This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Fruttare, but all my opinions are my own. #itsallgood #pmedia  https://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Alright, are you guys ready for summer? I think I am and I also think it can be a struggle to come up with summer activities for kids. As you may remember, we homeschool. Thus far in my 7 years of homeschooling, we have schooled year round with a few month-long breaks rather than the traditional long summer break. This year my girls are asking about a ‘normal’ summer and I’m feeling the need for a break, so I’m contemplating a ‘normal’ summer for us this year. This leaves me with some trepidation because even after a week, my kids are often going nuts. I don’t want to take a ‘break’ only to have everyone miserable.

I’ve come up with 5 tips that I think will ensure we have a fun summer. I thought you might like my ideas as well…and maybe they might be helpful to you as well.

1. Ask the kids what they want to do

I started by having my girls take a piece of paper and something to write with to their room. I set a 10 minute timer and had them brainstorm ideas of things we could do together. I told them the ideas had to be either free or very low-cost. Of course they complained about it going in, but when the 10 minutes were up, they didn’t want to stop. Snowflake had 3 pages of ideas. Pumpkin had 2 pages of ideas.

Next up, I’m going to decorate some kind of a jar and put the idea on strips of paper inside the jar. We can than pull out an idea for the day and do that activity.

Sweet! I generally find that when I engage my kids in the process of coming up with ideas or let them pick, we all have a much better time. They are vested in what they are doing and generally don’t complain about it then.

2. Find outdoor activities

Even though it is hot and humid where we live, I still try to find activities for us that get us outdoors. I just think it is important to get some fresh air and sun.

While we were in Arizona this month, with temps in the 80’s and 90’s, my kids wanted to be outside. I think they would live in a pool if we had one. They certainly turned into fish in my parents pool. Just make sure to use sunscreen so everyone doesn’t get burned. That would put a damper on the summer fun. 😉

3. Keep them active

I’m a big believer in keeping my kids(and myself) active. I think we do way to many things in our society today that are sedentary. If we can find fun ways to keep moving and keep active I think it makes up for all the sedentary activities.

Once again, a pool is a fantastic way to keep everyone active. We don’t have a pool, so we hook up sprinklers in the backyard, turn on music and have a fun playing a summer family fun water game. You could play some simple and inexpensive outdoor games that get you moving like the hamburger relay race or the flashlight hide and seek games I’ve shown you in the past.

There are so many great and easy ways to be outside and be active. You can get more ideas above in the family fun tab. I’ve got quite a few great ideas.

4. Have healthy treats

One of the things I love to do with my kids, is add something fun to the day. I love finding some kind of a little treat or something special to add to our fun. Often I find some kind of a fun food treat. The thing is that I like finding healthy fun treats. I don’t like to overdo with sugar and/or processed foods.

While we were in Arizona, I was looking for some kind of fun treat for the girls after their fun in the pool. I was wandering through Target and found these Fruttare fruit bars. They have fruit in them and are a low-calorie treat. They are natural and come in lots of different flavors. We bought the Strawberry and Strawberry and Milk/Mixed Berry and Milk in Arizona. Since we got home we have also tried the Mango as well. They are delish, healthy, and something cold. They are such a perfect summer treat for the whole family!

My girls loved them! We hated that we didn’t finish them all while we were in Arizona and had to leave some behind. Oh well, they are easy to find here as well.

I’m already missing my parents pool and all that Arizona sunshine! My girls are missing the Fruttare fruit bars along with the pool, sun and so many other things.

5. Give Kid’s Responsibility

I think that giving my kids some small responsibility each day will also help keep our summer fun. It will give the kids something to do and keeps them feeling a part of the family. I find that when my kids feel like they are needed and are contributing to the family, they are happier members of our house. They like to be needed. They like us functioning as a team.

This summer, I’m going to put Snowflake in charge of our snack station. Guess what? I’ve already told her, we can add the Fruttare bars in the freezer as part of our snack station. She will be in charge of making sure we have snacks all summer. I know that she will make sure the Fruttare bars are stocked…because it isn’t that often that I encourage things like this in the house….but they are so yummy and they are healthy and we are aiming for a fun summer. So they are a perfect fit!

You can learn more about Fruttare Fruit Bars on their site and on their facebook page.

So what do you think? Will my ideas work for us to have a healthy and fun summer? What tips can you add to help this momma who needs a break out?

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