By ELIZABETH SCRUGGS
Ah…it’s finally here- summer!
For those of us this with children it means no more alarms, no more accelerated reader, no more rushed schedules. No more lunches to pack, homework to do, or projects to complete. Simply time to enjoy our children and the beautiful time off.
Until we hear those words that are sure to come, and most likely will come about 2.5 minutes after you wake up on the first day of summer. “I’m BOOOORRRRREEEEDDDD!!”
So in anticipation of this, I’ve been preparing. A lover of lists and all things creative, I’ve recently become intrigued by the Summer Bucket Lists popping up on the Internet and Pinterest. And so it began – THE creation of the Scruggs’ Summer Bucket List.
If you’re not familiar with the term, a bucket list is a list of things you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket.” So a Summer Bucket List is a list of things to complete before summer’s end. With the help of my girls, we began to create our list of things we want to do. (We did ask Max what he wanted to put on the list, and he said, “run!”) That boy of mine!
A few of the items that top our list are:
• A Sounds baseball game
• Lying underneath the stars and finding constellations
• Participate in the summer reading program at the library
• Picking berries and making jam
• Ride the train
• Flashlight tag
• Craft entries for the fair
Our activities will be at little or no cost. This is Scruggs Summer – Old School!!
It really is the little things about summer that we all remember, like catching lightning bugs, watching fireworks and buying Popsicles from the ice cream man. With that in mind, here are some more low cost or free things you can add to your own Summer Bucket List.
• Fishing
• Blowing bubbles
• Scavenger hunt
• Making ice cream
• Drive-in movies
• Running in the sprinklers
• Camping in the backyard
• Visiting a museum
• Flying a kite
• Building indoor forts
• Making your own finger paint and Play-Dough
• Learning a new craft like sewing, canning, or planting a garden
• Writing a story and making your own book
• Rainy day movie day with popcorn
A quick search of the Internet and you will find tons of lists of other summer activities like this cute and free printable on www. Remarkablehome.net. I love
the idea of having a theme for each day of the week! There are so many ways to get creative with your Summer Bucket List. I decided to make ours using an idea I found on www.Makoodle.com. Using her free printables and following her tutorial, I made our Summer Activity Board.
By using an old frame, string, library pockets, mini-clothes pins, ribbon and scrapbook paper, this came together fairly easily. I had all the supplies on hand except for the library pockets which were found on Amazon and the mini-clothes pins, found at JoAnne’s. I printed the colorful pocket covers and adhered them to the library pockets. I then clipped them on the string which attached with small nails and voila! The Scruggs Summer Bucket List is born! Inside the library pockets are cards with activities printed on them. You can also print blank ones and fill in your own ideas.
And remember, being young is not required in order to partake in the activities found on your children’s Summer Bucket List! So take some time to soak in the summer and it’s lazy pace, and join in on the activities found on the List, before both the summer and the kids are gone!