Top 12 fun activities to do together with your child this summer - Part 1

"What do i do?"

"Now, what do i do?"

"I am bored !! ..."

These are some of the things that i heard from my daughter on a regular basis as she spent her 15 day break from school. This was a break because her term had finished and now she had progressed on to the next class. I realised that this literally was a preview of was to come after a month when the schools would shut down for the summer break. While a short travel/getaway was all planned for the month of may but that still left us with a good part of the two month break where i would have to face the music. 

Trend of sending the children to a summer camp has picked up in the last couple of years and these really do provide a structure to the child's break but then it does barely anything to the Parent-Child bond which can be nurtured into a deep meaningful relationship during the holidays. So while i may too send my daughter to one such camp when her summer vacations start but i have come up with a list of activities that i will do with her so we can remember this summer for years to come.

Here is a list of the first six things that i propose to do with my daughter ( hopefully you could relate and pick a few out of these as well ) that may help the connect between her and us go stronger:-

1. Roof top Night with food and stories ending with a wish lantern that will be made there and then.

Where : On the Terrace /  Balcony / Garden

Age Group: 4-8 years

My only worry was to find the wish lantern, but i remembered the Blog i wrote on great gifts under Rs. 500 and wish lantern was one of the things that i had found on the site called www.gadgets.in. So i already have ordered three of them ( one of each one of us :-)) and as luck would have it , we also have a big camping tent that will be set up on the terrace. With some interesting and fun food options , the night will be special. I am myself so excited about watching the stars and having fun that this will happen very soon, also it is going to be super hot by the time the vacations come and spending time on the terrace would be very tough for all of us. 

P.S- Remember to carry the biggest can of mosquito repellant

2. Making a Bird House / Bird Bath / Bird Feeder

Where: At home / Can be put up on a tree in the house or a tree in a nearby Park.

Age Group - 3-8 years

My daughter is going to be 7 years old very soon but i still would not like her to handle the wood and the hammers so i will be doing most of the making ( thanks to youtube and the neighborhood carpenter , who has cut the appropriate size boards, now all i have to do is just hammer in a few nails and the bird house will be up) but she will be doing most of the decorating and deciding on which tree the bird house will go up. Then together we will go to secure it to the chosen tree. The next part of this would be to make a bird bath ( it is a big earthen wide pot which she will paint) and the bird feeder.  

3. Cook Together :

Where: At Home.

Age Group: 5-8 years

Well, I am a foodie and so is my daughter and i am completely going to have fun with it. it will be either making muffins or laddoos or cookies.( we will be making small baskets of the goodies for extended family and friends).

For muffins :The child can mix the batter and the adult can bake and then the child could decorate ( with sprinkles, gems , frosting )

For Laddoos; I will have to make the dough and together we will roll them into small balls. then we plan to make little message flags( toothpick and a small flag of paper on top) for the laddoos with a message of why the person/ people are important in my daughter's life.

4. Help Drive:

where: in the society or neighborhood locality

Age group: 5-10 years

The concept is to do something for the less fortunate. For example, ensuring that a couple of earthen pots (matkas) filled with fresh water are placed on strategic places on the road side and outside the society gate may insure that fresh cool water will be available for the passerby. For the past couple of years i have done this on my own but this time i will take my daughter along when we buy the pots and get them to the designated areas.Mostly one just has to make sure that the residents or the security guards fill them up every morning and evening for the passer by.

5. Take a Drive

Where: Anywhere around ( it not the destination , its the journey :-))

age Group : 4 years and above.

This is not time dependent and can be done by either of the parents so dadda dearest has picked this one to do with little princess, he will drive and our daughter while she will click pictures as she sees the world. Later both father and daughter will sort through the numerous clicks and get prints and make a photo / memory album to be revisited at a later day / year. Last time they did this together she was so excited when they got back home and i was given a minute to minute detail of what and how much fun they had had.

6. Plan a Picnic for Mum or Dad ( how i wish they did it for me but alas! i am the planner in the family so it will be dadda who will get the picnic.)

Where: Biodiversity Park / Leisure Valley sector 29, Gurgaon

Age group : 4 years and above

One parent can conspire with the child and do something special for the mum or dad. Then load the car in the night with food stuff and just plan a morning outing. When the family reaches the designated place then the cat could be let out of the bag and along with food can be games like twister / hoola hoop or simply catch .

Though this is a great list but i still have some more ideas on me that sound really fun , i will definitely pen them down in the next part of this blog.

Hopefully this list will help me get a closer connect with my daughter and also make a memorable summer.