Mommy and Me Summer Fun

Its almost the end of June and what do you know, SCHOOL’s OUT. While this may mean you get to see your kids more (happy face), It may also mean You get to see your kids more (ugghhh). Come on, I know we love our kids and all, but let’s be real, sometimes when your toddlers and teenagers are now home constantly there are endless dangers for them to get into. Then there’s the issue of finding appropriate and meaningful activities to keep them occupied. We’ll discuss this later but right now you want to be able to enjoy the summer with your kids, while affording them the opportunity to to have clean fun on their own.

Also bear in mind that unless you’re a teacher, freelancer or Stay at home mom, your mommy and me summer fun time will be limited to weekends, so here’s how to make the most of the time you have available:

1. Indoor Fun: How about getting the family together for arts and crafts. Your older kids will be sure to enjoy creative online DIY (Do it yourself) sites such as cutoutandkeep.net, www.make-stuff.com/kids, instructables.com, craftzine.com, www.diynetwork.com/diy/crafts and the list goes on. Your teenagers will also have cool fun using such sites as picnik.com, imikimi.com and mag my pic to edit photos and make cool scrapbook images (plus you get points as a COOL parent for suggesting these sites).

– Painting: Have a room you’ve been wanting done for the longest while? Well put the kids to use. For younger kids you can even make a cute mural for their room. Just grab material big enough for the space and have your kids make foot and hand prints with coloured paint for a wonderful look.

– Family movie night: Have a projector? Turn your space into a wonderful movie theater (If you don’t I have one for rental here that you can contact me about. Hang a white blanket on a solid wall, make popcorn and drinks and you’re on your way for a wonderful family moment.

– Board games– Great for indoor and out

2. Outdoor Fun: This is never exhaustive and is particularly useful with the heat of summer all around.

– Games (whether it be board games or a game of waterbombs, Baseball (The Jamaican version with homemade bats and balls), ‘Sightings’ (the one where you try to dodge the ball) , paint balling (You can now play at Sun Coast in the Harbour View Region) or a simple backyard game of water squirt (Get dressed in your swimsuit and just have fun with the hose) You can surely have Fun Fun and did i say FUN.

– The Beach/Watery bodies: This is a never ending fave and Jamaica has such beautiful beaches, waterfalls and rivers it should be just enough fun trying to decide if you should visit one in Kingston (Remember Lime Cay is under quarantine), St. Catherine (Hellshire, Fort Clarence and the Caymanas Bay river are faves), Numerous ones in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and ones in the Eastern and South Coast areas are great options. For moms of younger kids you may want to use more contained areas such as pools located around the island but be sure to check with your doctor about babies, public pools and vaccinations.

– Picnic: Hope Gardens Still remains a fave, but you can explore other places such as Serenity Park and others scattered around the island

– Barbeque: Where there’s food, its bound to be fun. This can be quite fun and you can have older kids help with preparations. Just grab some hamburger buns, franksfurters, lunch meat, whatever it is you want on a grill, prepare a huge pitcher of lemonade and you are all set. Oh and while you’re at it, if you have a big enough space, be sure to invite your friends/kid’s friends over too. To help with costs, you can have them all contribute to the Barbeque..Now that’s fun.

Now there’s sooo much to do and I could go on and on, but whatever you do, just try to be creative and include everyone. You may need to do separate activities if you have older and younger kids, but whatever the activity the aim is fun. Still want more ideas? Check these out

Share This