25 Summer Activity/Project Ideas for Kids

Over the past four summers I’ve done my share of different activities with kids. Some of which worked seamlessly and some not so seamlessly. Today I’m sharing 25 activity/project ideas that have worked extremely well for me and hopefully will for you too. If I’ve done a past blog post I’ll be sure to link it to that activity/project.

Summer Activity/Project Ideas for Kids:

1) Buy a deck of cards and watch YouTube how-to card trick videos.

2) Make paper airplanes.

3) Make own crayons.

4) Make ice cream.

5) Make Shrinky Dinks
(Yes, 90’s kids those still exist!)

6) Make a story board based on a book.

7) Play board games or make own board game.

8) Put together (high number piece) puzzles.

9) Conduct science experiments.

10) Make volcano.

11) Make “lava lamp”
(Empty bottle, water, oil, food coloring, glitter).

12) Daily journal.

13) Movie review.

14) Make custom shirts (paint or tie-dye).

15) Educational (yes, I said it) workbooks/worksheets.

16) Mazes, word searches or crossword puzzles.

17) Create indoor/outdoor obstacle course.

18) Sent up tent indoors or outdoors and “camp” for a day.

19) Go on a supervised neighborhood scavenger hunt.

20) Freeze objects into a block of ice then use a chisel to get the objects out.

21) Have picnic lunch.

22) Create custom puppets and put on a show.

23) Have ice cream for lunch!

24) Have a pajama day/party.

25) Make pizza.

Well that wraps up my 2013 summer ideas for kids series!

What are some activity/projects you do with kids during the summer? Leave them in a comment below!

Katie

50 Summer Journal Prompts for Kids

Continuing along with my Summer ideas for kids series I wanted to share another activity the kids and I did last summer which seemed to work really well. On one of the first days of Summer break I gave each child their own notebook and a bunch of stickers to decorate it. Once the kids were done personalizing these notebooks they became their daily morning journals. I thought this would be a great idea because it’s relatively easy but it also got their brain thinking each day. Listed below are the 50 prompts we used last summer.

Your choice. (write about whatever you want)

Your choice. (write about whatever you want)

Your choice. (write about whatever you want)

Your choice. (write about whatever you want)

Your choice. (write about whatever you want)

Free day. (no journal)

Free day. (no journal)

Free day. (no journal)

Free day. (no journal)

Free day. (no journal)

What did you do yesterday?

What did you do this weekend?

What is your favorite time of day? Explain why?

The biggest thing I ever saw was…

If toys could talk what would they say?

I am proud of myself because…

Describe your dream car.

Write about one thing you do really well.

I’m happiest when . . .

This is how I think plants grow…

If I could go on an adventure it would be…

I am afraid to_________ because…

What is your favorite room in your house? Explain why.

Describe your best day ever.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

I wish trees could _______ because….

I want to be a ________ when I grow up. Explain why.

The perfect place in the whole wide world is… Explain why.

What is something you do to help yourself feel better when you’re feeling sad?

I wish it rained __________ instead of water. Explain why.

I like to make ______ because…

Name 3 kind things you could do for someone…

My favorite stuffed animal or toy is…

Make up a short poem about summer break.

If I could choose a different name, I would choose _____ and this is why…

Let’s go _______________. Describe your adventure in detail.

What would happen if animals could talk?  What questions would you like to ask them?

Imagine that you become invisible. What are some of the things you would do?

What would you do if you were in the middle of the ocean and your boat springs a leak?

Tell about your favorite *CHILDS LAST GRADE* memories…

If I could be the president for a day I would…

If my parents let me eat whatever I wanted for a day I would eat…

Some things that make a laugh are…

Write three jokes.

Something I’m looking forward to in *CHILDS NEXT GRADE* is…

TV show or book characters that I’d like to meet are…

What is your dream vacation? Explain why.

If I could be any animal I would be _________because…

If I could be any Pokémon I would be __________ because…

Come up with 5 different math problems and solve them.

What we did was cut out each prompt, folded it then stuck them all in a mason jar. Each morning the kids chose the prompt (taking turns choosing) for that day. Depending on what the prompt said I usually had them write about 5 sentences. The kids really seemed to enjoy this so hopefully yours will too!

Come back tomorrow for a list of other Summer activities/projects for kids!

Katie

Throwback picture from last summer:

15 Summer Break Field Trip Ideas for Kids

I don’t know about you but when I was a kid I had crazy amounts of energy. This will be my 4th summer nannying full-time and I know kids need a lot of entertainment throughout the day or they get bored quickly. One of the easiest ways to keep kids occupied for a longer period of time is to take them on a field trip. I have compiled a list of 15 field trip ideas that have worked well summer after summer for me and hopefully will work with your kids as well. Here they are…

1) Library (they often have free programs for kids)

2) Pool | water park | splash pad

3) Dairy Queen or other ice cream place

4) Wendy’s, McDonalds or other cheap place for lunch or a treat

5) Bowling
(certain bowling alleys offer free games for kids EVERYDAY all summer!)

6) Mini golf

7) Arcade

8) Batting cages

9) Go karting

10) 7-11 or other convenience store to get Slurpees/slushies

11) Dollar or full price movies
(If you go before a certain time tickets are often discounted!)

12) Local children’s museum

13) Paint pottery

14) Local amusement park

15) Visit different parks throughout town

There you have it! One tip I wanted to mention is that to cut down costs I’ll usually bring our lunches, snacks and drinks to the different field trip locations.

What are some of your kids favorite summer field trips? Share them in a comment below!

Katie

Nanny Bits: August 2012 – January 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Nanny Bits post but rest assured I’ve still been spending my time with these kiddos! I hope their adorable little faces help brighten your day!

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)

Nanny Bits: August 2012

Hi everyone! Long time no see! I’ve been crazy busy ever since school started back up. I’m at my new transfer school now and it’s definitely a big adjustment. I’m still trying to figure out how to manage and balance my time between everything I’ve got going on butttt I’m back and I finally have Nanny Bits August ready to share!

August was a bittersweet month for the kids and I because summer vacation was wrapping up and they’d all be back in school at the end of the month. I wanted to make sure we ended the summer with a bang so I planned a special week of activities for us all to do together until school started. Here are a bunch of the activities we did:

Note: This was sooooo messy but also fun!

Note: We all had so, so, so much fun bowling! This was definitely my favorite activity we did all summer and a favorite for the kids as well. Next summer we’re going to have to take FULL advantage of the kid’s free bowling program because with that plus my games and shoe rental for all of us the whole activity cost less than $20.

Note: The kids loved this! If you’d like to try this activity out yourself you can find my super easy tutorial here.

Note: On the last day of summer vacation I wanted to do something extra special so I sent the kids on a treasure hunt throughout the entire house and at the end was two boxes filled with tons of toys and goodies for them. They each got one bigger gift and then a bunch of little surprises. The boys got a Mario Party DS game and Peppa got a jumbo Backyardigans book. They had no idea about this activity but were thrilled when they reached the end and open those boxes.

Note: That same day the kids thought it would be fun to have breakfast for lunch so that’s exactly what we did!

Here’s the rest of August bits…

And here’s my favorite…

Note: I briefly explained to Grover what “showing your work” on a math problem means then I looked away for a moment to help Sippy with his homework. When I looked back to check his paper this is what I got. Gotta love kids!

And that’s what I’ll leave you with! I hope you all had a good August and are having a great September as well. I promise I’ll try my best not to leave you waiting so long for another post.

Until next time,

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)

Nanny Bits: July 2012

Note: Peppa* randomly decided to play ghost while Sippy*, Grover* and I were talking during snack. I just haddd to snap a quick picture because it was too cute when I looked over and saw this.

Note: I swear, the boys are the BEST big brothers ever! But that’s another story. I could go on forever!

Note: She did this all on her own while the boys were playing Wii. Again, I just haddd to snap a picture to share with you.

Note: 5 minutes after they got home from summer camp this is all I saw. Needless to say it wore them out!

We also took a trip to our local children’s museum last month but of course I went overboard with the pictures so I made a separate post for them which you can find here. Well, that’s it for Nanny Bits July 2012! I hope you all had a good July and have an even better August!

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)

Nanny Bits: October 2011 – June 2012

Wow, it’s been an entire week since I’ve posted anything. Sorry for neglecting the blog; I’ve been working like crazy and just enjoying the kids company. Speaking of the kids… I’ve decided that I’m going to start a monthly (or bi-monthly) segment called “Nanny Bits.” In these posts I’ll be sharing bits and pieces from my life as a nanny. Since today is the first Nanny Bits post I decided to rewind the clock and share pictures/stories that go back as far October (that’s when I got my iPhone).

Let’s jump right into it shall we….?

 Left: Peppa* and Grover* at Grover’s kindergarten Halloween party.
Right: Sippy* being silly at home.If there is one thing my kiddos love it’s FOOD! Wendy’s happens to be one of their favorite places so on occasion we’d go there for dinner after school on Fridays. Their faces are priceless in this one![Let me first start off by saying this was a joke. I knew it was a joke, he knew it was a joke, we all knew it was a joke and we were all cracking up the whole time.]

Now that that’s out of the way… the kids were preparing to go on vacation and I wouldn’t be seeing them for 2 whole weeks. On my last day with them before their vacation I wanted for us all to bond and play a game together. Sippy however, did not want to play a game with the rest of us so I told him if he didn’t want to play with us that he had to go sit in the corner with his nose on the wall like they did in the old days (I think?) while the rest of us played. After trying to convince him to play for about 10 minutes I told him, “Fineeeee, you don’t have to play. You can go play with Lego’s or something.” Again, Sippy had other plans and made his way to the corner and stuck his nose on the wall. We were all laughing so hard that even when I told him to get up he just stayed there in his happy little corner laughing… nothing better than the sound of a kids laughter echoing from a corner.

This is one of those memories that the kids and I still joke about to this day.During Winter break I was having a conversation with the kids and randomly asked if they had ever had S’mores before and you what they said? They said no! No?! They had never had S’mores before and since S’mores are basically my favorite thing ever I took it upon myself to change that right away. We all decided that later that week we would have a S’mores making/movie watching/pajama day. The verdict was split almost evenly: Sippy liked them, Grover didn’t and Peppa was on the fence.For Valentine’s Day I put together individual bags that contained a bunch of different treats for the kids and surprised them after school. The treats were things like candy, goldfish, popcorn, pencils, etc…. I still have the templates I made for putting together the treats so next Valentine’s Day I’m going put up a post on how you can make your own cheap and personalized treat bags. More importantly the kids will love them! This is one of my all time favorite pictures of the kids. I had stopped to get gas one day after picking them up from school and when I turned around this is what I saw. I just had to capture the moment. As you see above I like to call it, “One sick kid, one tired kid… and then there’s Peppa!” Just having a good ol’ game of H-O-R-S-E. Although, we never did get to finish because these kids get bored with activities veryyyy quickly. Even though it was their idea! I definitely consider that a win for me by default…I’ve discovered over time I’m that weird nanny that likes to take pictures of the kids when they randomly fall asleep. Which happens A LOT! In my defense I send their mom cute pictures of them sporadically. Oh, and how could I pass up taking that picture on the left! Peppa literally fell asleep on the couch while still holding onto her balloon. What a cute moment!

The rest of the pictures are from the beginning of the summer until the end of June.I decided it would be a fun idea for the kids (mainly the boys) to have a summer journal. Each day they pick a topic out of the jar and have to write a minimum of 3 sentences on that topic. Some are challenging but most are fun and there’s even a few free days thrown in there.The kids being blinded by the sun on their first day of summer camp. These shots were just too funny not to share and they still look cute! Each day the boys have to read for 30 minutes. Their mom even decided to do a family reading club. The boys, their mom, and dad all read the same book every week then they get together on Sundays and talk about that book. Talk about adorable!Having a non-technology hour and painting instead. I decided to challenge the boys and only give them the primary colors so if they wanted any other color they’d have to make it.Field trip to the library! Peppa was pretty excited that I let her pick out her own books.What’s with kids and balloons?! Seriously, all Peppa needs is this balloon and she will keep herself entertained for HOURS! It’s crazy, but whatever works…My little fish loving the pool and splash pad. Took the kids to do one of my favorite things ever… painting pottery! Sadly, they didn’t like it as much as I do. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

I hope you liked this new segment. I’ll try not to keep you waiting a whole week for another post but until next time…

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)

Meet the Browns

If you read yesterdays post you now know how I got my start with nannying. You also know that I haven’t had the best luck with finding a long-term family. However, that finally changed when I began working for the Brown’s* last spring.

The Brown’s are a mother, father and their three children: two boys and one girl. As soon as I started working for the Brown’s I could tell that something was going to be different this time. We all connected almost immediately. The Brown children are without a doubt some of the most well-behaved, smart, respectful, kind, caring, funny and friendly children I have ever met in my life. Which is something I had never experienced before when babysitting/nannying. I love that their parents not only care about what kind of children they are right now but they also make sure they’re instilling good ethics for their future. Part of the reason why I think our relationship(s) work so well is that we all respect and care about one another. The parents genuinely care about how I feel and what I think about situations and I’m the same towards them. Likewise with the children, I value their opinions and always make sure they’ve had a chance to speak their piece about everything and when I have something to say they hear me out as well. It all just works for us. I finally found a family that I just fit right into and I couldn’t be happier. You probably think I’m exaggerating but I really enjoy going to work because the kids are so easy and we have so much fun together.

I’ve been with the Brown’s for a little over a year now and I decided that it’s time to formally introduce you to the kiddos (that’s what I usually call them). I wanted to change their names in order to protect the privacy of the family and being the awesome nanny that I am I thought it would be fun if I let them pick their own blog names. Here’s what they came up with:

(L to R) Sippy*, age 8. Peppa*, age 3. Grover*, age 6.

Well, there you have it. These are the three little people I spend a lot of my time with. Now I can finally start talking about them on my blog… be prepared to read lots of posts about them now that the cat is out of the bag. Sometime in the near future I’ll probably dedicate individual posts to each child explaining their personalities and what they’re each in to so check back for that.

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)

That’s How I Became “The Nanny”

I’m constantly being asked the same few questions:

Do you have a job?
What do you do?
Really?! How do you do it all day?
How does someone even get started in that?

Well my friends, here are your answers in a nut shell…

WARNING: this is long and basically my life story for the past few years.

I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I can remember. I have A LOT of passions in life (baking, crafting, designing, etc…) but being around children, helping them grow and learn is by far my greatest.

I started off babysitting a few local neighborhood kids around age 13/14. Once I turned 16 and got my license I was able to venture out and start watching other kids as well. During my junior year of high school I had the option of going to an off campus career center (kind of like a trade school) for part of the school day. One of the programs this center offers is child care. The child care program gives high school students (juniors and seniors) hands on experience teaching real preschool classes. I, wanting to be a teacher my whole life, of course jumped on this opportunity. I stayed in the program for both my junior and senior year which helped validate choosing elementary education as my major when enrolling in college.

2009

After I graduated high school in the spring of 2009 I naturally wanted to find a job working with children before starting college that fall. I didn’t have to look very far because it just so happened that a parent of two children from one of my preschool classes owned a home daycare and was looking for extra help a few days a week. I quickly snatched up the job and worked there for a few months. We parted ways in December since she mostly watched teacher’s children and times would be slow over winter break.

2010

The beginning of the new year was extremely slow for me. I attended school full time and worked odd babysitting jobs whenever I was needed. As the spring semester was nearing an end I began toying with the idea of becoming a nanny for the summer. Once I decided it was something I was sure I wanted to do I, again, didn’t have to look far for a job. One of the families I babysat for had a friend who was looking for someone to watch their boys for the summer. We set up a meeting, did a quick interview and I got the job. The job went great and when end of summer rolled around we parted ways since I was only needed until the boys started school again. I was back to school full time and also back to job hunting all at the same time. This is where Sittercity comes into play.

I had heard about a website called Sittercity.com from a few people, as well as seeing commercials for it (Sittercity is a website where families can find sitters/nannies and sitters/nannies can find employment). I was a bit skeptical to join at first but I thought I’d at least give it a shot so I put a profile up. A few weeks in I started to get some interest and go on different interviews. Not too long after starting the interview process I got a job picking up a little girl from school and watching her until her grandmother got home. Everything was going swimmingly until… winter break happened again. I wasn’t needed for winter break so we were going to separate for the two weeks then I’d resume when break was over.

2011

However, it didn’t quite go as planned. Winter break came and went and I never heard back from the grandmother. A few weeks later I contacted her asking what had happened. She apologized for not contacting me and said they didn’t need me back until February. That’s when I made the tough decision (I really liked that family) that it would be best for everyone if we just parted ways. So, there I was… another new year, jobless and back to the Sittercity drawing board again. It didn’t take long before I was in the employed world again. I got a job watching three older girls (9, 11 and 13) two days a week. And by watch I mean driving them around to different events and practices. This job was terrible. The girls didn’t listen to a thing I said so we parted ways shortly after I started. Fortunately, I already had another job lined up that started the next week (which was supposed to be my second job).

I started with this new family, we’ll call them the Brown’s*, the next week and immediately could tell that something was different this time. I’m not going to talk much about the Brown’s in this post because I’m still with them now and am going to formally introduce the kids in tomorrow’s post. For now I’ll just say I was with them in spring and they wanted me back for fall but sadly, they didn’t need me for the summer so I had to find another job. Thus far I’ve lucked out with never having to look too far for a new family and this case was no different. A family I babysat for (almost) every Friday wanted me for the summer so since I was looking I agreed to take on the job. Without going into too much detail (and trust me, I could go on forever) we’ll just call it the summer from hell. Those kids were HORRIBLE. Nothing like they were when I watched them on Friday nights. Long story short, I quit two days before the end of summer because I couldn’t spend even one more minute with them. Thankfully, school was starting back up and I was back with the Brown’s again.

Anyways… that’s how I got my start with this whole thing. We’ll resume tomorrow with introducing the lovely (and I really mean that) Brown children.

– Katie

*first and last names have been changed to protect
the privacy of the family*
(and yes, I have permission to post about them)