Did you see the grown-up version of a summer bucket list I made to help me have a more intentional summer? Hopefully you got some new ideas and inspiration to write up a list that helps you get focused, too. I also wanted to make up a list of fun ideas we all might enjoy doing with kids this summer. I’m so excited to try them!

– Start our summer by creating or continuing a tradition. For us, this will be our third annual brunch at the Blueberry Cafe. I’m all about creating traditions with the kids and I’m happy to say this is one we’ve actually stuck to for hopefully three years now.
– Create a daily summer reading routine
– Create a daily summer devotional time with Exploring Grace Together: 40 Devotionals for the Family
– Go on family dates to the farmers market
– Catch fireflies
– Go berry picking at least once
– Make something new and different with the berries we’ve never made before, completely homemade, like a pie!
– Set up a backyard campout, with glow sticks, lanterns, the works!
– Two words: Lemonade stands
– Three words: Ice cream trucks
– Make healthy, homemade popsicles
– Spend an afternoon at the library
– Host outdoor games for neighborhood kids like this or this, just because I’ve always wanted to!
– Do free and low-cost community park activities
– Create a garden and nature journal all together with the girls’ The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms book and my own My Garden: A Five-Year Journal book
– Practice weekly acts of service together
– Try home spa treatments like this one, this one, or this one
– Make American Girl crafts like this and mini food picnics for the American Girls with mini foods like this
– Smash-booking with the girls so Emma can get her girly groove on with K&Company SMASH Cutesy Journal Gift Set and Natalie can catch up on her K&CompanySmash Folio, Retro Blue
– Learn some sewing together with the sweet, girly projects in Girl’s World: Twenty-One Sewing Projects to Make for Little Girls
– Create Fourth of July fun crafts like this, this, this, and this
– Give the kids cooking lessons
– Empower the kids weekly to practice their musical instruments, hone their talents, and pursue their unique personal goals
– One-on-one simple dates with each kid that appeal to them, at least once each this summer
– Finally, have that backyard luau we’ve always wanted to have… why not? Life is short and summer is even shorter!
– Take a few stolen moments for cloud watching and daydreaming most days
– Last but not least, hold all these hopes and dreams with open hands! There’s a reason this is called a bucket list. Let us be big dreamers, yet model flexibility and contentment for our children, no matter what our days hold this summer.

Here’s to a magical summer full of memory making! What would you add to this list? I would love to hear about your summer plans in the comments!

Guest contributor Sybil Brun is a part-time foster care worker and full-time homeschooling mom, wife, and student of life. She believes in choosing joy, looking for the good in life, and seizing opportunities to give and live abundantly!  Find more from Sybil at She Lives Free, where she shares on faith, DIY ideas, marriage and parenting, and her passion for all things good.