Summer Hack: Plan One (Easy!) Adventure Or Activity To Do Each Day

One of my favorite things about the time I spent at home with my kids when they were little is how easy it was to make a day turn into an adventure. I didn’t have to plan anything elaborate or spend a bunch of money — I could just take my toddler to the grocery store and let her pick out a sweet treat, or go through the McDonald’s drive-thru and have a park picnic with our nuggets. It all felt so sweet and simple and fun and it suddenly occurred to me: That’s still the best way to plan summer. Even with big kids (my three are ages 11, 8, and 4), all I really need to do is have one idea in mind for an “adventure” and it can be as simple or elaborate as I want.

But one small plan every day? Something in mind that’s going to happen? I truly think it’s going to save my summer.

Because look, every parent starts out hot at the beginning of summer. We’re imagining all of the fun things we can do with our kids, getting excited about building “core” memories.

And then suddenly we’re overwhelmed. It’s all too much.

As our kids get older, so many of us worry about how they’ll spend their time in the summer. Sure, a trip to Target and then to get ice cream worked for keeping a 3-year-old entertained, but what about big kids? Don’t they need camps and tons of enrichment programs and a million playdates with friends?

Think about your own summers as a kid. What do you remember? Because for me, some of the most memorable moments were things like going to the park at 7 a.m. so we could beat the heat and ride our scooters around. Or piling into the car at 3:00 and having giant ice cream sundaes at Bruster’s before dinner. Once when it started storming outside, my grandmother ran us inside, built a blanket fort with us, and we all watched scary movies while the storm carried on. I lived for the days we went to the library, the mornings we went and picked up doughnuts, the afternoons grocery shopping and getting to choose our own dinner.

The simplest adventures, but at least one small one every day. And I know now, looking back, that so much of it was my mom and grandmother planning them. If they had a big adventure planned for us to go to the movies one day, then that meant the next day was just an “ice cream out day” or there would be a day where they’d suggest something like all of us building cities out of LEGO or working on air-dry clay sculptures. Some days the adventure was just “blanket fort and movie day” and some days it was “library and reading in the shade all afternoon.”

But every day, there was an answer to, “What are we doing today?”

And honestly, that’s all I want.

So this summer, I’m coming up with tons of super simple adventures (and some big ones, too) so that I can plan ahead for fun with my girls. I fully believe in summer days being long and slow — let your kids get bored, let them figure out their own fun, let them watch three hours of television together on the couch — but I’m also a person who loves a very small plan. For years, I figured because I identified as a “Type B” mom, I could just wing it all summer. I felt overwhelmed by summer bucket lists and a million “at-home DIY ideas” and all of the plans.

But knowing there will be just one adventure per day? I can handle that. And so can my kids.

Here are a few of the plans I’m relying on this summer for my three girls. You can obviously tweak to fit your kids’ ages, interests, and your own bandwidth, but hopefully you can get a little inspired to plan just one thing per day — and yes, it really can be as simple as “I thought we’d pull out the LEGO bins today and build together!”

Simple At-Home Adventure Ideas For Summer

These are the plans to make when you’re planning on staying at home most of the day. Whether you work from home, are a stay-at-home parent, or just want something fun planned for when you get off work and are back with your kids, these are super easy, simple ideas that give a little oomph to the day.

• Air-dry clay sculptures: My home will never be without toilet paper, coffee, or Crayola air-dry clay. My kids *love* when I pull this out, and we can spend hours working on sculptures together at the kitchen table. Sometimes we paint them after or turn them into little figurines we use for play later — the options are endless.
• Make specific crafts: Pulling out the arts and crafts stuff is fine, but try and make it a little specific so they have some direction to work with and keep them engaged. Things like junk journaling, making bookmarks, or creating cards for friends and neighbors gives them a wide variety of craft options and skills, but keeps them focused on one specific task so they aren’t whining about how they don’t know what to make.
• Poetry day: I know this sounds so hokey, but you really can make an adventure out of “poetry day.” Look through your home library for poems, have kids pick some on certain themes/ideas, and have a little poetry reading at home. Or have everyone sit down and write their own poems and then share them together.
• Baking day: If your kids are anything like mine, they love baking and trying new recipes. Let them choose something they want to bake — even if it’s some elaborate cake out of your favorite cookbook — and make a day out of it.
• Water play outside: This is as simple as it gets. Set up your water table, your splash pad, your inflatable pool — whatever you’ve got. Bring out snacks, toys, towels, and just let them have some fun. Even my tween will be outside for over an hour spraying her little sisters with the hose and making up games with the sprinkler.
• Family walk: You know what I love most about a family walk? How much everyone talks during them. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had the worst day or you’ve felt your kids were aliens that landed on planet Earth for the first time — there’s something about a planned family walk that makes everyone come back to life.
• Living room movie night & sleepover: Remember when we all realized the reason our parents did pizza and a movie on Fridays is because they were tired? Save that tip for a living room movie night and let your kids camp out in there, too. Something about this feels so special.
• Themed dinner: Do this one once a week if you want. Have the whole family decide on a theme (or each kid gets a day, whatever) and make dinner plans around it. You can go above and beyond with the history of the food/theme or plan a movie that matches it, but even just deciding that Wednesday is Chinese food night is enough of a summer adventure.

Easy Out-Of-The-House Summer Adventures

If you want to get out of the house — but not all day — there are tons of great adventure ideas that don’t cost a ton of money. You can even use your own errands, like running to Home Depot, grocery shopping, or mailing something at the post office, as an adventure.

• Going out for ice cream or lunch.
• Going to the grocery store and letting everyone pick their own favorite snack.
• A picnic out (yes, Lunchables from the grocery store and a car picnic in the parking lot of the bank count).
• Go to the library (join the summer reading challenge!).
• Have a playdate with a friend.
• Go to the movies (check your local theater for summer deals).

Big Summer Adventures

Sprinkle these big summer adventures — but only if you can, want to, and have the means to! — into your plans, too. I don’t think these are “better” than any of the other simpler plans, but these are a great way to get a big chunk of summer done with a nice, long, full day, and it’s the easiest way to set up several days of “small” adventures so you can recover.

• Pool day where you pack all the snacks, all the water toys, and all the sunscreen. Plan to stay out until bedtime.
• Your local theme park probably has some good ticket deals and there’s nothing like a hot, sweaty day of riding roller coasters to feel like you hit the lottery.
• Your local splash pad is probably surrounded by restaurants and ice cream stops, so it’s easy to make a whole day out of it.
• Camping, whether it’s in your own backyard or a site, is the stuff core family memories are made of. It’s so much work, it should count as double adventure points.

No matter what, your kids just want to have a fun, happy summer. And that can look like so many different things to so many of us. Don’t get caught up in the “no-screen summer” or trying to recreate the ‘90s or your own summer memories — just commit to one plan each day and go from there. It helps a bit with the blurring edges of summer days running into each other, makes you feel like you’re engaging with your kids, and can be customized to fit your schedule and whatever your own plans are each day.