As a mom it can be difficult to keep your little ones entertained throughout the summer. Don’t get me wrong, letting kids be bored can be a good thing. It forces them to come up with things to do on their own. They have to use their creativity in order to come up with new ways of playing or new ways of doing activities they have become bored of. It is nice though to have some planned activities for them so you both don’t drive each other crazy over the 3 months of summertime. In case you missed it, I also wrote about 3 Preschool Activities to do Outside. Here are Five Summer Preschool Activities that will keep your little one busy and entertained.
Melting Activity
Summers can get pretty hot, especially if you are a Texan like myself. Temperatures during the summer tend to get up into the 100’s pretty quickly come June and July. This activity can be more of a science experiment in which your child becomes a scientist, making hypotheses and conclusions based on the results of their experiment. If you have an old cookie sheet or muffin pan, that would be best for this activity. Have your child pick 5 or 6 different items from around the house, some of which will melt and some that won’t. Assist your child in picking a few objects that you know will melt in the sun. A few good items to use would be a crayon, icecube, a piece of chocolate candy, a marker, a penny, a squirt of toothpaste, etc… Have your child lay the chosen items on the pan and place in direct sunlight. Have them guess which items will melt and which will not. Come and check on the pan after about an hour or so and then again after 3 hours. Have your child determine if they guessed correctly about which items will and will not melt.
Splash Pads
I don’t remember having these amazing things around as a kid, or maybe we just never visited one, but these things are amazing. As a mom of 3 it can be a bit intimidating to take the kids to the swimming pool by myself. Splash pads have been a lot less stressful for me and the kids have really enjoyed going to them this summer.
Nature Name Activity
For this activity you will need to write your child’s name in large letters on a piece of construction paper. Have your child go around the yard or a park and collect objects from nature such as grass, sticks, flowers, and acorns. Glue the objects onto the construction paper to create your child’s name. This is a great activity for letter practice and fine motor skills.
Water Table
We just recently purchased a water table for our kids. The average cost is around $30-$40 depending on what kind you get. My kids have absolutely loved their water table. It’s so simple, so on the days when I’m feeling too lazy to actually take the kids to the pool or get them in their swimsuits and all sunscreened up to put them in their kiddy pool, I just bust out the water table. They enjoy scooping and dumping out the water. They do get a little wet depending on your kids, but it’s a great alternative to the swimming pool when I just don’t want to put in a whole lot of effort. I also picked up a few floating frog and animal squirters from Dollar Tree which the kids really enjoyed too. When they got bored of those after a while, I threw in some orbis they loved as well!
Paint a Birdhouse
Incase you have been unfortunate enough to not know about Target’s Dollar Spot, Target has this amazing section of their store usually located near the front that has the best things. I found these cute birdhouse crafts there for $3 each. I bought them a while back and have been saving them for a rainy day, and what do you know? Today is a rainy day. Literally. Texas weather has been weird lately and we are actually getting a good amount of rain in this summer. I purchased each of my kids a birdhouse to paint. Each one came with a cute little brush and paint set. If you don’t have a pre-made birdhouse, making one from scratch can also be fun. You can probably also find some similar craft kits at places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. The kids had a blast getting to be creative with their little art projects and they were so excited to hang the houses in our backyard trees when they were done. We will keep an eye on them and maybe we will get lucky enough for some little birds to move in!