A Summer of Family Fun. Dedicated to our #Adventures4Eddie
We have 8 children, currently ranging from ages 5 months to 17 years old, so it was important that the activities incorporated all age groups. In 2017 we lost our 5yo son, Eddie, in a tragic back yard accident. He loved being outside, creating, and spending time with the family. He often reminded us in his own way when it was time to step away from our tasks and just have fun. Since then we've gained a renewed spirit about letting go of the excuses and fears that keep us from having adventures with our children. We're visiting new places, trying new things, and continuing the focus on our faith and family - but with much more vigor than before. Sure, there are days I let the excuses be the reason we just stay at home without any pressure to go big, and that's good too. A good read-aloud, family rosary, card game, or a puzzle can satisfy our interests.
Every time I write up a list, lesson plan or take pictures of our family activities, I am thinking someone out there would enjoy this too. Thank you for your encouragement as you join the conversation with your comments. Check out all the ideas and lesson plans on this web page, and join my daily sharing of ideas and inspirations on www.facebook.com/HomegrownCatholics . You can follow our family's adventures on FB Adventures4Eddie as well as the St Brigid's Academy blog If you have 4 or more children and homeschool, join the conversation on our Facebook support group: Homeschooling a Largely Blessed Catholic Family .
I'm keeping things short - so I can get back to my family! I'm praying for you, dear families and friends, that your lives be full of JOY and ADVENTURE as you take this journey towards our eternal home.
You can write out this list on your calendar (schedule in the fun), or perhaps create a Summer Countdown with a display like this:
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STAYCATIONS &
LOCAL ACTIVITIES
- Blanket Fort Sleepover
- Family Bike Ride, check out a new trail
- Rent a Pontoon to cruise, fish or swim
- Go Geocaching!
- Visit a New Playground each week
- Attend your church summer camps
- Grandma's Day Camp
- Attend your Parish Festival & City Fun Days
- Visit a Theme Park
- Visit a Working Farm or Zoo
- Check out your local movie theater's summer kids club
- Attend a Parade, or better yet be in one!
- Visit your local Farmers’ Market. Check if they have a
kids program.
- Any road trips must include sing-a-longs, car games, audio
books, and roadside picnics and pitstops!
- Create Chalk Villages and Homes
- Raise Butterflies
- Build a Puzzle together
- Frisbee Golf
- Host a Teen Extreme Game Day
- Mini Golf
- Make a Home Video or Commericial
- Field Sports
- Relay Races
- Play Flashlight Tag
- Get Artsy
- YOU GOT THIS!
SPECIAL CHALLENGES
*Garage Sale Challenge: Everyone gets $10 to spend. Awards for Best Deal, Most Unique, Silliest Outfit/Costume, etc
*Photograph Scavenger Hunt: Capture a scene from a unique angle; a unique subject; or choose a theme (boredom busters, my city's highlights, sunrises, little & unnoticed, chores before & after). Share your collage!
SPECIAL CHALLENGES
*Garage Sale Challenge: Everyone gets $10 to spend. Awards for Best Deal, Most Unique, Silliest Outfit/Costume, etc
*Photograph Scavenger Hunt: Capture a scene from a unique angle; a unique subject; or choose a theme (boredom busters, my city's highlights, sunrises, little & unnoticed, chores before & after). Share your collage!
*Fly Over My Favorite Place: Paint a morning or evening sky. Decoupage an image of a famous monument or place. Add a painted image of a hot air balloon. Paint or decoupage an image of you in the air balloon!
*Senior Moments: Design inspirational and colorful placemats to bring to a senior home. Choose a short story or selection of poetry to read aloud to seniors. Sing to them. Play chess, cards, help with crafts, etc. Whatever your talent, share it with the elderly.
*Senior Moments: Design inspirational and colorful placemats to bring to a senior home. Choose a short story or selection of poetry to read aloud to seniors. Sing to them. Play chess, cards, help with crafts, etc. Whatever your talent, share it with the elderly.
We do this as part of our #Adventures4Eddie
and you can see this, our story, and more activity ideas
*Adventure Rocks: Paint Inspirational Rocks and leave them on trails, near
geocaches, or at different places you visit. (Tag your pictures with our hashtag!)
READING CHALLENGE
- Have afternoon tea with storytime.
- Library’s Summer Program
- Create a Lego Scene for each book you read. Photograph it.
- Create bookmarks using a cutout photo of yourself, friends
or family.
- Find a new book at a thrift store, or library’s free shelf.
- Video chat with a friend, reading a book aloud to one
another. Be dramatic!
- Memorize a Bible verse. Make a poster and hang it up where
you’ll see it often.
- Draw the characters of a book that is not already illustrated.
- Host or Join a Book Club
- Redesign a book cover. Print and recover your book.
- Create "Blackout Poetry:" Photocopy a page of a book. Blackout words leaving only those that create a poem. Black out completely, or intertwine a corresponding image.
- Read to a sibling, friend, elderly, hospitalized, or a
pet.
- Read one whole book of the Bible, or do a Bible Study.
- Pick a book of Saints and write a personal prayer, asking
for the intercession of your favorite Saint.
St. Jerome & St Catherine of Alexandria, Patron Saints
of Librarians, Libraries, Teachers, Archivists
WHERE WILL YOUR FEET
TAKE YOU?
- Plant and Tend a Mary Garden of flowers
- Plant and Tend a food garden, learning about food
preservation
- Take a barefoot beach walk
- Get a pedicure at home or a spa, or gift a pedicure to
someone you love.
- Footprint painting
- Game: Find objects in a tub of Orbeez with your toes! Race
a friend.
- Shopping with friends, find a unique/fun pair of socks!
- Go for a nature walk. Bring a journal and pencil along.
- Draw an architectural sketch of a space on grid paper,
using your footsteps to measure it.
- Decorate flip flops with tying on fabric scraps.
- Join a summer track team.
- Nature Scavenger Hunt
- Build a Sandcastle
- Learn dance moves online or in a class
- Host a Field Day with friends
St. Servatus, Patron Saint of Feet
St. Christopher & St. Archangel Raphael, Patron Saints of Travelers
St. Christopher & St. Archangel Raphael, Patron Saints of Travelers
WON’T YOU BE MY
NEIGHBOR
- Invite neighbor friends over to have a Driveway/Sidewalk
Chalk-Fest. Eat popsicles and get creative! Watch “Sidewalk Artists” online to
get inspired.
- Neighborhood Fun: 4-Square, Catch, Biking, Playground,
Tag, Human Knot, Kickball…
- Setup a Neighborhood Picnic/Potluck
- When mowing the yard, offer to mow your neighbor’s lawn.
- Write a Pen Pal
- Offer summer babysitting service.
- Everyone enjoys a good Smore over a campfire!
^Click image to visit our homeschool blog
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31
THAT’S SEW
INTERESTING
- Sew crafts for future gifts or donations
- Weave items from nature on a stick and string loom.
- Make Daisy Chains with dandelions, clover or other
flowers.
- Sew your own clothes and accessories: skirt, dress,
boxers, hair tie, bowtie, library tote, adventure satchel, makeup case…just to
name a few ideas.
- Sew many ideas and patterns online. Visit www.pinterest.com/HGCatholics/needle-arts-for-kids/
- Embroider a set of dish towels or napkins
St. Anne, Patron Saint of Housewives
YOU NAILED IT
- Build a: balance board, corn hole game, washer toss game,
bike ramp, picnic table, lap desk, yard dice, mini golf course, a new
invention.
- There are many Shop Class & Engineering ideas online.
Start looking here www.pinterest.com/HGCatholics/shop-class/
- Learn woodworking in simple steps from peeling carrots, to
carving soap blocks and creating stamps from potatoes, to whittling a walking
stick, to cutting using a jigsaw and arm saw, and then onto bigger projects.
- Pick a few engineering projects to create using things
around your home.
St. Joseph the Carpenter
WATER WEEK
- Homemade slip n slide using a large sheet of plastic,
landscaping stakes. and a hose. Add soap to slicken the run.
- Make homemade popsicles! Our favorite silicone mold can be
found here: Popsicle Mold Link
- Create a watercolor nature study of your favorite summer
places
- Have a Squirt Gun Fight
- Fill waterguns with watercolors or watered-down tempura
paint, and spray a canvas
- Have a rainy day spa day (inside or outside!)
- Have a carwash in your swimsuits
- Visit a local pool, lake, waterfall, river, waterpark or
splashpad
- Go fishing, boating, canoing, or other watersports
- Blow bubbles, creating homemade wands
- Water Balloon Fight
- Run through your sprinklers
St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of Sailors
St. Adjutor, Patron Saint of swimmers and boaters
Bl. Peter Gonzales, Patron of sailors
Thank you for visiting my post. I hope to add to my growing list of family activties, so your comments are helpful. Check out all the ideas and lesson plans on this webpage, and join my daily sharing of ideas and inspirations on Facebook www.facebook.com/HomegrownCatholics
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