Fun Activities to do Before School Starts

As the fall season approaches, that most like means that school will be starting for your kids soon. Get out and enjoy the last few weeks of summer break with these fun activities to do before school starts. These are also fun things to do on the weekends once the school year has officially set in.

Fun Activities to do Before School Starts

Plan A Picnic

Choose some finger-friendly food, have your kids help you to pack it up, and go to your favorite place. It could be the local park or any special place that would be fun! Bad weather? No problem! Have a picnic in your living room. Put down a blanket, bring your basket over and enjoy your meal/snack indoors. Kids are great at pretending and being imaginative and will probably have just as much fun inside as they would outside. Plus, an indoor picnic switches things up from the norm.

Go On A Nature Walk

Whether you walk around your backyard, the neighborhood park, or plan a day trip, you’ll be amazed at what you can find. Go on a search for rocks, bark, flowers, weeds, trees, bugs, and more. Kids love doing hands-on stuff so allow them to take up a collection of what they find. You can even make a game out of it by seeing who can collect the most or who can find the most unique item.

Make Homemade Popsicles

Popsicles are such a summer treat that you don’t want to pass up the chance to have them before it gets too cold outside. Fresh fruit Popsicles are delicious and so easy to make. They’re healthier than store-bought ones as well. One quick search on Pinterest and you’ll have a wealth of easy DIY popsicle recipes to try.

Have A Movie Marathon

Invite some friends and their kids over and have some snacks while watching a few family favorites. If you really want to go all out, have a bucket of popcorn, a box of candy, and a drink for each person or kid and create a movie theater atmosphere.

Cool Off In The Water

If you’re close enough to the shore, go to the beach for the day. Build some sand castles, play in the waves, collect some sea shells and soak up as much of the summer sun as you can. If you’re more inland, go to a lake or river and do some boating, canoeing, tubing, or fishing. If all else fails, play in the sprinklers in your own yard.

Create a Summer Scrapbook or Time Capsule

Did you go on a fun family vacation, visit grandparents or send your kids to camp over the summer? Document your memories by making a scrapbook or time capsule at the end of summer. Your kids can help you and even have something to bring in for show-and-tell when they explain what they did over the break.

Turn Buying School Supplies and Back-To-School Clothes into an Adventure Game

Back-to-school shopping could be the last thing on a kid’s list of priorities. Create a list of everything you need to find for school and change the idea of it being stressful into a mission your kids can help you to accomplish. “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to track down these items. Your success in school depends on it. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.” (You get the idea.) Changing the tone of the errands will make it more fun for parents too, not just kids. Then go out for ice cream when you’ve completed your mission.

Have One Last Day Of Summer Camp

Are your kids’ overnight and day camps over for the summer? Maybe your kids didn’t attend camp this year? Plan a camp day and do all sorts of camp things they won’t be able to do again for a whole year. Do some arts and crafts, go on a nature hike, play kickball, put on a talent show, tell stories around a fire, make s’mores or plan activities around their favorite hobbies.

Final Thoughts

There are many different activities that can be done with kids. It takes time, patience, and imagination. In the end not only will your kids have fun and learn something in the meantime, but you’ll end up having fun too. Remember, not everything has to cost a lot of money in order to be fun. All you need is a little creativity.