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We usually participate in our library reading program as well. Time and money permitting I plan mini-vacations (1-3 nights) throughout the summer to nearby cities with a science center, natural history museum or zoo. We have memberships to our local ones so admission is usually free. This way my kids aren't looking for one big vacation, but lots of little ones. We usually research the city, the museums, history and points of interest on the way.

We live close to a national park and they have many resources through there we participate in. They also have letterboxing and geocaching sites. We have done letterboxing, but DH has looked into geocaching as a fun family activity.

Depending on your geographical location you may be close to fossil sites too.

Then of course there are the regular summer favorites like swimming, riding bikes, camping etc.

Hope this helps!

Jen

Have you looked into summer camps, too? DS4 and DS7 are just aflutter about the day camps they're going to this year: cooking camp, insect camp, soccer camp, etc. They can't wait!

Along the lines of what Tall_boys said, you can take an empty dish detergent bottle, and fill it with water. The kids can then use it to "paint" the sidewalk, by squirting water everywhere! A teacher of an art class that my son took did this, and all the kids loved it. And as she said, you do your "painting" before lunch, eat lunch, and come back out and your "canvas" is clean and dry and ready for more "painting"!

oh wow, i LOVE the photo idea! both of my kids LOVE to take pictures!

My DS6 got a "Digital Art Studio" for christmas. Made by VTech, was about $50., hooks up to the TV. Plug in your digital camera and you can edit to your hearts content. They've cool frames and effects, he loves it!

Hi Kerry,
I was going to sign DS6 up for an online math class over the summer. Just something he can do when he feels the urge to do some work.

Which site are you going through?

Well I was going to try this one out. I dk if it is going to be any good.

http://coursecatalog.thecambridgeacademy.org/

We've just decided to send her to zoo camp for a week. It is 3 hours away, but we have friends who live in the town with the zoo, so we can stay with them.

What great ideas here! For the past 3 summers I have developed "mini camps" at home for my kids. This is actually more like homeschooling, because I am extending what they learned the previous year, reinforcing basics, and exploring topics that they ordinarily wouldn't be exposed to in school.

The key is to make it fun! We have a different theme each week and our "camp" is held for 2 hours every morning. Last year we did a week on Ice Cream. We learned about solids and liquids, graphing favorite ice cream flavors, pasteurization, making ice cream in a bag, and even took a free visit to a local dairy farm to watch cows being milked. Other themes included the Great Outdoors, Insects, Safari, and the Rainforest. This year I plan to do Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Whodunnit Mysteries, Art Week, and Heroes & Heroines. I got these ideas from my kids, believe it or not! There are many lesson plans available online, and I usually use materials I already have and heavily rely on our library for resources (FREE!).

To bridge the age gap of my kids (2 yrs apart), I set up individual learning centers in my basement (science, math, writing, listening, and computer) and have age-appropriate activities there.

It takes a good bit of planning, but the kids are so EXCITED about it and it prevents summer "brain drain." It's cheaper than traditional camps and still leaves time in the day for playing and just being kids.