our zoo for 70 for hte year for htre family.. and go often.

is there a mom meetup in your area?? we have a huge one here.. lots of activiies.

My kids will be home most days.. I plan to do a 15-30 minute homeschool time.. a few worksheets.. a bit of reading.. then we will go outside and go someplace. we will probably be home by 1 or 2 and have a relaxing time watching a show when the day gets too hot.

My 5 yr old is home for the summer too, and a VERY busy boy too. We've been visiting:
* various playgrounds in our area (I check the different towns' park district websites to locate good parks)
* been to the zoo (we will be going a few times a month on a family membership),
* will go to a kiddie amusement park
* lots of walks around the neighborhood, nature walks through parks that have ponds & woods
* I have signed him up for a few brief classes thru our park district: a 2-day art class, 4 week (1x per week) kids' cooking class, an outdoors-themed 4 wk, 1 time/wk class, & 12 wks (1x/wk) karate class.
* sprinkler & kiddie pool in our backyard
* squirt guns & water balloons
* chalk drawings on our patio slab & driveway
* t-ball in our backyard (using whiffle balls)
* kicking around a soccer ball & trying to score on each other
* racing each other
* finger painting

ETA* My son is the oldest of 3, so we tend to be more limited in what we can do. Markasa (below) gave lots of great things to do. FISHING would be AWESOME to try (if you don't have the gear, perhaps you can find someone to borrow from so you don't have to invest in it without knowing how he'll like it.)

I forgot to mention bowling. My son LOVES to bowl and we have gotten some great Groupon's to bowling alleys in our area for super cheap. Also, there is an organization called Kids Bowl Free that you could Google and find a lanes near you.

Do you have a trampoline? Might be a great investment!

Check out the local activities (parks and recs, ymca, boys & girls club, library, etcl). They often have free and/or low cost activities. During the day, they may be good ways to keep him occupied while your hubby is working.

You can also pick a topic or theme for each week of the summer. Then look up ideas for that theme (crafts, activities, movies, etc). Go to the library and rent books (some that he can read and some that you can read to him) and movies within that theme. In addition to free play time (that every kid needs), utilize these activities, books, and movies to occupy his time. If you can manage a "field trip" within the theme you can do that on Thursdays or Fridays (if you do Thursdays, you can then have Friday as wrap up but if you do Fridays then that can just be the topping off of the subject).

Maybe you can find a day camp for a week or two to help you out. I would also try to incorporate swimming into each day to insure he get exercise and fresh air (if you don't pay to go to the pool each day). If you do pay to go to the pool each day, I would at least plan to go one day each week.

Why ca't he play with his lego's for that many hours? Why can't he play in his room all day? or outside?

He's old enough to not have to be entertained at all. Of course there are times he'll want to have your attention but that should be less than an hour a day if he has toys and other stuff.

If he needs to be in child care for his own sake then find a program like the YMCA that has day camp. They offer themed weeks that will interest different children the opportunity to focus on something they find interesting.

For instance, our Y is $87 per week for members. This coming week our guys are able to choose from:

Junk Jams
Stomp, boom, bang and much more with everyday items like trashcans, brooms and buckets.

Cheer Mania
We will work all week on dance steps, cheers and teamwork to develop a fun and exciting routine for parents, family and friends to enjoy on Friday night at 5:15 pm.

Mini Chefs
Put on your aprons campers! Be ready to make some yummy easy recipes you can do at home. We will make Chef Hats, Recipe books, Ice Cream, Nachos, Micro Magic, Mini Pizzas, and More!

They open at 7am and close at 6pm. They do their activities in the morning then often swim for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Then they go back to activities again after snacks.

It's a wonderful program here in my area, here's a link to your local Y's camp program.

http://www.longmontymca.org/files/IMAGINE%20Parent%20Hand...

We are a lower income family and get a 50% discount on camp. IF you qualify for this it should be very economical. If you qualify for child care assistance they also accept that.

There should be all kinds of youth programs around, some may even be free. The Salvation Army in my area has a day camp that is free, well, it may be something like $20 per month but that is just to pay for snacks and stuff. All these programs use the free food program through the local school systems. If they can't get to a local school that is offering free lunches for kids under 18 then they can often have the school deliver to them. Depends on the school system of course.

Our local library offers a summer kids program each Friday. They have guests come in and entertain the kids. The do things like have Native American families come in and perform traditional dances, tell stories, completely enthrall the kids minds for at least a full hour. They have puppeteers, story tellers, crafts for 4th of July, a lot of different activities. Even a summer reading program. They also do a free movie on one day of the week at one time only. It's usually one that is on a roll of film and not a new release.

I think finding something for your child to do would be good for him and for you. We go to lessons almost every day, I planned it that way to keep the kids busy.

We get scholarships for a lot of different activities. Our granddaughter takes tennis lessons through the parks and rec department. We got a full scholarship for her again this year.

She is on the show team at the gym, she also takes a combo class of tap/ballet, and I work for the owners to pay for her classes. She is in class 6 hours per week.

My grandson takes gymnastics, 1 hour 2 days per week, again, paid for by my working for the owners.

Through our local grandparents raising grandchildren we had a teacher offer to do free tutoring for any of the kids that have finished Kindergarten and up. She wanted to do this for free for anyone who wanted it. Our granddaughter goes to this an hour per day 2 days per week.

We have a local theater that's main focus in on children's theater. They have donations and organizations that offer a summer film festival. These are free movies open to the public, shown 4 times per day once per week. This year they are showing movies like Charlotte's Web, Hop, Soul Surfer, Hugo, The Smurfs, Zookeeper, Puss in Boots, E. T., Tin Tin, Kung Fu Panda 2. These are free to the public, a different one each week for one day. Showing several times of the day.

The point is, I can leave my house at 8:45am and stay busy until 6:30 or 7Pm each day. Staying busy, having fun, growing memories with the kids.

Of course we don't do that every day but we could if we wanted to. And spent a minimal amount of money.

He needs some friends! If you still have contact information from his Kindergarten class then call up some of the other moms and arrange play dates. Or just go to the park (I'm curious about why you didn't mention trips to a park) and see if he can meet some kids to play with there. My kids and I like to go to many different parks during the summer, go to your community's park and rec website to find the locations of and descriptions of different parks in your area. Hikes or nature walks are also very popular with my kids, pack a picnic and remember to bring plenty of water! Try adding a scavenger hunt to your nature walk, have him look for a smooth stone, a feather, 4 different kinds of leaves, etc. to put in a paper sack or just to point out and then scratch off the list. You can also go to Dollar Tree to find all kinds of new ideas for crafts that your son can do, and buy plenty of bubble blow and sidewalk chalk, and a pail and shovel; those are summer must haves for kids! You can also buy some workbooks for him to practice his math and phonics skills over the summer, and have a reward for him for completing his worksheets, like a sticker on a chart for each sheet then 5 stickers earns an ice cream cone(or something) and 15 stickers earn a trip to the zoo (or something else). Science experiments are also a big hit at my house, try going online to find ideas for simple science experiments to do together. Best of luck!

I would have him at the pool for a couple of hours almost every day. Think about other outings - the playground (where other kids will be), kid museums, bargain movie day. When kids are used to being around kids all day, they continue to need that stimulation. You should set up playdates with his classmates, any of them that are at home with a parent during the summer. See what activities your local library or rec center offer for kids his age. You could also consider swim lessons, or day camp. Even the summers that I was home, my school aged kids went to camp. They needed and loved the socialization and structured fun activities. I never considered myself responsible for entertaining kids 24/7