How to Have a Kid-Friendly Staycation with this Summer Schedule

Inside: Having the kids home for summer can be overwhelming. Use this free summer schedule weekly calendar with over 50+ ideas for each week during the summer.

When I was in high school and college, I was a camp counselor at a camp that charged $100 per camper, per day.

Now it was a great camp. But I don’t have $300 a day to send my 3 kids to camp, no matter how cool it is.

So my kids get me. A staycation at home with Camp Mom.

And we have it down to a science now.

We have 6 things we do every single summer day to

ward off boredom,
avoid screens all day long (although you can use these tips to make any video game educational!)
get a little structure in our day,
and keep my kids’ brains from forgetting everything they learned in school the previous year.

But I also work hard to make it fun for them.

I want them to remember their summers fondly.

But how can we have a fun staycation without whines of boredom or complaints that there’s nothing to do in a house full of toys?

How to Use the Summer Schedule with your kids:

To have a fun summer vacation with my kids, I created this summer schedule of ideas so I’m not staring at my kids on a Tuesday in July wondering how we’re going to spend the next 8 hours.

We also try to have an old school throwback summer using these things from my childhood.

Print out this free Weekly Summer Schedule Calendar (download it below) and laminate it or slip it into a protective cover, and hang it on your fridge.

Then every week, choose things off the list you and your kids will enjoy and schedule them in dry erase marker.

Your kids will have something fun and new to look forward to and you won’t be scrambling to figure out something as they’re all staring up at you expectantly.

Here are over 60 ideas to get you started, but if you need even more ideas, you’ll love these indoor boredom busters:

Make It Monday Ideas:

Bake or cook a new recipe

Make a craft like this paper plate flower wreath
Make a picnic breakfast
Create a new art project
Make lemonade and sell it at a lemonade stand

Make this DIY Felt Car Mat with your kids and then let them play with it
Make puppets and create a puppet show

Make shrinky dink kindness keychains for a friend
Make play-doh then enjoy it or use this Playdough Ice Cream Recipe
Make a fort and spend all day in it

Make Gluten-Free Hot Chocolate Cloud Dough for a delicious sensory activity

Make a printable paper fortune teller (a cootie catcher!)

Make homemade ice cream

Make a DIY Mini Sandbox for rainy days when you can’t be outside in a big sandbox.

Make fusion bead crafts with this Butterfly Fuse Bead Template

Make Unicorn Playdough Activity

And once you find an ice cream recipe you like, write it down with other delish recipes in this printable recipe book for kids.

Make a DIY bubble wand for kids to make (then use it later!)

Make Glow in the Dark bubbles and then use them at night with this glow-in-the-dark bubbles tutorial.

Make this bouncing bubble recipe
Have a tea party

Make these “old school” tin can stilts with this tutorial How to Make Tin Can Stilts (then try them out on Tuesday!)

Make a one of kind beaded necklace with this Magazine Beads DIY

Make Kindness Rocks and hide them
Go to a craft store and choose a new craft to try or take a kids craft class

Play games with bean bags but first make your own with this tutorial: how to make a bean bag for a child

Make an obstacle course and then run it with these obstacle course ideas.

Try It Out Tuesday Ideas:

Create an obstacle course and then try to go through it fast and backward
Try a science experiment or these Disney science experiments

Play a new board game or these 1 player games if your kids need time apart from one another.
Learn a new card game

Celebrate the Summer Olympics with these summer olympics activities (they’re perfect for any summer, but especially the summers with the Olympics: 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032..!)

Try an old school way to communicate with this tin can telephone.

Build a unique treehouse with these treehouse designs perfect for kids (it includes tree-less designs if you don’t have a tree!)

Stretch and get calm with summer themed yoga or this kid-friendly Winnie the Pooh yoga
Figure out how to do a magic trick
Find a roller skating or ice skating rink and learn how to skate

Learn a new skill and Teach Yourself to Crochet! (I want to do this with my daughters this summer!)

Use this Magnetic Sensory Bottle to learn about magnets!
Create a skit and have a talent show

Play a new card game called Golf with these directions how to play golf card game (I played all the time with my grandma!)
Set up a tent and have a backyard campout
Learn how to geocache (harder) or letterbox (easier)
Plant flowers or herbs in the garden

Backward Day- eat dinner first, then lunch, then breakfast for dinner
Try a new sport: disc golf, or soccer golf or mini golf or fishing or kayaking or yoga
Practice typing without looking for free using Typingclub.com

Water Wednesday Ideas:

Give your dog a bath outside
Find a public pool and swim

Have a Glow Stick Bath- and if you can wear a bathing suit and do it with a friend or sibling!
Wash your car together
Have a water balloon fight
Play with a Slip and Slide

Bring winter to the summer with this ice painting.
Toy wash- scrub all dolls, cars or legos
Water “tea party” in bathing suits
Water table play

Bring in some frozen water play with this Dinosaur Ice Excavation Sensory Activity

Use paint brushes to paint with water on the ground or walls
Squirt gun fight and aim at targets
Find a local splash pad
Use a hose attachment for sprinkler play
Try bobbing for apples

Bring some frozen water to your day with this ice painting.

Thinking and Thoughtful Thursday Ideas:

Go to the library and check out books (better yet, do this every Thursday!)

Learn more about your family and genealogy with these Family Tree Genealogy Projects
Write a letter to your favorite Disney character or celebrity
Try a new kind of puzzle…sudoku or crossword or word search or a puzzle with lots of pieces
Write a creative story with a fidget spinner
Learn how to code using a computer program

Connect a book and a song to building and pretend play with this Going on a Bear Hunt Pretend Play

Read kindness books
Collect old towels and blankets and donate them to a local animal shelter

Read a book then do activities to match the book like these dragons love tacos activities (then make and eat tacos!)

Drop off flowers or baked goods to an elderly neighbor

Write thank you letters to soldiers or veterans
Go on a photo scavenger hunt looking for colors or letters in your name

Try something off this 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
Bake cookies for the local fire department or police station and make thank you cards

Hide these summer random acts of kindness cards and toys for other kids to find.
Learn how to play dominoes two different ways
Use a “code” to send someone a message: morse code, braille, sign language, semaphore, pig latin

Volunteer as a family. Click here for ideas

Field Trip Friday Ideas:

Find an “old-school” arcade
Visit a U-Pick Farm… strawberries, blueberries
Play Park Bingo
Ride a horse or find a petting zoo

Go to an indoor trampoline or indoor playground
Visit a zoo or animal sanctuary

Go on a hike
Bowl or play mini golf
See a movie
Go to the nearest beach, river or lake and have a picnic
Take public transport (train, subway, bus) somewhere new and fun
Visit an art museum, kids museum, science museum, aquarium or planetarium
Visit a festival, state or county fair, swap meet or carnival

Want even more summer ideas? You’ll love these free summer activities for kids.

Have fun with this staycation with your summer schedule weekly calendar.