Day trips and holidays
They add to the cost and we have not been able to go on a holiday for several years now and when we did, it was just a few days tops because even that was cutting our budget too hard to make it fun and affordable at the same time. Last year when we moved from Hungary to Spain, all our money went towards emigration so we had to stick to a budget for the first months.
Day trips were not that easy as we didn't have transportation at the time, but thankfully we do now, therefore I've already been planning a lot of day trips as well as activities to fill up the summer months. Even though I will probably not stick to the planner 100% and move things around along the way, it will help me pick activities much easier and without too much stress or the need for ideas in the next months.
1. Treasure Hunt
This idea actually came to mind thinking back about a very fun period on the old platform where we held a treasure hunt. While I brought this up, my daughter started creating a treasure hunt by herself. She made a map and had fun thinking about the route on the map as well as making it look pretty. I think if we sit down together and make it even more interactive, this will be a fun activity that will be remembered for a long time. Therefore this activity is one on our summer activity list and when we completed this activity, I will share my experiences with you in another post.
2. Scrapbooking
I don't know if you were creative as a child, I sure was. I also remember collecting old magazines to cut them into pieces and then making all kinds of fun pages with them. Cutting out letters, and pictures and then putting them together in fun ways so that it all looked like a brand new book to read or more like a vision board type of thing, whatever you prefer works in this case. Let the creativity flow.
When I was young, I remember it was very easy to collect old magazines from our paper bin in the apartment building we lived in. People used to throw out a lot of their weekly magazines as well as colorful books with promotions, that are also very suitable for scrapbooking purposes! Later on, magazine prices were on the rise, and it's more common to find people offering their old magazines for some cash. I don't mind paying for them but the thing is, many aren't really useful so I prefer getting them for free to cut out what I need and not pay for them in case they don't have any fun things inside.
I can't really plan what I'm going to use anyway, you just start creating and see what type of inspiration comes to mind. What I did prepare for this activity is buying two books especially meant for scrapbooking because they have very good cardboard pages in them, making them a memory that can last a lifetime. Of course, I will share the results of our scrapbooking journey this summer once we're done.
3. Painting on canvas
My daughter loves to paint and we have a lot of paint at home as well as different types of canvases but the reality is that often I postpone the painting activities because I already know upfront she wants to rush things as she's too impatient to work with layers.
The summer holidays are ideal to get this routine going and I personally plan on implementing a lot of painting activities in our (very long) 12-week summer holiday so she gets used to the fact you can't rush things but need to give the paint time to dry before adding the next part on your artwork.
We will discuss the plans for our paintings and see if we can prep the canvasses at the same time so these are ready to use for the next step and so on. Let's see what comes to mind this summer in terms of inspiration. I bet there will be some sunny holiday vibes captured with paint!
4. Create your own kite
This activity actually came from my daughter's artistic class school book and contained instructions to make your own kite from a paper bag and then fly it in the park / on the beach. Because we use a paper bag to make this kite, the activity will be very low-cost and she can choose how to decorate the kite by herself. I'm curious about her future kite design. I already kept a paper bag on the side after we received one while shopping.
5. Rock painting
As mentioned above, working with layers in painting activities is often a struggle for my daughter. She doesn't have the patience to wait for the next step. I can help her a bit by prepping the surfaces as well as making sure to have some canvasses prepped for inspirational moments. I will do the same for rock painting activities. I was so happy to find these flat stones that are perfect for rock painting here on the beach.
We first went to the beach to collect a bunch of these stones, I will sit down with her to pick colors for the base of the painting and then we let them dry properly before we start rock painting. We will do several things such as dot painting but also other fun designs. Stay tuned for our creations later this summer.
Have fun!