Summer Is On It's Way

The sun shinning and warm weather brings so many things to do for fun. I'll just start listing activities I can think of and add additional posts as I come up with more ideas. Some things may or may not be age appropriate for you child so just keep reading til you find what your looking for.

• Sidewalk Chalk -It's very cheap, maybe a couple bucks. The great thing is, you can just wash off whatever gets colored on when you want it off or need a fresh canvas. Play tick-tack-toe, draw all sorts of things, practice spelling or writing on the sidewalk. My little girl can color for easily an hour.
• Bubbles- Buy anything from the cheap bubbles at the Dollar Store to bubble machines. Kids love chasing & popping bubbles & blowing bubbles themselves. Babies love to watch bubbles be blown in their direction.
• City Parks- Parks have slides, tunnels, swings & lots of grass to run, play Frisbee, play with a ball & fly kites. Pack a picnic & spend a couple hours burning all that energy your kids have. Be sure to slather on sunscreen & bring water to stay hydrated.
• Public Pools & Water Parks- Most public swimming pools & water parks open May 31st. Check the prices for a season pass and decide if you'll go enough for it to pay for itself. Check out Seven Peaks & Raging Waters.
• Zoo- Utah's Hogle Zoo Check out their website for address, contact info, day pass & season pass fees.
• Thanksgiving Point- There are many activities at Thanksgiving Point, indoor & outdoor. Check out their website for their calendar of events & admission costs. They also have seasonal events & outside venues such as carnivals, etc.
• Take Me Out To The Ball Game- The Salt Lake Bees are Utah's Minor League Baseball team. Check out their website for a game schedule & ticket fees.
  
• Soccer Game- Real Soccer games are a somewhat new activity. Let's support our local teams. Check out their website for a game schedule & ticket fees.

Let me know what outdoor activities you like to do with your children.

Rainy Day Fun

When it's too cold & wet to go outside & play, don't worry about you & your kids getting bored, there are endless activities to do inside. Just use your imagination & mix it up.

• Bake sugar cookies- Any kind of cookies are fun to make but I like sugar cookies because it gives more hands-on fun for the kids. After they help make the dough, then it's time to roll the dough out & use cookie cutters. After the cookies have baked & cooled, pull out the frosting & sprinkles & let the kids go to town. Then it's snack time!

If you don't have a sugar cookie recipe that you normally use, then do a Google search for "sugar cookie recipes", tons of results will come up & it's up to you to find a recipe that matches your baking skills. Most recipes will come with a frosting recipe, but if not then just do another Google search for the frosting.

• Build a Fort- I remember having so much fun doing this when I was a kid. Gather a bunch of large blankets or bed sheets & decide where it'll work best in your house to have a fort. Just drape the blankets or sheets over the back or couches & bring in kitchen chairs for more support. After it's built you can bring in pillows, stuffed animals & play "house". It's also a lot of fun to have a picnic in the fort. Have fun, your kids will love it!


• Puppet Show- This will be a lot of fun & take quite a while to do, if you want. You get to help your kids make the puppets. Craft time is great for using imaginations. Get paper plates & Popsicle sticks, paper lunch bags or even old socks. Get colored paper, scissors, glue, glitter, markers, crayons, paint, pipe cleaners, buttons, yarn...the list could go on & on. After the puppets are made then it's show time! ( it would be fun to video tape the show & all watch it back later) You can get drape a sheet or blanket over a couch, chair or kitchen counter & use that as the stage. You can use one of your children's books for the story to act out or even let everyone help write your own.


• Crafts- There are quite a few crafts that are fun & easy; Make jewelry out of macaroni noodles, yarn & glitter. Pop popcorn & thread it with a sewing needle & fishing wire, sprinkle with glitter to make necklaces, tiara's or decorations to hang on the banister or fire place mantle. Finger painting, for younger kids you can make vanilla pudding & mix in food coloring. Make "Stop" & "Go" signs with paper plates or construction paper & Popsicle sticks for the handle then play the "Red Light, Green Light" game.


• Story & Singing Time- My little girl loves to have me read books to her. She also loves singing songs together. Many of the songs such as "Old McDonald has a Farm" are much more fun with props. During craft time the kids can color animals & cut them out to use as the animals they're singing about in the song.

Do a Google Image search for the animal, or whatever your looking for, & print it off & have your kids color & do the rest.

Let me know what indoor activities you've come up with.

Out of the House Activities

The following are activities that cost money but that get you & the kids out of the house.

• Boondocks
• Kangaroo Zoo
• Jump On It
• Living Planet Aquarium
• Chuck E. Cheese
• Discovery Gateway
• Lagoon
• Fat Cats Bowling- Or check the yellow pages for a blowing alley closest to you.
• Cinemark Movie Theaters- Check their website for the calendar. There are a few months in the summer that they have a $1.00 children's movie weekly. It's a great time!
• Hollywood Connection
• Laser Quest
• Fast Track Speedway
• Clark Planetarium
• Tracy Aviary
• This is the Place, Heritage Park
• Wheeler Farm
• Utah's Museum of Natural History
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts
• Gallivan Center -Outdoor ice skating in the winter, other events through out the year.
• Utah Olympic Oval -Public ice skating, ice skating lessons, sports summer camp & zipline.
• Snowbird Summer Activities
• Jumpin Jacks
• Mulligans
• My Gym
• Gymcats at the Point
• Grizzlies Hockey Game