Summer is here and school is out! Camps are booked for the older kids, but wait…what am I going to do with my little ones that are not old enough to attend summer camp? Good news is, there are plenty of easy and fun things you can do to give your toddlers and preschoolers a summer camp-like experience at home. Here are 3 of our top summer activities that will encourage your child to play, learn, and get messy!
Photo: Lisa Prins
Color Targets
Fill your squirt guns and get ready for color target practice! Hang different colored pieces of paper around the yard. Call out a color and have your child find and squirt that color target. Modifications: Use water balloons or wet sponges instead of squirt guns. Add numbers, letters, or sight words to the targets for a variation of the same game.
Bubble Process Art
Process art favors the process over the product and bubble art is a perfect way to get your toes wet with it. Add a few drops of washable paint, watercolors, or food coloring to some plastic cups. Add a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap. Add about ¼-½ cup of water to each cup. Poke a hole in the side of a straw (to help prevent kids from sucking up soapy water). Blow through the straw and into the cup to make giant colored bubbles. Then place a piece of white paper over each cup, popping the bubbles. Repeat for other colors. The resulting prints are stunning.
DIY Water Table
A simple plastic bin with spoons, cups, funnels, and bowls are a perfect way to keep cool while building practical life skills that will help your littles become more independent! Want to step it up a notch? Add water beads (not for children under age 3), washable paint, foamy soap, plastic coins, flowers, cars, animals, ice cubes, giant pom poms, etc.
About the Author & Tinkering Toddler Crates
Lisa Prins is the Founder and Owner of Tinkering Toddler Crates established in 2018 in Long Beach, CA. She is a credentialed California elementary teacher, mom of two energetic boys (2.5 and 6.5 years old), and is passionate about making learning fun and engaging!
Tinkering Toddler Crates are play-based activity boxes that encourage your child to play, learn, and get messy! They give parents the tools and ideas necessary to create learning opportunities at home. All materials needed are included and each month is a new theme. Summer themes are: Under the Sea (ships July 1st), I Scream for Ice Cream (ships August 4th), and My Body (ships September 4th). Use the discount code: KIDSGUIDE to save 10% off your entire first order! Connect with Lisa on Instagram and Facebook @tinkeringtoddlercrates.
