Hi there friends! Hopefully by now you are enjoying Spring wherever you live. Here in Iowa it’s green and colorful everywhere you look. We are loving the warmer days and it makes me eager to plan ahead and get ready for SUMMER! That’s what I’m sharing with you all here today; some easy {and inexpensive} ways to be intentional once summer arrives. I know I need this, my children need it, and maybe some of you do too.
This is my first year having a child in school and I can tell already that the summer could be a game changer. Ava, my 6 year old, loves to have her head and hands busy all.the.time. I’m not one of those super creative and really artsy types of moms, but I do enjoy the time spent with her and I think a good routine will help cover some bases as her free time opens up. I also have two other little girls (almost 4 and 11 months old) who will benefit from a well planned day.
Planning for an intentional summer is something I’ve dreamed about, but never took the time to make a reality. In 2013 we tried a low key “summer to-do” poster. My children at the time were 4 and just 2 so it was really easy to throw some ideas down on poster board and check them off as we did them. It was fun and super easy and the girls loved seeing all the things we accomplished over the summer. As you can see, the 2 year old really enjoyed her role in decorating our special board.
Fast forward to now and I see the need for order and structure more then ever! So I did some research and came up with my own version of an easily adaptable summer routine idea.
First I wrote out some things that we will do daily on construction paper. I picked up a roll of contact paper from The Dollar Tree and did my own laminate job with that. {Side note: The Dollar Tree has incredible finds for all things summer fun!} Cut out your words once covered in contact paper – you can see mine at the top of this post. I used mostly things we are already doing but tossed in a few new ones like: morning chores, bible time, and outside play. Yay, outside play! Right?! As far as turning them into magnets there are many choices. I saw magnet tape, magnet dots, etc. but I chose to cut up old postcard-type magnets we already had from past church events and use those. Free! My fave!
Here’s a peek at what a day might look like in our home, come summer. This would be a more laid back day, but you get the point. Because they are magnets its easy to move things around according to what’s going on each day. My girls can help move them so I know that will be a hit too!
For a more specific approach to our days I went ahead and created a daily theme. Just as before, I wrote it out on paper, covered it in contact paper, added magnets and made a home for it on the fridge. It’s not fancy – you could definitely dress this up by printing it out or using pretty fonts. I don’t have a printer so hand print it is!
Our theme days are:
Make something Monday – recipes, crafts & creating
Take a trip Tuesday – summer fun destinations, parks, walks, shopping, moving
Water-day Wednesday – pool, sprinkler, water fun
Thoughtful, thinking Thursday – library visit, hospitality, acts of kindness, summer school work
Fun & Free Friday – free play!
and the shameless...
Sleep in Saturday. ;) Hey, I can dream a little!
If you wanted to get really detailed and organized you could use a lesson plan book to write down ideas. I’m doing this with another great $1 find from Target. They had these lesson plan books in the dollar spot! Perfect for this! I like this idea because I can plug in special ideas for holidays, birthdays, etc. And, I’m kind of a nerd so this is right up my first born, note taking, alley.
Now that I have a plan to be intentional with my children this summer I’m not feeling as overwhelmed. When momma has {and sticks} to a routine everyone is happier! My kids will know what to anticipate and I’ll know how to plan our days. Little brains and hands will be kept busy and I’m excited for our special moments of learning and fun. Planning ahead, for me, assures that things will happen and we won’t sit at home with the TV on making noise in the background, fussing and bored with each other.
Most of all I’m excited to start our breakfast & Bible time. We haven’t found our groove with teaching our kids to be in the Word and I’m hopeful this helps. By making time at the beginning of the day to sit down with our children and show them how to read and study the bible – I’m praying their hearts will be open and changed to love the Lord and serve Him with their lives. If we accomplish nothing else this summer but getting this part of the routine down, I count that as a win!
So there you have it – a quick and easy way to get everyone on the same page for maximum summer fun! Our children are worth being intentional with and I can’t wait to watch my own grow and learn this summer.
If you are looking for a few ideas on what to plug into your routine feel free to browse my pin boards on Pinterest. You can find me on Pinterest as Mandi Pausley – I would direct you to the boards: Preschool fun, Summer Fun, Arts n’ crafts kiddo style and feelin’ crafty. You can find all the links to some of the great ideas we’ll be trying out. And of course, stay tuned to the ladies on this blog and their fantastic ideas!
Happy May! Here’s to a great start of summer!
Come visit my personal blog over at Pausley Land Adventures to see some of the shenanigans we get into.
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