A Magical Homeschool

Have you made your summer bucket list yet?  If you need a little inspiration, here’s our list from 2010 of 101 fun, educational, sentimental and silly things to do over the summer.

1. Catch fireflies
2. Take part in the library reading program
3. Dance in the rain
4. Master the multiplication tables
5. Read the Little House series together
6. Visit Walnut Grove and the Wilder Museum
7. Have a water balloon fight
8. Go geocaching
9. Go to the zoo
10. Take part in the Great Backyard Campout
11. Grow a garden
12. Finish an unfinished workbook
13. Take swimming lessons
14. Do sheet painting
15. Make a family newspaper
16. Play tennis at the park
17. Go hiking at a state park
18. Run in the sprinkler
19. Read A Little History of the World or listen to the audio version together
20. Raise butterflies
21. Do the elephant toothpaste experiment
22. Climb a tree
23. Visit an art museum and then go home and do art inspired by favorite styles
24. Make oobleck and jump in it and try to throw it
25. Go strawberry picking
26. Make mud pies
27. Memorize a poem
28. Bring treats to a neighbor
29. Visit a historic site like the Jeffers Petroglyphs
30. Press flowers (in a book or with a homemade press)
31. Make bark boats and float them down a stream
32. Write a book report on Amazon.com
33. “Explode” cattails
34. Catch a toad (make sure to let him go in the same spot!)
35. Rent a canoe or paddle boat
36. Go camping
37. Write a short story
38. Take part in a summer rec program
39. Go on a long bike ride together and pack a lunch
40. Go bird watching
41. Visit an amusement park like Valley Fair
42. Learn how to build a campfire
43. Read a book that starts with each letter of the alphabet
44. Put a hula hoop on the ground and observe everything in the circle
45. Play a board game together
46. Wade in a creek
47. Have a picnic with friends
48. Make fruit juice slushies
49. Play “Historic Who Am I” (like 20 questions, but think of a famous person from history)
50. Have a hula hoop contest
51. Go to the farmer’s market
52. Make a lapbook
53. Watch a parade (better yet, be in one)
54. Play marbles
55. Make a shelter out of branches in the back yard or the woods
56. Go to a baseball or softball game
57. Go to a science museum
58. Fly kites
59. Go beach combing at the lake
60. Cook something with dandelions
61. Lie on blankets outside after dark and watch for shooting stars
62. Check out an educational computer game from the library
63. Go to a wacipi (pow wow)
64. Read the Betsy-Tacy books (and visit their real houses in Mankato)
65. Whistle with a blade of grass (the more people the better!)
66. Rent nature-related IMAX movies from Netflix
67. Clean up the litter at a park or other natural location
68. Grow or make something to be judged at the county fair
69. Have a lemonade stand
70. Play volleyball
71. Pick something you don’t know much about, research it and give an oral report on it
72. Play Scrambled States of America
73. Wear pedometers and try to have over 10,000 steps every day (if that’s too easy, aim for 20,000!)
74. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
75. Go roller skating or roller blading
76. See how many items in an ID guide (for books, rocks, trees, etc.) you can find by the end of the summer
77. Play frisbee in the park
78. Assemble miniature plane kits (you can find them affordably priced at craft stores like Hobby Lobby) and fly them
79. Start a family photography or poetry blog
80. Write a favorite author and tell her why you love her books
81. Go to a drive-in
82. Go to a garage sale (or 20!)
83. Visit a park you’ve never been to or one you haven’t been to lately
84. Play kick-the-can
85. Make a giant chalk mural on the driveway (For really vibrant colors, use chalk pastels instead of sidewalk chalk.  You can find them for around $3 at art and craft stores.)
86. Play miniature golf
87. Start learning a new language online
88. Bake cookies
89. Go on a nature walk after dark (put red cellophane over flashlights so they won’t scare off animals)
90. Make ice cream in a bag
91. Play in the mud
92. Take a tour of a farm or winery
93. Grow gladiolas and graph them
94. Take part in a summer community theater production
95. Roast marshmallows
96. Go tubing or water skiing
97. Have a barbecue
98. Make artwork or baked treats for local fire and rescue workers
99. Fill the kiddie pool with all sorts of things
100. Spread shaving cream on trays or tables outside and draw in it
101. Learn to embroider, knit or crochet

Obviously, this is just a drop in the bucket for fun and educational things you can do in the summer time.  Next time, I’ll share 99 more!

What’s on your list?