Summer is quickly approaching and your kids will be out of school before you know it. Keep them busy with these 5 outdoor summer activities that all cost under $10. They will be thrilled and your summer spending won’t get out of hand.
Did you know you can make your own sidewalk chalk?
5 Outdoor Summer Activities for Kids for Less Than $10
DIY Slip ‘n Slide
Kids love to be outdoors playing in the sun. As parents, we worry about keeping them from overheating. Drinking plenty of water and playing in water can help. There are many summer activities that include water. Going to the swimming pool is great, but it isn’t always a possibility.
You can put up the water sprinkler for a quick cool off but have you ever considered making a water slide in your yard?
Jennifer from Hope Studios has a wonderful DIY slip ‘n slide. In 20 minutes, you can have one set up. The kids will be excited to have fun summer activities in their own yard and you might score some cool parent points.
To get the fun going you will need:
- heavy-duty plastic sheeting
- landscape anchor pins
- hammer
- garden hose
- baby soap (optional)
Follow these step-by-step directions and you’ll be slipping and sliding in no time. Your family will have plenty of laughs and great stories to tell after making a slip ‘n slide as part of their summer activities.
DIY Sidewalk Chalk
Making your own sidewalk chalk is a fun family project to add to your list of summer activities. Children love playing with sidewalk chalk. There are many games you can play with sidewalk chalk including: hopscotch, tic tac toe, four square and making roads to race cars on. Drawing pictures and scribbling are my 2-year-old’s favorite things to do with sidewalk chalk.
Don’t tell your kids, but this can also be educational. Using sidewalk chalk helps children work on their fine motor and gross motor skills. If you have young children, you can use this opportunity to practice colors, shapes, counting and the alphabet. Just make sure to keep it fun.
Start off with some basic supplies to make your own sidewalk chalk:
- toilet paper rolls
- scissors
- Duct tape
- a small bucket
- waxed paper
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1½ cups Plaster of Paris
- 2 to 3 tablespoons tempera paint
- a paper bag
Follow these step-by-step directions for your own homemade sidewalk chalk. Note: It may take several days to dry the chalk before your kids can use it.
Vegetable Garden
What kid doesn’t like playing in the dirt? Some of the best summer activities involve getting dirty.
Planting a garden with your children can be a fun and rewarding family activity.
You can plant a large garden or simply plant a flower or herb in a pot.
Gardening is another one of those sneaky educational activities. Children learn responsibility from caring for the plants. They learn cause and effect, such as if you don’t water it, the plant will die. They also learn self-confidence from seeing the success of the plant growing after their hard work.
Caring for a garden is a summer activity that keeps your kids busy for the entire summer. Do you plant a garden? What do you grow in your garden?
No matter the age of your children, everyone can play a part. A small child can dig a hole, push some soil in, drop a seed in the hole, push dirt over it or maybe even help pour water. Bigger kids can enjoy adding personality to the garden by making plant markers. Try one of these 26 unique ideas for DIY plant markers.
Begin small by buying a bag of potting soil, some seeds and a clay pot. Tomatoes, green beans and cucumber seeds are all great starter plants. Let your little ones paint or color the pots.
DIY Bird Feeders
One of my favorite summer activities is making bird feeders with peanut butter and pinecones. It’s fun to go on a hike to look for pinecones to decorate. You get a chance to get out in nature and explore with your children.
This is one of the easiest and cheapest summer activities. All you need are pinecones, peanut butter or shortening if someone has nut allergies, bird seed, a butter knife and something to hang the pine cone with such as twine or string.
Kids love covering the pinecones, choosing a place to hang the bird feeder and watching the birds. This also gives you a chance to talk about different birds that live in your neighborhood.
Old-Fashioned Sack Races
Sack races are a quick, easy and inexpensive summer activity. All you need are start and finish line markers and sacks to use in the races such as sleeping bags or pillow cases.
If you’re ambitious and like to sew, you can make your own sacks using burlap.
The start and finish lines could be masking tape, little cones, leftover birthday streamers or anything you find around the house. Let the laughs begin.
