Kids Summer Activity Ideas: Get the Good Ones Now

In this article, I will provide Kids Summer Activity Ideas to help you get a jumpstart on planning.

You may be thinking – it’s not even spring yet – Why the rush for summer?  Well, start looking now as all the popular activities fill up fast.  In fact, we were waitlisted for some activities that opened up in January (no joke!).  

Due to my oldest graduating from daycare, last year was our first foray into the world of summer camps.

A Bad Start to Last Year’s Summer

Our kid’s elementary school offered a Homebase program which we did not think twice about enrolling last summer.

We believed our kid would have a similar experience to his pre-kindergarten program.  To highlight the positives, his Pre-K program was well-structured, he made many new friends and learned a great deal.

Unfortunately, this was not the case for the Homebase summer program.  After the first 2 days, my kid became very sun-tanned and did not have anything interesting to report.  We quickly learned why.

Although there were many activity stations for Homebase, there was no set schedule and each kid was given the power to decide what to do each day.

Thus, my kid opted to spend the entire time on the playground.  I’m all about playtime, but not exactly what I had envisioned.

The only brightspot was my kid’s enthusiasm to learn how to hula-hoop.  With a little bit of guidance and hours of practice during Homebase, he became a hula master.

This is definitely not one of my Top 10 Proud Dad moments, but at least something positive came out of Homebase.

A Good Finish to Last Year’s Summer

Needless to say, we searched for different opportunities to try for the last month of the summer.  The two programs we enrolled in were the YMCA summer program and a gymnastic class.

We loved YMCA for many aspects.  Each day had a schedule filled up with activities such as arts and crafts and games.  It was split into grades which made it is easy for my kid to socialize with others.  Lastly, there were multiple field trips to fun places such as water parks, museums and parks.

For the gymnastic class, the main highlights involved being in the same class as many of his friends and actually learning gymnastics.

Compared to Homebase, both had a higher cost and longer drive.  However, the benefits far outweighed the negatives.  As a result, it motivated us to seek out more summer activities like this for the future.

Guiding Principles for Summer Activities

After talking to other parents and doing much research, we realize there are tons of summer options available.  

To narrow down the activities, we came up with the following criteria:

• Age-appropriate: Tailored to our kid’s age group
• Structure: Being organized and having something valuable to learn
• Fun Factor: Something my kid loves or would like to try out
• Friends/family: Ability to share the enjoyment with others he knows
• Convenience: Having a good start/stop time and not located too far away

Summer Activities Ideas

For those searching for summer activities ideas, here was the list we came up with.

Sports & Physical Activities

• LifeTime: Structured Activities throughout the day and great hours to match our work day. Do not need to have LifeTime membership to enroll.
• Mini-hops: Chance to learn gymnastics and have fun with his friends
• YMCA: Offers both traditional camps and structured summer programs. The traditional camp programs are wildly popular and this will be the first year our kid will participate.

Other Physical Activities to be considered for the future

• Sailing camp
• Sports camp
• Swimming camp

Mind Activities

Camp Invention: Highly recommended by other parents.  1 Week Program during the summer focused on STEM interests, collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

Acting Camps: From the Stages Theatre page, the benefits are Inspire the imagination, Develop performance skills, Build confidence and Foster creative expressions

Private School Camps: Variety of Athletic and enrichment activities, arts and crafts, hands-on learning and more.

Other Mind Activities to be considered for the future

• Coding Camp
• Museum Camp
• Cultural/Language Camps
• Church Activities

Tips for Summer Activities

Here are tips that will help you plan your summer activities.

Be Organized

The summer is essentially 12-13 weeks long.  For us, we ended up filling these weeks with 7 unique summer activities.

It is literally a puzzle fitting together all the different activities. To keep organized, the best thing for us was putting everything in a spreadsheet to track.

Determine Vacation Plans in Advance

In the past, it would be crazy to imagine by January to have your whole summer all planned out.  But in order to get your top choices, this is necessary. This includes knowing what your family’s vacation plans will be.

After analyzing our schedule, this sadly meant postponing a Disney trip (see article Disney World Tips for Families). Instead of visiting Mickey and Minnie, we will be heading to a family reunion.

Research and Socialize

Build your summer activities list, share ideas with your friends and family, and decide on what dates work best for your family.

The hardest part was coordinating the activities with others, which required many calls and emails.

Stay on Top of Registration Dates

To be able to get into the popular activities, this means signing up as soon as registration opens.  Unfortunately, we were slow signing up for the YMCA camps and subsequently placed on the dreaded waitlist.

For those waitlist weeks, we have a fallback plan.

Formulate Fallback Plans

Determine fallback options that are flexible in case your top summer activities are taken or if you are waitlisted.  

Although I’m not a fan of Homebase, this is our fallback plan. Homebase allows you to hold days and cancel without penalty as long as there is advanced notice.

Get Health Forms Ready

Many camps require up-to-date health and vaccination forms.  Keep those handy!

Look into Before/After Activities Care

Some activities do not last the full day such as being 9am-3pm.  This makes it hard to manage for working parents.

Fortunately, many activities offer before and after care to match work hours. This will cost you extra, but worth it.

Summary

You have read about Kids Summer Activity Ideas.  Keep your kid’s body and mind active through the summer by getting them involved in the best camps.  

Think of these opportunities as a good way for them to learn new skills and deepdive into an activity. In addition, this will keep their summer fun and exciting.

As a quick summary of the tips:

• Be organized tracking your activities
• Determine vacation plans in advance
• Research and socialize ideas with others
• Stay on top of Registration Dates
• Formulate Fallback Plans
• Get Health Forms Ready
• Look into Before/After Activities care

With a great plan set in place for this upcoming summer, I am excited to see what skills my kids will develop. This should easily top last summer’s highlight of learning how to Hula-Hoop!

Please share any tips or other great summer activity ideas with us!

About DadMBA: Through his schooling (he does have a MBA) & more importantly being a Dad, he has provided practical advice to family & friends on finances & other life topics.  He loves helping others thus the creation of DadMBA.