Summer is around the corner. I’m anticipating long days with my kids, no more homework, and sleeping in (ha ha, wink wink). Maybe it’s the teacher still in me somewhere, but I also like to have somewhat of a schedule during the summer. It keeps somewhat of a routine with the kids, and makes the days fun, and not boring.

Here are a few ideas of some of the things that I did last year with the kids. There’s no reason not to enjoy the summer and make fun memories together, even if you have a limited budget. A lot of these ideas are free or a minimal cost.

– FREE Regal Cinema’s Movies – Selected G or PG movies start at 10:00am every Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. Tickets and seating are first-come, first-served and are limited to theatre capacity.

– FREE Southern California Museum Days

– Regency Movie Theater in Moreno Valley – $2-$3 movies

– Facebook page with lots of low budget activities

– Free Concert Calendar for So Cal – this website has a TON of cool websites with free events all year long!

– Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache

– Other cool sites

http://www.mykidsgofree.com
http://mykidseatfree.com

I put together a tentative schedule of some things I would like to do over the summer. In no way do you have to stick to this, I probably won’t, but will give us ideas for the days that we are home and need something to do.

Monday: Library Day & Guitar Lessons

Our library has an excellent summer reading program. Sign ups usually start at the beginning of the summer. The kids get rewarded for books that they read with prizes, gift certificates, etc. Look into your local libraries for similar programs. BOOK BONUS *** Borders is having a special program this summer. Read 10 books and receive a free one. Here is the form to fill out and bring in.

We are blessed at our house to have several musicians who can teach all kinds of instruments. This summer, we decided to focus on guitar, and Moi gets to be the teacher! 🙂 Yeah for him! 🙂 Maybe playing an instrument isn’t your specialty? Summer is a wonderful time to teach your child a skill that you love and are good at!

Tuesday: Free Movie Day
Click on the link for a the theater near you.

Wednesday: Art Project/Craft Day
There are so many excellent ideas online of projects to keep children entertained. A few of my favorite websites:

http://familyfun.go.com/

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/

The Crafty Crow

http://www.kaboose.com/

Thursday: Beach Day / Field Trip Day

Check out the free museums listed above for some ideas. I plan on alternating between a field trip and a beach day every other week. Mid-week at the beach is great, not quite as crowded, parking isn’t as crazy either. A great way to keep the kids entertained!

Friday: Cooking Day

Can’t go wrong with Family Fun again, for fun and easy recipes to make with kids! For older children- I remember one summer, once a week my mom had me plan out the meal for dinner, budget how much it would cost, took me to the grocery store to purchase the items, etc. I was in charge of cooking the meal, setting the table, and serving the meal. Great life skills to teach your kids!

So here are a few of my ideas! Hope this helps on those long summer days when you run out of ideas!!! The goal is to have fun, and make lots of long-lasting memories with your children!