Written by contributor Kris Bales of Weird, Unscocialized Homeschoolers
Now that the season is in full swing, beating the summer heat can be difficult.
These suggestions should give you some ideas for ways to keep boredom at bay without sweltering in the hot sun.
Water fun
Playing with water, in some form or fashion, is always a great way to cool off during the hot summer months. Some ideas:
- Swimming
- Set up a water table – You can build a simple DIY water table or just fill a container with water and place it outside.
- Water balloon war or toss
- Water gun battles
- Sprinkler fun – Water the grass and entertain the kids all at once!
Kids Bowl Free
It’s not too late to sign up for Kids Bowl Free. My family has already been bowling several times this summer and the kids love it. So do my husband and I! As a matter of fact, we briefly discussed the merits of finding a random kid to take so we could go bowling while our kids were at camp.
I’m kidding. Mostly.
Check your local bowling alley’s specials. Ours has a couple of days each week in which food specials make eating at the bowling alley a reasonably-priced, fun treat.
Libraries, museums and aquariums
Photo by Chun Xia
When it’s really hot outside, sometimes the best way to beat the heat is to find an indoor venue for a day of family fun. Take advantage of specials that local museums and aquariums may be offering. Keep your kids’ supply of summer reading fresh with regular trips to the library.
Summer reading programs at the library are usually lots of fun, but if your library doesn’t offer one or it’s inconvenient to attend, create your own summer reading program.
Life skills training
Summer, with its more relaxed schedule, can be a great time to teach your kids some basic life skills. Some examples include:
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Laundry
- Yard work
- Budgeting
- Balancing a checkbook
- Entrepreneurship
School
People often ask us why we start school so early (usually the second week of July). It’s because we school year round.
While there are at least a dozen benefits to homeschooling year round, one of them is definitely the fact that it’s too hot to do anything else in July (at least here in the South), so we might as well be doing school.
Starting in July keeps everybody occupied in air conditioned comfort and it allows us to get ahead so that we can enjoy being off when the weather is cooler in the fall.
What activities do your family enjoy to help beat the summer heat?
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My boys are 9 and 10 and still will grab the hose to squirt each other. They fill up totes and pretend they are “hot tubs”. We also walk down to the river that is near our house and go wading. They like to hang out at the library or museums as well on really hot days, but also get really overwhelmed because EVERYONE ELSE seems to be at those places on hot days too. 🙂
Amy Dingmann’s latest post: How the garden tour became about Minecraft
We were extra warm the other day so I decided we should head to the local museum…only when we got there the AC was BROKEN. It was too much! Thanks for the other ideas!
Rebecca Reid’s latest post: Summer School and Embracing Unschooling
Oh, no! That would stink to go somewhere hoping to cool off and have their AC be out.
Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers’s latest post: How to Beat the Summer Heat
We hang out at the library. It not only provides loads of comfy chairs, an unlimited supply of books, and new toys to play with, but they have an incredible Summer Reading program agenda with concerts, shows, activities, and crafts almost every day.
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Sounds like a great place to be. 🙂
Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers’s latest post: How to Beat the Summer Heat
If you have a slide in your backyard, get a small pool, fill it with water, stick the bottom of the slide into the pool and as you soak the slide with a hose let them slide right into the pool. They absolutely love this
My youngest would love that.
Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers’s latest post: How to Beat the Summer Heat
We homeschool year round as well. Then, when there are nice days and parks and things are not as crowded, we don’t feel bad about skipping lessons for the day!
I grew up in Phoenix so we had to be creative about staying cool. We played wiffleball with sprinklers spraying at several bases. After our Dads all got mad at the mess water balloons left behind we all pooled our money and packs of sponges. We filled buckets up with water and soaked the sponges. It was then all out war chasing each other and throwing the sponges to get on another. The sponges were a lot easier to clean up and reusable!
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So glad I’m not the only one! We live in the South, too. And we usually get our best “work” done in the summer when it’s far too hot to even *think* about going outside. Then come fall, we are ready to get outside again!
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