A couple of summers ago Dave's sister reminisced about their childhood. She distinctly remembered a Summer Fun Club that their mom did for the kids. She remembers doing fun activities and that it was a big deal. Dave has no memory of it. Their mom has some recollection of it being a way to get the kids to agree to go do errands. No matter, Dave's sister started up the next generation of Summer Fun Club with her kids and you can follow her activities here. Last year my kids were bummed to hear about all the fun things their cousins were doing while mom was working full time and they were stuck at summer day care camps. The biggest thing they looked forward to when I wasn't going to be working this summer was Summer Fun Club.
So here it is, what we did, and how you can start your own club if you want.
First of all, the branding is everything. You can't say this enough, it is ALL in the marketing. These activities are things you would normally do, but the key is that we did 1 small activity every day at roughly the same time that was a surprise. It was something to look forward to every weekday of summer break. Having a badge makes everything official, so that is a requirement of your first meeting. You can go further and make a banner, theme song, cheer, etc. but we kept it simple and just did badges this year. About a month before summer I made an order with Oriental Trading Company to get some cheap crafts. My husband placed an order with Dover books to get some cool book based activities. Believe it or not, we didn't get through everything so I already have a stash for next year!
6/19 - Kick-Off!
6/20 - Trip to the Library
6/21 - Sandal Suncatchers and a trip to Sweet Frog
6/24 - Origami
6/25 - Met Daddy for lunch at Smashburger
6/26 - National Zoo
6/27 - Afternoon at Grandma's making necklaces
6/28 - Snap Bracelets and a trip to Milwaukee Frozen Custard
FAMILY REUNION - All day every day Summer Fun Club!
7/8 - New Coloring Books
7/9 - Painted Owls with cousins
7/10 - Science! Milk, dye and Q-Tips
7/11 - Painted Owls with more cousins
7/12 - Made Rocky Ledge Bars
7/15 - Colored Kites
7/16 - Fish Sun Catchers
7/17 - Junior Ranger Badges at Wolf Trap
7/18 - Hilde at Art Camp! The rest of us did Sunlight pictures
7/19 - Trampoline & Sprinklers!
7/22 - Painted birdhouses
7/23 - Went to see Despicable Me 2
7/24 - Grandma Time
7/25 - Went to Signal Bay waterpark with friends!
7/26 - Baked and decorated cupcakes
7/29 - Milwaukee Frozen Custard
7/30 - Create your own comic
7/31 - Trip to Atlantis waterpark with friends!
8/1 - Science! Change water to a gel
8/2 - Laser Tag!
8/5 - Awesome Coloring Books
8/6 - Letters to Missionairies
8/7 - Baking
8/8 - Decorating a spaceship
8/9 - Chuck E. Cheese
8/12 - Volcanoes
8/13 - Hilde's birthday!
8/14 - Geo Boards
8/15 - Geo Boards Day 2
8/16 - Pump it Up!
8/19 - Trip to the library
8/20 - Pool time!
8/21 - Made videos
8/22 - Pool time!
8/23 - Paper & Straw Airplanes and parachutes with cousins
8/26 - Back to school shopping
8/27 - Baked cupcakes and decorated them with mustaches
8/28 - Made Ice Cream Sandwiches
8/29 - Colored long roll of paper, trip to the Library and Credit Union
8/30 - End of summer fun club party!
The verdict: Summer Fun Club will definitely make a return in 2014. The kids really got into it, more than I ever thought they would. The older kids will probably lose interest first, but I think I have a few more tricks up my sleeve to keep them engaged. As with everything, planning and preparation is key. If I have a few ideas ahead of time that are ready to go, then based on whatever life circumstances happen, I am prepared with an activity. I did a pretty good job balancing large activities with small ones, but I do want to throw in a couple of day trip activities next year. If you want to start your own club, please let me know what ideas you come up with!
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