Hellobee Boards

My little is only 2.5 so we have all year still but we live in Phoenix so outside isn't really an option. We have a great locally owned kids "museum". We also have my husband go in late or not at all on days it rains and we do a quick zoo outing, but he has a flexible job so I know not everyone can do that. We also have a coffee shop that has a kids play room but stuff like that might be a bit young for 6.

You might also want to check out and see if there's any kids productions of plays if you think your little might like that. They're usually only a couple weeks and sometimes free

I’m putting my 3 year old into camp three days a week for most of the summer. It’s a half day camp (so she can still nap at home). That leaves Mondays and Fridays for adventures. And keeps me sane bc I will have a 6 month old at home also.

My plans for my 4yo this summer include library story time and summer reading program (our library has tons of events in summer), vacation bible school at our church, one week of 1/2 day camp, trips to park, farmers market, etc. He doesn’t like the pool and we will also have an infant otherwise pool would be a good option.

Our town has:

- A weekly kid's crafting class
- Story times at the library several times a week based on age
- YMCA sponsors a summer-long day camp
- YMCA has 1-2x a week kids classes ranging from cooking to painting
- A public park that has a splash pad
- A community pool
- Local movie theater has family matinee pricing days once a week.
- An agricultural museum (its indoors, has a kids play area, you can ride on some of the tractors, etc. which is important when its 110F in the summers here).
- Gymnastics gym with classes but also an open tumble time once a week.
- 1 major large gym with childcare provided.

Within 30 minutes driving, there is:
- A bounce house/trampoline park
- A children's museum
- A few other museums of varying kinds (air and space, railroad, contemporary art)
- A zoo
- A children's theme park
- 2-3 indoor play places
- Art center

If you're religious at all, most churches run a weeklong vacation Bible school that is usually very cheap and keeps the kids occupied in the mornings. I have a friend who literally drops her kid off at a different VBS for 4 weeks out of the summer!

When our kids were home for 3 weeks over the winter, DH was mostly solo parenting with them and he generally fed them breakfast at home and then took them to one of those places for the morning. He would pack a light snack and then they would eat out somewhere and then head home for nap around 1:30pm. Even if our oldest doesn't sleep, he's expected to rest/play quietly in his room in the afternoon since DS2 still naps. Then everyone has an afternoon snack and they either play or watch a little TV until I get home and make dinner.

We also make liberal uses of restaurants with kids eat free options during these periods, since we're usually a lot more frazzled. Tuesdays you can eat at IKEA free, Denny's and IHOP have free kids meals one night a week, Firehouse Subs, etc.

I always have really ambitious plans for the summer when I'm off work. Last summer, we basically did everything I wanted, except we didn't do day trips to the shore as much as I hoped.

But this summer it's on. Now that they will be turning 3 and 5 this summer, they are at a really good age for adventuring. I make a big list of things I want to do (and don't tell the kids so I can be flexible) and then I just have fun checking off the list all summer.

I may sign up the kids for 1-2 weeks of a half day camp but I really like the rest of the summer to be kept free.

My husband's company gets us free entry to the children's museum and usually has a few free entry days at each borough's zoo and garden that I'll try to hit up. I want to spend a few days at Governors Island, I want to hit all the big NYC splash pads and playgrounds, take the girls to tea at the American girl store, day trips to the beach (I've already bought some groupons for Boardwalk passes and other entertainment).

We already have a family membership at the science center and the Philly aquarium, so we'll spend a day there.

And then we like doing simple things too, like just taking the ferry over in the afternoon and playing in a splash fountain near my husband's job till he gets off work and can meet us for dinner. There are a few sand parks my kids like to go to to build castles, and we'll spend a few afternoons at the nearby community pools/baby wasing pools. As many play dates as I can schedule.

Basically a lot of unstructured play time. I'll travel south to see my family for a week or two, and we have 2 trips planned, so that will use up the whole summer.

We haven't done camps yet because I can't commit to them so far in advance. But we try to do a couple sessions of swim lessons at the very beginning of summer and they are daily for a week at a time.

We visit family a lot during the summer. We will spend a few weeks with my parents who live near the beach and DH joins us on the weekends. He will also take some time off so we can do a short road trip or vacation within driving distance.
When we are just home we have a lot of playdates. We meet friends at playgrounds or splash parks or the beach. We meet DH for lunch quite often. I set up the sprinkler in the yard or a kiddie pool. We do a lot of gardening too. The kids love to help with that. Walks in the woods or around town. Visits to the zoo and local farms.

Last year my then four year olds made a bucket list of all of the things we wanted to do that summer- it had stuff like go to the beach, have lunch with Daddy, go to the science center, go to local tourist attractions, wander around downtown, go on a shell hunt, ferry ride... all kinds of stuff. Having that list ahead of time helped us structure our days, and we could adapt to weather and whims. It was fun!