Smarty Summer Bucket List

Going, going, gone . . .

The summer countdown is on. Don’t let the season slip away! Enjoy our summer “bucket list” and add your own must do’s! Bye, bye summer!

• Throw a slip-n-slide play date! Don’t have one? Hit Target or Walmart for some insane end of the season sales and snag one at a bargain.
• Get creatively crafty with this cute “ocean in a bottle” project. A two liter bottle, some shells, and a little oceanographer!
• Invite the neighbors over for one last BBQ and celebrate summer with local goodies found at a Farmers Market. Nothing says summertime like fresh corn on the cob and brightly flavored strawberries.
• Make a splash. Take advantage of pool season (which will only lasts a few more weeks). Most pools close Labor Day, so dive in!
• It’s 400 degrees out. Feeling hot? Whip up these yummy “lemonade & berry ice” refreshments!
• Encourage your child to write a summertime journal. If your child hasn’t mastered letters yet, help them pen one. Be sure to leave blank pages for picture drawing! Create a memorable timeline of all your seasonal fun AND a perfect “show and tell” piece for the start of school.
• Go on a “lightening bug chase”! Let the little ones stay up late and watch the fireflies come out and spark up the night. S’mores optional!
• It’s too hot to host a lemonade stand! Ditch the lemons and host a bike-washing station! Kids get soaked and sudsy while they scrub. What can we say? It’s pure, clean fun!
• Visit Wet & Wild or Carowinds. Wake the family up early and don’t tell them where you are heading. Upon arrival, bask in the glory of being “super mom” for the day!
• Host a “teddy bear” picnic! Take your little ones to a park and bring along their favorite stuffed friend (and real friends if you have the energy). Pack a picnic and nibble on goodies with the special guests. It’s hot, so why not try Latta Park and pack the bathing suits for a post picnic splash?
• Decorate the night with sparklers. Watch your children light up with joy as they create shapes in the night.
• Find shapes in the clouds. Enjoy the laziness of summer and kick-back while finding creatures in the clouds. Make up a story using your new character friends and enjoy listening to your child’s imagination run wild.
• Have a water balloon fight! Come on, don’t just watch! Get in on fun!
• Plant some flowers in preparation for fall. August is a hot month for planting but you can nurse along your bargain-basement annuals, getting them ready for fall planting. When temperatures cool later in the month or in September, transplant your annuals out of their containers and into the ground for an eye-catching display of fall flowers.
• Still at the beach or near the sand? Create “Sand Dough” by following the below steps.

Sand Dough
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 Tbsp cream of tartar
2 cups sand
1 1/2 cups of water

Stir together is an old pan (avoid no-stick surfaces) over medium heat until thick (5-10 minutes). Cool and store in a sealed container until ready to use

• Toss in just one last family vacation, just don’t go too far from home! Visit the ridiculously cool Great Wolf Lodgefor a night!
• Get ‘em geared up for learning and visit The Discovery Place! Loads of fun and educational tools to prepare them for back to school! Puppet shows, IMAX movies, science play zone, and a bubbly aquarium! Oh, and it is air conditioned! Make it even more of an experience by parking near South Blvd. and popping into Pikes Old Fashion Soda Shop for lunch. Forget Uptown traffic, ride the light rail!

Just relax. Enjoy the final days of less stressful mornings and fewer packed lunch boxes. Soak up the ease that comes along with summer. Play with your children and remember summer for them is a whimsical time they will remember for the rest of their lives.