Are you looking for ways to keep your summer productive AND fun? Here is a great list of themed days to create your own summer fun plan!
I like to plan our summers out. If I don’t, I feel like we get to the end of the summer and still have a long list of things we still haven’t done! In planning our summers I like to create a Summer Fun Plan that includes a “theme” for each day of the week. That way were are learning and exploring a variety of things and packing in as much fun as we possibly can in our time together!
Last year we focused a lot on art and simple outings. This year I really want to focus on teaching my kids to be responsible, contributing members of society. We have a lot of people in our home, which equals many tasks that need to be performed on a regular basis. In many homes during the school year, the block of time after the kids get home from school until bedtime is just crazy! There isn’t time to really effectively teach and train kids on new skills.
I have created our summer schedule in a way that allows time to be set aside to make things run even more smoothly and efficiently when the new school year starts. By choosing to be intentional in teaching these things during the summer, we can be productive and STILL have fun!
Create a Routine
Creating a routine for your summer is the best way to ensure that you feel successful and accomplished at the end of every day. If you start out each day with purpose and intention, you will find that you are able to have more fun and less boredom! Also, by making the purpose and plan of each day known to the children, they will help keep you accountable (whether you like it or not!)
Our summer routine is defined in our Summer Checklist or Summer Responsibility Chart that we print out to help the kids stay on track with their tasks. (Two charts because we are an ever changing family and our needs have changed over time). We participate in Summer Reading Programs to encourage daily reading from our Summer Reading Book Lists, and working on our Summer Workbooks to prevent learning loss over the summer. (Here are more ideas for how to prevent the summer slide or learning loss)
Here are our themed days for this summer:
To check out our themes in previous years, check out this post. If summers full of themed days seems overwhelming to you, check out this super-simple-no-frills-yet-still-tons-of-fun Backyard Summer Bucket List.
Music Monday
The oldest 4 kids take piano lessons from me. This will be our set day to do piano lessons during the summer. I have a bunch of fun music games from when I taught piano lessons that I am excited to pull out and play with the kids. We will also learn a little bit about different composers, instruments, and kinds of music to help the kids be a little more educated in this area. We have a ukulele and some recorders that I wanted to have the kids try playing and see if anyone wants to try their hand at learning those!
Tasty Tuesday
We eat a LOT of food in this family! I could really use some helpers for dinner. During the school year when dinner rolls around though, things are too crazy to sit and train someone. Setting aside the time to teach kids to make cookies from scratch, make a salad, boil noodles, grill chicken, etc. will make the next school year SO much easier!
When teaching the kids to cook, I like to focus on teaching them how to cook the meals that we eat regularly off our Rotating Meal Plan so I know that I can rely on those helpers often!
Wednesday Work Day
Ooh, I’m gearing up for the groans that will accompany this day. I’m thinking there will need to be a treat or a reward to motivate us to get through this! We have responsibility books with tasks for the kids to learn depending on their age. We need to bust through these and get some chores learned. I have a new 5 year old that needs to learn to clean bathrooms. Pretty sure my older kids need to learn the fine art of ironing. Even though this day will be tough, I am SO looking forward to the long term benefits! Training kids on all these new chores will also help the process of making a chore chart once summer is over much easier.
Thankful Thursday
On Thursdays we will focus on developing different character traits. By reaching out and serving others, we are able to think outside of our own current circumstances. I’m thinking simple things like writing letters to friends and family, calling them on the phone, etc. Just trying to think about other people that might be less fortunate than ourselves.
Friday Fun Day
Friday will be our day to catch up. If kids haven’t finished their chores and other responsibilities throughout the week, this is the time for them to do so. We usually have a fun dinner and movie night on Fridays too!
Life seems to always be crazy, and I’m never quite sure how to perfectly plan out a summer so that everyone is pleased. That being said, I always look forward an intentional summer focusing on teaching life skills while still having fun!
Get your free copy of the themed Summer Fun Plan printable!
We just print this baby out, stick it in a sheet protector, and fill out the specific activities each week!
