*What do you do for Summer fun?*

[momof2inohio]

I need ideas to entertain older kids during the Summer. My kids are antsy...like me. They have to be do something all the time. It makes it hard during the Summer because I run out of ideas. They are ages 12 and 9 so alot of things they are too old for. They don't like going to the park anymore.

We have a pool pass and use that but my kids are already bored of going to the pool. This Wednesday we are going to the zoo. I have taken them to movies. We are going to Cedar Point (amusement park) soon. We already have the tickets we just need to see when DH can take off work since we want to go on a weekday (less crowded!!).

DH and DD each have a week-long camp coming up soon. But other than that I am out of ideas. It was soooooo much easier to entertain them when they were little!!!!!

So what do you do for summer fun?

[LHath6]

Go cart tracks, mini golf, lazer tag are always hits with my kids. Oh, and I'm jealous! I have been wanting to go to Cedar Point for years! I am a big coaster fan. Silver Dollar City just doesn't cut it.

[CW&M Mom]

Hide in the house and wait for fall to come. Too dang hot!

[aimeebee]

My kids are 16, 14 and 7. We still go to the park...but we pick one with a hiking trail and go just a little before dusk. They especially like this if we take a picnic, McDonalds or pizza.

We go to the library and read magazines, newspapers or the kids favorite is the Internet because all 3 can be on a computer at the same time.

We have done the dollar theater, the regular theater (matinee price) and will do the drive in probably this weekend.

Incredible Pizza is a favorite here. In the summer we go for a late lunch 2pm because it is cheaper. But we end up eating, doing the arcade, backlight golf, laser tag etc and then we eat again before going home. It is a buffet, so we get two meals for one price. They have online coupons, too.

We go to the mall or outlet mall just to browse. They like to hang out at Gamestop, look around etc. My kids are old enough to get that we are just looking and will only buy deep clearance type stuff and maybe a snack.

I like to go to Disc Replay and look at the $2 and $3 DVD clearance. Buy 5 get the 6th free. So for about 10 bucks everybody can pick a new movie. We have 2 stores, but one of them has much better clearance than the other.

Some other things to consider:
Bowling
Roller skating
Ice skating
Christmas in July activities
Movie marathon (pick an actor or theme)
Wii or PS3 tournament
Euchre, Spades or board game day

I saw a bunch of wooden 3D puzzle crafts at Michaels for $5 (around $3 AC) they had Statue of Liberty, White House, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben,etc.

I have a big list that I will type up later tonight, after our walk. I add more things to it each year. It isn't like we do everything on the list every summer. But, when there is a day where everybody seems really bored or we've been cooped up and getting on each other's nerves, I pull out the list for inspiration.

[3timesoccermom]

For years - until they were too old - my girls went to a 2-week summer day camp where they swam, played different sports, did crafts, etc. We always took other neighborhood kids so they all had a blast. I dropped them off at 9:30 AM and picked them up about 3 PM. It was great for all of us and inexpensive enough that if there was something special going on when camp was in session we'd just skip that day but that wasn't often.

There are 3 junior colleges and 1 university in our area and all offered "Kids College." They took Spanish, pottery, Geology (trust me, they loved it) Chemistry, cooking - even a junior forensics class (I also snuck in a couple of "fun with math" courses occasionally) and all were geared to their age.

The 2 older girls took a 6-week junior beach lifeguard course, all 3 took swim lessons and went to soccer camps forever and each also went to at least 1 tennis camp, several volleyball camps and a few basketball camps.

Local museums usually have interesting summer programs too. Those were really fun days and in spite of the way it sounds they did still have time to relax, read, play outside and do nothing.

[momof2inohio]

Great ideas!! I forgot about bowling and go-carts. There is a bowling alley here that offers free bowling for kids every day. I will have to do that one day.

I forgot that my DS will start football practice the first week in August so that will keep him busy.

Last year I had them both in several summer camps which they loved. This year I was not on the ball and by the time I got to registering for some of the camps they were all booked up DS will go to a nice overnight camp that he went to last year and DD has a day camp at our gym that she will go to.

My DS is so used to playing sports year round except for summer so I think this is part of the problem. He doesn't like baseball so no summer sports for him.

DH and I decided to take the kids to the lake this weekend and rent a boat.

[aimeebee]

Picnic
Park
Library
Bowling
Putt Putt
Go Carts
Ice Skating
Roller Skating
Out of Town Pool (30 -45 min away there are several that are nicer than our town and they have discount days which I write on my list at the beg. of summer.) We do the same for parks. There are some that have free splash parks, but not the parks closest to us.
Fly a kite
Mani/Pedi for dd and I
Movie Marathon
Historic Location
Museum
Outlet Mall
Amusement Park
Water Park
Drive In
Homemade Ice Cream
Homemade Pop Sicles
Homemade slip n slide (big tarp)
Camping
Hiking
Camping in the backyard
Dogs n Smores
Pie maker (campfire grilled cheese and apple turnovers)
Mall Scavenger Hunt
Card Tournament
Wii Tournament
Water Balloon Fight (supersoakers, too)
County Fair
State Fair
Town Festivals
Board Game
Jigsaw Puzzle
Wash the Car
Kool Aid Tye Die
Christmas in July
Collage
Bubble Bash (teens are getting old, but I babysit and do it with my youngest and the 2 and 4 year old I watch twice a week.)
Metamora/Brown County day trips to towns with lots of little shops like a candy shop, antique store, craft boutiques, flea market type stores, fudge shop, etc.


I also didn't get my youngest signed up in time for camp this year. But, the older two will have marching band starting mid July. A couple of weeks they have Band Camp and practice from 9am to 9pm!!

[Spanelli8706]

Great ideas aimeebee! Thanks for sharing. My kids are a lot younger, but I still can use some off of your list.

Another thought I had: we have a few local places that do kids cooking classes nearby. What about volunteering... like at a vet clinic to walk the dogs?