snappy tots: Summer Fun

Soon summer will be here and if you have kids that means boredom will set in before we know it. We LOVE being outside, jumping on the tramp and playing with bubbles and water. BUT my son also LOVES video games and would sit in front of the game 24/7 if we let him. I always am on the search for fun (and easy) things to keep him entertained. Of course, I try to find crafty things too. I will be sharing ideas for family fun, summer learning, CROCHET AND KNIT PATTERNS and more throughout the summer and hope they help you and your little ones too.

Have you ever checked out "Listmania" on Amazon? Oh my heck it is super cool. I turn to it for all kinds of ideas, from games and movies to gifts and books. Once you are at the right place, your search bar with look like the one in the photo above. Pinterest is also a GREAT place for ideas for EVERYTHING you can imagine.

GAMES
Board Games:
We pick a "game of the week" and keep it in the kitchen to play during down times.
What kind of games do we play? Ones adults and a 6 year old like and "can" play. My sister is the game guru and has introduced us to some super cool ones! Our current favs are "spot it jr" (AWESOME and comes in many versions), "Guess Who?", "Sneaky Snacky Squirrel" and "Qwirkle". I just ordered "Sequence Jr." to try with Hayden. It was on the top games list and my daughter and I LOVED regular sequence when she was a teenager.

Outdoor Games/Activities:
The very best place to start on the blog "How Does She?" with a list of "over 100 Cheap to FREE Summer Activities.

Check out this super cool Pinterest board FULL of some pretty cool outdoor activities.
"Pickleball" has become very popular in my area. Give it a try!

Lists of Games:
Best Board Games for Ages 3-8
Fun Outdoor Games (to buy)

HIKING/ADVENTURES
We are going to go on local hikes and adventures this summer. I have a journal for Hayden to write about each event too. This makes a great cover and journal pages. Perfect for vacations too.

We LOVE to Geo Cache! My husband got interested in it to learn a new GPS thingy for work. We started taking our youngest son when he was 18 months. Now he calls it "treasure hunting". Sometimes we even dress up like pirates! He runs the GPS thingy and it helps with directions, numbers and more.
Did you know you can geo cache without some expensive new gadget? There are awesome apps for your phone or tablet!

Links to Geo Caching:
Geo caching with Kids (a MUST check out site)
Family Adventure

SUMMER BUCKET LIST

This sounds like tons of fun! Info from their site:
"Every summer, we create a summer bucket list with our kids and make it a point to try to cross everything off our list, make the most of our summer, and create some awesome family memories! It’s all about intentional living! The challenge part comes in because we invite our readers to participate and make their own summer bucket list. In 2011, we had 136 families sign up and in 2012, we have 2,629 families sign up! Our goal for 2013 is to have 10,000 families join us in creating an awesome summer experience for their family!
We encourage participants to share their summer fun through social media and this year, we’re adding a Facebook group so our readers can interact, build community, and share photos....
The Summer Bucket List Challenge is a free, fun for all ages challenge based on a simple premise: time spent together as a family is time well spent!"

SUMMER CROCHET PROJECTS
I LOVE to work with 100% cotton yarn during spring and summer. Bags, sun hats and scrubbies/dish cloths are my main projects while sitting outside. Here are some snappy patterns to check out (use coupon code "summer" for 25% off these patterns until 4/30/13):