FIVE MILLION THINGS To Do With Your Kids This Summer. FIVE MILLION.

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Well. I mean, it's not TECHNICALLY five million.  But still.  It's a bunch. 300+.   Probably plenty for you, because let's be honest, are you really going to do five million things with your kids this summer?

(Liar.)

I'm guessing you'll probably do around 20 and then spend the rest of the summer praying for the sweet release of death school. Me? I might last a little longer because I'm borne aloft on the wings of my Working Mom Guilt, but still.  NOT 300.

Some of this stuff is stuff you would need to do with them, but a lot of it is stuff they can do on their own, because I think kids, given a little nudge, should mostly be able to entertain themselves.  (I GAVE YOU SIBLINGS FOR A REASON, MY CHILDREN.)

(None of the stuff in this list is Utah specific.)

(Many thanks to my husband for letting me spend a bunch of time lying around / not spending much time with my children today so that I could write this post about spending time with my children.)

(I LOVE Mother's Day.)

SO. I GIVE YOU:

1. Pretend they've been stranded on a desert island or in the woods
2. Pretend they've run away from home (let them pack a duffle bag and actually "run away" - as far as you feel comfortable letting them roam - around the block, etc.)
3. Pretend they're magic
4. Pretend they're the Boxcar Children
5. READ the Boxcar Children
6. Pretend it’s the zombie apocolypse –what do you take with you?  Where do you go? What is the safest spot?
7. Use masking tape to make "roads" on the carpet for hot wheel cars and then use Legos or blocks to make a village to go with it.
8. Visit model homes and let them pretend they live in the houses
9. Learn how to spiderwalk up the walls in the hallway
10. Sleeping bag stairway sledding (put a mattress at the bottom of the stairs to avoid concussions) (and - I feel obliged to say this - not if your stairs are really steep) (OBVIOUSLY)
11. Have a tea party (with real food they make)
12. Play restaurant and let them make a menu and meal
13. Let them make dinner for the family
14. Give them cooking lessons (in my particular case, our "lessons" are extremely sad.  "OK, THIS IS THE TRICKY PART.  Rip open the little packet and pour out the cheese powder.  Now - STIR!  STIR WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!"  Whatever.  They still love it.) 
15. Try cuisine from different lands - have the kids pick the country, study the customs and meals, plan the meal and any decorations, and help cook
16. Go grocery shopping - give them the list and let them get everything and check stuff off as they go, and let them pay
17. Have the older kids host a one day camp for their younger siblings - it's fun for the older kids to plan the activities and be in charge and the younger ones love the attention
18. Start a club. My kids have had cooking club (everyone comes over and helps make various foods), book club, game club, etc.  It doesn't really matter what club it is, half the fun seems to be in organizing the club, making the rules, inviting people, etc.  It usually fizzles out after about one meeting but they never seem to mind.
19. Tell ghost stories at night or in a dark room
20. Play with flashlights
21. Play ghosts in the graveyard (at night)
22. Set up the tent and have a late night in the backyard
23. Sibling slumber party in the family room
24. Flashlight tag at night
25. Look for constellations
26. Build an indoor fort
27. Build an outdoor fort
28. Build a sunflower fort
29. Build a mud fort
30. Make a lean-to playhouse out of sticks and random boards
31. Make backyard sandcastles
32. Dig tunnels in the dirt / make mud forts for army guys
33. Plant a wildflower patch
34. Plant a garden and take care of it - put each kid in charge of a specific type of plant 
35. Pick up large rocks/logs and look at the bugs underneath
36. Catch bugs
37. Find an ant colony
38. Collect rocks
39. Make leaf prints
40. Make a pinecone bird feeder
41. Make a sandbox
42. Play in the sandbox
43. Make a backyard construction site with tractors and diggers
44. Build an Inukshuk (house made out of rocks) 
45. Climb a tree
46. Dig a hole, line it with garbage bags, and make a little pond
47. Have a race
48. Host a Backyard Olympics
49. Nature Scavenger Hunt - race around trying to find one thing that matches each color in the rainbow - ROY G BIV
50. Create a spring flower collection book
51. Make a worm bin, catch a worm,  and feed it vegetables
52. Look for shapes in the clouds
53. Find a cricket
54. Go on a bird watching scavenger hunt
55. Make a leaf collage
56. Paint a rock
57. Make a log cabin out of twigs
58. Paint a pine cone
59. Grow an indoor pea plant or bean plant
60. Hunt for frogs
61. Feed ducks
62. Use window markers (my kids love doing this, especially around holidays when they have a theme)
63. Rearrange the furniture
64. Trade bedrooms
65. Read
66. Read
67. Read
68. Go to the library
69. Go to a new library you don't normally visit
70. Play with friends
71. Extend their boundaries (if you normally only let your kid ride her bike around the block, extend the radius an extra block or two - this feels like a special privilege and lets them enjoy some independence. For older kids, give them a couple of dollars and let them walk or bike to the store to buy something for you.)
72. Or, if you're uncomfortable with that, as a FAMILY, walk or bike somewhere farrish away that you normally drive to - my kids think this is super exciting. Whenever we do this (which isn't often lately because we live on a super steep hill) they like to pretend they are poor, carless, orphans on a journey. (Er, bring water.)
73. On ONE day, let them do something they aren't normally allowed to do, i.e., if they aren't allowed to stay up past 8, let them stay up as late as they want; if they aren't allowed to wear make-up, let them, etc.
74. Spy on someone without getting caught - if you play this at home you can't TELL the person you're spying on that you're playing the game, obviously.  My kids usually decide to spy on ME and they sneak around and try to spy on me without getting caught, which usually works out pretty well for them since I am fairly oblivious.  Eventually I'll hear giggling and/or see someone darting behind the couch and I'll say, "Uh, Megan?" and then I'll hear "Awwww, DANG it," and I'll know I just busted someone.  
75. Go spy on people outside (We gave Meg a "spy kit" for Christmas with a wig, one of those listening amplification things, a detective notebook, cheap binoculars, and a couple of other doodads.) 
76. Be a detective
77. Play I Spy
78. Make a picnic and go on one
79. Have a barbecue
80. Swim
81. Swim
82. Swim
83. Play Marco Polo
84. Play Shark Tag
85. Play Water Volleyball
86. Run through the sprinklers
87. Make a slip n slide out of trash bags
88. Water trampoline (yes, this is dangerous) (please don't report me to CPS)
89. Water gun / ballon fights
90. Wading pool
91. Shaving cream fight
92. Water obstacle course
93. Make mud pies
94. Swimming lessons 
95. Go to a water park
96. Go to a splash pad 
97. Go on a boat/canoe/kayak ride
98. Float down a river on an innertube
99. Go wading in a shallow creek
100. Learn to skip a rock
101. Go to a lake or beach
102. Wash the car
103. Have a huge bubble bath
104. At night, let them take a bath in the dark, but throw a couple of glow sticks into the tub
105. Hide and seek
106. Make a treasure hunt - either a simple one indoors or a larger one outdoors, leaving clues around the neighborhood
107. Make an obstacle course
108. Play don't touch the ground tag
109. Roll down a steep hill
110. Go to an orchard and pick fruit
111. Teach your kids about money - how to use a debit card, how to write a check, etc.
112. Teach your kids how to do laundry
113. Teach your kids how to clean a bathroom
114. Teach your kids anything
115. Teach them to fill a bike or car tire (carefully) (obviously)
116. Teach them how to use an ATM
117. Play Feather Your Nest - go to Walmart or Target let everyone take a cart, and then let each person "shop" for the items they want to use to furnish their make believe house. They can pick out dishes, groceries, blankets, pots and pans, etc. Then race to put it all back when you're done. Kids love this, I'm not kidding. (Yes, we've gotten some weird looks, but I figure after all of the money I've spent in both places over the years, they owe me some free entertainment dangit.)
118. Do chores (MEAN)
119. Be servants for mom (sort of like this) (I'm not kidding, sometimes my kids want me to pretend to be the mean old rich lady and that they are the servants / Sarah from the Little Princess. It seems to make doing their chores more fun when they can pretend to be frightened, etc. I will periodically storm down to check on what they are doing and act crazy and they LOVE it.)
120. 15 minute pick-up - I set the timer and they run around performing whatever chore I've assigned. Something about the race to finish it before the timer dings makes it exciting. I'm not actually sure what would happen if they didn't get it done before the timer rang. SOMETHING. SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS.
121. If they are fighting and crabby, I put them all on "restriction" in one room, together. They will usually end up playing together and having fun.
122. Alternate method - tell them they need to clean their room and can't come out until it's clean. Usually this means my kids will play together happily (or at least quietly) for a few hours because they don't want me to come in and realize they're not cleaning. Suckers.
123. Alternate, ALTERNATE method - if they are fighting and crabby and/or there is too much "mom I'm bored" going on, I let them know that if they can't think of something to do, I will think of something for them.  Like reorganizing my bookshelves or scrubbing toilets. FUN! 
124. Go to a historical site, but don't be all boring about it.  Help them imagine that they live there. (In Utah we have This is the Place park.  We don't go a lot, because it costs actual dollars, but when we do go, my kids love it.  They like to go into the various houses and actually pretend to be pioneers.  It bugs them when other people are there because it interrupts their game.  This is the Place is especially cool because they also have crafts, and pony rides (if you enjoy riding in a circle), and a petting zoo with Really Determined Goats, and a train, and a pirate ship (I am not actually sure how this is relevant to pioneers.  Perhaps there is some part of history we are all missing.  The Great Utah Pirate Plague of 1889 or something.))
125. Go to a ski resort, ride up the chair lift, and hike back down - or for older kids, bike back down.
126. Go hiking
127. Go to a convenience store and let them pick a treat and/or go get slurpies
128. Go to an amusement park.
129. Go to a bird refuge (If you can stand the smell, which personally?  I cannot.)
130. Go to an aquarium (ditto)
131. Go to a hands on children's museum
132. Go to a science museum
133. Go to a natural history museum
134. Go to an aerospace museum
135. Go to a botanical garden
136. I was going to say go to a Fine Art museum, but - let's be serious
137. Go to a different park every week
138. Go to a local summer festival / rodeo / parade
139. Watch a fireworks show
140. Shoot off fireworks
141. Go on an art walk
142. Go watch planes
143. Go watch construction with heavy equipment
144. Go to a working farm
145. Go to a working dairy - they often have tours
146. Go to a train museum
147. Ride on a train or a subway.  Or heck, even a bus. Kids are easy.
148. Go geocaching
149. Go orienteering
150. Go on a road trip
151. Go up a canyon
152. Go on a waterfall hike
153. Go on a wildflower hike
154. Go to a sand dune
155. Go on a scavenger hunt
156. Go to a drive-in
157. Go to a movie at the discount theatre
158. Go get ice cream
159. Go to a school playground (great place to rollerblade/bike/scooter)
160. Go to one of those infernal golf/arcade/gocart playlands
161. Go to a bouncy house / trampoline place
162. Go bowling
163. Go to the pet store. (My poor kids. They have no pets. This is because we are horrible pet owners, so we are doing the world of animals a favor and just - not trying it. But they love to go to the pet store to look around. And they always hope. (SAD.))
164. Go to one of those pottery coloring type places
165. Go to a play
166. Go to a concert
167. Go to a farmer's market (although CAREFULLY - we lost Emma for a while at the super crowded downtown SLC farmer's market and I'm still traumatized)
168. Go to a yard sale
169. Go on a nature walk
170. Go to the dollar store
171. Go fishing
172. Go biking
173. Go ice skating
174. Go rollerblading
175. Go to a roller rink
176. Go bowling
177. Go to an air show
178. Go minature golfing
179. Go to thrift stores
180. Go for a walk
181. Go waterskiing
182. Go wakeboarding
183. Go on a candy factory tour
184. Hit up the tourist sites in your city/town
185. Fix up dolls, toys, and stuffed animals - get the barbies dressed, style their hair, brush the animal's fur, etc.
186. Make stuff for your barbie house (furniture out of cardboard and fabric scraps, rugs, curtains)
187. Barbie fashion show
188. Barbies in general
189. Turn on the music and have a family dance party
190. Visit family
191. Do a secret service for someone - wait till your elderly neighbor drives away, then mow her lawn, or pick the dandelions out of her yard. Or do something at night to make it more exciting.
192. Make cookies for someone in the neighborhood
193. Pick a struggling family (if you don't KNOW a struggling family, first of all WHERE DO YOU LIVE, and second of all, LOOK AROUND YOU, and third of all, ask someone) and, with your kids, plan to do something nice for them, secretly. This can be as simple or fancy as you want. For example, you put together a "summer fun" kit for the family - with water guns, water balloons, a punch pass to your local pool, and new flip flops. Wrap it all up and let your kids drop it on their doorstep in the dead of night, ring the doorbell, then run away. Your kids will never forget it.
194. Play a sport
195. Play hopscotch
196. Play a card game (war, memory, go fish, slapjack, speed, etc.)
197. Play crack the egg
198. Play softball
199. Play Simon Says
200. Play cops and robbers on bikes
201. Play Red Rover
202. Play Four Square
203. Play King of the Mountain
204. Play Kick the Can
205. Play Blind Man’s Bluff
206. Play Red Light, Green Light
207. Play Mother May I
208. Play Heads Up, Seven Up
209. Play Crack the Whip
210. Play Leap Frog
211. Play Capture the Flag
212. Play Follow the Leader
213. Play Duck Duck Goose
214. Play Telephone
215. Play Freeze Dance
216. Play Murder (THE GAME, although I realize summer may occasionally make you question whether or not to actually try it)
217. Play the piano and sing
218. Play kickball
219. Play soccer
220. Play tag
221. Play freeze tag
222. Play TV tag
223. Play school
224. Play a board game
225. Play with clay
226. Play karaoke
227. Play with makeup
228. Play with a jumprope
229. Play 20 questions
230. Play Volleyball
231. Play Cat’s Cradle
232. Play dress up
233. Play with jacks
234. Play 20 Questions
235. Play checkers
236. Play charades
237. Play croquet
238. Play post office
239. Play twister
240. Play store
241. Play frisbee
242. Play catch
243. Play hot wheels
244. Play with your toys
245. Play in a bouncy house
246. Play on a hopper ball
247. Play in a boat (when I was a kid we had an old boat - we rarely went out on the water, but we played in it constantly as it sat in the driveway)
248. Play with chalk
249. Make slime
250. Make cookies
251. Make playdough
252. Make ice cream
253. Make snowcones
254. Make a playhouse out of a refrigerator box or moving boxes
255. Make artwork to put in frames
256. Make music with water in cups
257. Make a kazoo
258. Make a new kind of sandwich
259. Make a board game
260. Make a puppet out of socks
261. Make a puppet show
262. Make a movie
263. Make crafts
264. Make jewelry
265. Make father's day cards
266. Make t-shirts for 4th of July
267. Make and color paper dolls
268. Make a model plane/car/train
269. Make a scrapbook
270. Make and fly paper airplanes
271. Make up a language
272. Make snowcones or popsicles
273. Make and blow bubbles
274. Cook an egg on tinfoil on the sidewalk
275. Origami
276. Take pictures 
277. Go on a photography scavenger hunt
278. Pillow fight
279. Tickle fight (just leave me out of it, thankyouverymuch)
280. Fly a kite
281. Take a free class at home depot
282. Learn to sew
283. Learn to crochet
284. Learn to ride a horse
285. Learn to use a ripstick
286. Learn to play chess
287. Learn to blog
288. Learn to create a website
289. Learn magic tricks
290. Learn card tricks
291. Learn pig latin
292. Learn to paint your nails
293. Learn to braid hair
294. Learn how to tie knots
295. Learn Sudoku
296. Learn how to cartwheel
297. Learn how to do a walkover
298. Learn how to do a handspring
299. Write letters/emails to cousins/grandmas/friends
300. Write a story
301. Write a song
302. Write a poem
303. Keep a journal
304. Draw
305. Paint
306. Fingerpaint
307. Color
308. Have a yard sale
309. Have a lemonade stand
310. Do a family service project, like picking up litter or joining in a community cleanup
311. Do a fun run / walk for Charity
312. Twirl around until you get dizzy
313. Do a science project
314. Do a puzzle
315. Check out a book of plays from library and act them out
316. Put on a talent show
317. Take a nap
318. Become an expert in some topic that interests you
319. Plan a fun activity for your family to do
320. Bury a time capsule
321. Solve logic puzzles or brainteasers
322. Have an indoor snowball fight (use newspaper)
323. Make melted crayon art
324. Have a movie day
325. Make-up stories starring THEM and tell them at night (my kids love, love, love this)
326. and
327. Laze around.  It's summer. :)