I have to admit - I wasn’t always the mom who looked forward to summer break. When my kids were younger, it felt so much harder to keep them engaged and happy and not whiny while also accomplishing work and my day-to-day tasks. I found it pretty exhausting and frustrating, and I didn’t always do a good job of staying present.
But this year? I’m thrilled that summer break has arrived. I do think part of the reason it’s easier now is the kids are older, but I also think a bigger part of it is that I’ve learned how our family likes to do summer break. We don’t do well with fully unstructured time for three months, but we also don’t do great if we’re overly scheduled and busy!
It’s taken me a lot of practice to learn how to do summer in a way that really works for all of us, and I feel like we’ve really nailed it in the last couple of years.
We spent our first week of summer on an 8-day Disney World trip (it was AMAZING!), and now that we’re home it’s time to settle in and begin some of our summer traditions and routines. Read on if you’re on the summer struggle bus and need some tips for making the most of it!
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Our Summertime Essentials
I have a few things that I always make sure to have on hand year after year to make summer as seamless as possible. It’s nothing crazy or expensive, but a few little things make a big difference in the summer! Here'‘s a quick list of my essentials:
We’re using these baskets and these wax paper liners for lunches to reduce dishes and OH MAN it’s a game-changer! I’m even using them myself and it feels like such a treat.
I love to grab a few fresh art kits for the kids every year. It varies depending on what they’re into, but a shrink art kit is ALWAYS a winner in our house! The kids LOVE to watch them shrink in the oven and they’re always so amazed.
My kids literally started asking for these water balloons within an hour of the last day of school releasing. I’m not kidding. It’s their favorite thing to do in the summer and I pretty much always have to have some.
I’ve been using these reusable to do lists for the kids every summer for years now, and we all love them. They have a list of things they have to do every day to keep us active (and not on screens all day) and these checklists are KEY to making that as hands-off as possible for me!
Summer Brain Quests are another thing I buy every summer - it goes on their checklist!! Keeps them doing some academics in the summer, which I love, and they find them to be really fun. You should’ve heard the squeals in my house when they arrived a couple of weeks ago!
We always (always!) have bracelet kits in the house. The kids go through phases where they’ll do them for hours and hours, so I make sure they’re stocked. I can’t tell you how many bracelets I have that they’ve made me over the years.
Last summer we played a family tournament of Mario Kart every single night before the kids went to bed and I absolutely intend to do it again this year.
Another art supply I always have is air dry clay. The kids regularly bust this out and have the best time together! My house is littered with little creations all summer long.
A few summers back I found this Bogg bag knockoff and it’s still going strong for us. I love it SO MUCH. See all the accessories I have for it here!
It’s tradition for us to tie dye some shirts every year and the kids are already asking me when we’ll be doing it this year! G told me he wants to tie dye shoes and shorts and a shirt so he can have a whole outfit.
We play card games year round but we play a ton more in the summer. This one is the current family favorite!
The Summer Bucket List
One of our favorite family traditions is creating a bucket list together every year. Typically, I have everyone in the family choose 4-5 items to add to the list, so we end up with a list that’s approximately 20 items long. We try to do a mix of free activities along with bigger activities, and it’s always so much fun!
I think one of my favorite things about this tradition is it allows us to really focus on what each kid wants to do. The things that are important to them change throughout the years, and I love knowing what is quintessentially “summer” to them each year!
You can see our 2025 summer bucket list here. I’m actually planning to make this year’s list with the kids today, so keep an eye on my Instagram stories if you want to see the big reveal!
If you need some ideas for what to put on your family’s summer bucket list, I made a list of 100+ ideas for you right here!
The YES Day
Most summers we give each of the kids a “YES” Day and it’s probably their favorite tradition out of everything we do. The gist is that we let them plan a day and we say yes to as much as we possibly can! We always set a budget and have a few basic rules in place, but it’s more or less a free for all in terms of fun!
It’s always so fun to see what kind of a day each kid plans (in our house, one is always a LOT busier than the other), and it always makes some of the most fun days of the summer.
A typical YES day for us might include extra screen time, bowling, lunch at the kids’ favorite spots, all the sweets, and last year G even talked us into a water park! We’ve gone bowling, visited arcades, gone to the movies, and played putt putt. And sometimes, it’s less about going somewhere and more about saying yes to requests like ice cream for breakfast, playing a video game with your kid, or doing their chores for them that day.
Summer Routines + Rhythms
I think one of the simplest ways to make the summer feel special is to create some traditions and routines that you can do without even thinking about it.
For example, the last few summers we have built a big fort and had a “camp out” in our living room. And, we choose one day of the week that we all go to the library together - every single week! Then, we snuggle up to read together for a while when we get home. The kids love when I get involved in their routines and checklists, and I love a built-in excuse to take a reading break!
Here are a few other free (or cheap) ideas:
Pick a day of the week to go get gas station treats or Sonic drinks.
Go on a nature walk and take photos of what you find.
Declare a “Drop Everything and Read” time every afternoon.
See if there’s a Kids Bowl Free location near you!
Have a movie marathon (we’re doing Toy Story!)
Bake together once every week.
I used to hear moms rave about how much they love summer and feel so guilty - why didn’t I enjoy it? Why was it so much harder for me?! But, turns out, all I needed was to figure out what works best for our little family and let go of all the pressure.
I still have my days where things feel hard. The kids fight, I don’t get as much done as I want, and it doesn’t always feel completely magical. And that’s okay.
If you’re still in the season of “summer feels hard,” I hope this helps give you some ideas for how you can make it a little more enjoyable.
So, here’s to less pressure, more popsicles, and a summer that actually feels good. Because whatever your version of summer break is, it’s enough. Promise.
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