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,
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 50 ideas to get you started:

Make It Monday Ideas:

Bake or cook a new recipe
Make a picnic breakfast
Create a new art project
Make lemonade and sell it at a lemonade stand
Make puppets and create a puppet show

Make shrinky dink kindness keychains for a friend
Make play-doh then enjoy it
Make a fort and spend all day in it
Make homemade ice cream

Make this bouncing bubble recipe
Have a tea party

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

Try It Out Tuesday Ideas:

Create an obstacle course and then try to go through it fast and backward
Try a science experiment
Play a new board game
Learn a new card game
Figure out how to do a magic trick
Find a roller skating or ice skating rink and learn how to skate
Create a skit and have a talent show
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
Wash your car together
Have a water balloon fight
Play with a Slip and Slide
Toy wash- scrub all dolls, cars or legos
Water “tea party” in bathing suits
Water table play

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

Thinking and Thoughtful Thursday Ideas:

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

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

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.