271 Days ’til 40: Summer Activity Ideas

It is hard to believe that summer is here.  For those who are connected to schools (through your employment and/ or your children) it means that you will have extra time on your hands that will need to be filled.  Here are some thoughts for wonderful ways to spend summer days:

1. Head to the beach (but bring lots of water and wear sunscreen!)
2. Relax by the pool (if you or your kids do not know how to swim, now is a good time to learn!)
3. Escape the heat with a trip to an Ice skating or Roller skating rink.  Great exercise without the misery of outdoor heat.
4. Learn to water ski (see step 2 prior – make sure you can swim!)
5. Take a hike.  There are many gorgeous parks (both local and national) worth exploring.  Spending time in the beauty of nature is so refreshing and rewarding.
6. Become an amateur bird watcher – take your camera to record your finds.
7. Plan a reading party!  Have your kids invite their friends – make fun snacks, tuck them on the couch with lots of blankets and let them read for hours!
8. Turn your yard into a water wonderland!  What fun children have running through sprinklers on a hot afternoon!  With no travel needed you can create hours of fun with water.
9. Water balloon fight!
10. Water seltzer fight!
11. Hold a movie marathon – pick some corny classic like a day with the Muppets – how can you go wrong?
12. Have your friends bring their instruments over for a jam session.
13. Encourage your kids to write and produce their own play.  Have their friends over for the performance.
14. Read books that now have movie versions – promise your children that they get to see the movie when they have finished the book.
15. Throw a Harry Potter party and have everyone dress as their favorite character.
16. Host a murder mystery party.
17. Give to your community – volunteer in a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Humane society shelter, or to help with little league.
18. Start raising a guide (service) dog.  Summer is a great time to break in a new animal.
19. Write a novel.
20. Make a photo album or scrapbook.
21. Journal.
22. Become a master chef – challenge yourself to try a new recipe 2-4 times a week.
23. Knit, crochet, quilt, sew.  Turn your old clothing into new blankets!
24. Have a slumber party with old friends (even if you are 40, or 50!)
25. Laugh so hard your stomach hurts and you cry.
26. Take an enrichment course at a local college or university.
27. Clean your home, purge items you no longer need.
28. Decorate a room in your house.
29. Learn martial arts.
30. Join a choir.
31. Sign up for piano lessons.
32. Sleep, wake up, eat lunch, sleep again.  repeat!

This summer I am challenging myself to continue to work on home projects (including purging items that we no longer need).  Additionally, I want to catch up on photo albums (I am about three years behind), do genealogy research, and finally connect with a local orphanage I want to do volunteer work with in the future.

Today, 271 days ’til 40, I am thinking about my summer.  I do not want to let it slip away without my noticing.  I want to look back at the end and feel as though I have accomplished something in addition to relaxing.  I hope you do the same.

How are you spending your summer???

~400daystil40