Our household is currently in the trenches of toddlerhood and quickly realizing that our almost 2-year-old wants and needs constant stimulation…
Thankfully, summertime means we can spend a lot of our days outside, which is our favorite place to be.
We’re uncovering new activities to entertain our family during the summer months - beyond the local pool and public library, which are two of our favorite places - and wanted to share them with you!
Here are a few summer activities we’ve been loving.
Exploring local eats. While eating out is definitely a more costly activity, our family loves exploring new foods and has so much fun in the process. During the summer months exploring local foods means finding new favorites at local markets, food trucks, and restaurant patios.
If you’re local to Columbus, OH some of our favorite destinations include:
Local farmer’s markets (Granville, Clintonville, and Worthington are a few favorites)
Rockmill Brewery & BrewDog for live music, local beer for mom and dad, and plenty of space outside for the littles to run around
Painting outside. Okay so I am no fool, I know this activity comes with a big mess, and associated prep and cleanup time, but the little ones love it and it creates such a special memory.
I found a tiny canvas stand, a pack of white canvas’, and washable paints at our local Target all for under $30. I then set Rosemary up a painting station in our backyard dressed in clothes we didn’t mind getting paint covered, at a time of day where we could hop in the bathtub right after, and with my helping hands to assist with paint dipping & managing dirty brushes.
Once the canvas’ are dried, I plan to hang them in her bedroom or playroom for some fun and meaningful art pieces.
Shop our paint and bubble favorites here!
Bubble play. A dollar store bubble wand can honestly keep our 22-month-old entertained for an hour or so. I ramped up our outdoor bubble activities with additional accessories like a bubble machine, an Incredibubble Wand, and a play bubble mower.
Nature study observations. A playtime resource I discovered and quickly fell in love with is Christina from @morningstogether. She creates the most stunning nature-based activity packs to encourage families to get outside and explore. You download her digital resources then print them at home! So simple and oh so special.
I hope you found these items inspiring and can apply them to your family plans this summer for some fun in the sun.
If you have any favorite summer activities that I missed, please share in a comment below!!
I’ve teamed up with a handful of fellow bloggers to share more summer activities for kids with you! Check out their posts here:
