Does summer stress you out with your kids? Are you dreading it? Or are you excited for it? Maybe you’re a little of both. I love summer. I like that it’s more laid back . I like the longer days. I like the heat (mostly). And I like hanging out with my kids (mostly). What I don’t like is the whining, fighting, and complaints of being bored (although I schedule in boredom, too). So, I have to be intentional with how we’re spending our time during the summer.
Two summers ago, I started intentionally planning our summers out. I have a schedule – but it’s a loose one. If it’s too rigid of a schedule, I feel trapped. I also have lists of things to do because I’m not good at spontaneously doing things. I plan my adventures. Yes, I said that. I have to plan my adventures, otherwise, they would not happen!
The first summer, I planned out specific days. Mondays and Tuesdays were “adventure” days. (Side note- my kids spend those days with their dad who is great at being spontaneous so I didn’t have to plan anything for “adventure” days.) Wednesdays were “make-it Wednesdays” and we made a different food each week. Thursday was “craft” day and we made something crafty. And finally, Friday was Funday Fridays – which usually involved going to the pool, fountains, or something like that. I actually made a calendar and listed the activities for the day. I also put suggestions of things to do at the bottom because I usually need some type of inspiration.
Last year, I changed it up some and enjoyed the summer even more than the year before. My kids are getting older so I enjoy traveling with them more. We came up with a Summer Bucket List of places we wanted to go. I looked into local events and places to travel to in Kansas. We hit about 2/3 of our places. We also went to some places that weren’t originally on the list. Dodge City wasn’t originally on MY list. But we got the heck into Dodge and had a great time!
This summer, I’m going to do a combination of the past two summers. I’d like to bring back the “make-it Wednesday” and do a few more creative projects. I’m not so crafty so that’s harder for me to plan. We’re also making another Summer Bucket List of places we want to travel to and see. I hang the Summer Bucket List up so we can all see it and check things off when we do it.
Soo, if you’re reading to start planning your personal Summer Bucket List, here’s a 10-step plan:
- Get a calendar . I generally just find an editable calendar online for each month (May, June, July, August) and start editing. I like color and different fonts so I change up the fonts/color.
- Add all of the necessary to do’s/items that your family is doing. For example, two of my kids are doing baseball. I add their games to the calendar. In addition, we’re doing a couple of summer camps, so those camps are added to the schedule too. I also put down the days I work.
- Make a list of travel destinations. I have a Kansas travel book and have the TravelKS app. I get inspiration from there. I like to include the amount of travel time so I have a general idea of how long the trip will take. We have a couple of places on our list that are about 3 hours away. We definitely have to plan that out.
- Write down local places you’d like to go. For example, we’re planning on going to the new Derby dinosaur park this summer and we plan on going to Elderslie Farm to do blackberry picking again. Make sure to note if it’s something that has a short season (blackberry picking – approximately 2-3 weeks in late June/early July).
- Make a list of local events you’d like to do. If something catches my eye or I hear about something fun to do, I jot it down. Again, to give you an example, I want to go to the Taco Fest in June. I’ve already written the date/time down. I’ve also “penciled” in food trucks at the Waterwalk on the fourth Sunday of each month. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll go but it’s written down as an option.
- Write down other things to do, food you’d like to make, or creative projects you’d like to do. Examples: go to the fountains, go to the drive-in, Fourth of July jello cups, and tie-dye t-shirts.
- Plan any learning activities. Kids are like, say what?! But we always do some “educational” stuff. We do the reading program through our local library. This year, we’re also going to do Road Trip USA (to coincide with our out-of-state trips), Big Life Journal Challenges Kit (growth mindset challenges), and potentially Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr.
- Add all of your local places, events, and travel dates to your calendar.
- Hang your calendar and Summer Bucket List up so you can frequently see them. You can add to them all summer long if something else comes up and floats your boat.
- Have fun! Live your adventure!
I hope that helps you plan your own Summer Bucket List and that you intentionally enjoy your summer!