Summer break is always a tricky time to keep kids entertained, especially as a working parent. I work from home, which makes it easier to have the kids home all day with me, but makes it difficult to keep them occupied and off screens. This year my kids convinced me to plan themed weeks of activities, decorations, and sometimes food.
Themes for Summer Break: Disney, Oceans, Harry Potter, Spa Relaxation
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Set the Mood
Throughout the day the kids had calming / relaxation music playing. Ocean sounds, spa music, relaxation music, etc. You could also use a sound machine to get a calming background.
DIY Lip Balm
There are many DIY’s out there for relaxation products – soaps, bath bombs, shower steamers – but generally they require a full day to set. I needed an option that was fast and customizable. Enter DIY Lip Balm!
Materials: Vaseline, Kool Aid Packet, Container
Simplified Steps: Melt vaseline in the microwave (or crockpot), stir in kool aid packet, spoon into containers and let set for about 15-30 mins
A couple things I did to make the process easier:
- Use a crockpot to melt a larger quantity of vaseline at once
- Use droppers to make transfer to containers less messy
Zen Garden
We have a lot of kinetic sand in our house, which is a great material for a zen garden! In fact, you can buy an actual kinetic sand zen garden (Kinetic Sand Kalm) or you could get a full zen garden kit.
After printing out a few inspirational pictures of zen gardens, I provided the following materials:
- Kinetic sand
- Small rocks
- Forks
- Trays
Remember, the goal is not about creating the perfect zen garden. The goal is keeping ‘em busy! My kids incorporated a few other kinetic sand toys we have, like dinosaur skeletons and treasure.
Facemask and Chill
My daughter loves to use face masks and it was a perfect fit for our spa day! We made it more special by getting cucumbers to slice up and put on our eyes and playing calming music.
Spa Water Sampling
My kids love to rate and review things so a spa water sampling was a hit with them. Plus it offered a food-related activity and a chance to work on cutting skills.
Combinations to try:
- Lemon and cucumber
- Lemon and cherry
- Berries and mint
- Watermelon and basil
- Lemon and peach
After slicing, cutting, and mixing each batch in a pitcher in the morning. The pitchers were set in the fridge until lunch time. During lunch we sampled each combination and gave our reviews.
Calm Coloring
Coloring is a simple activity to relax everyone. You could use premade books for coloring, connect the dots, or color by number.
My kids tried an interesting alternative which just used paper towels and markers. The paper towels need to have a quilted pattern, like Bounty. Then you color along the dots/lines on the paper towel.
Make sure you do the coloring on a tray or cardboard, because the markers bleed through the paper towels!
What other relaxation activities could we have tried?
