21 Things to Do with Your Toddler This Summer

We did do "preschool" last week, I promise. I was just a slacker when it came to taking pictures this weekend, so I had to delay the post. The adorable pictures of Riley showing off her crafts are definitely the best part. She's napping right now and I have big plans to do our little photo shoot when she wakes up. On a side note, my husband's out of town and both girls are crabby. I'm hoping for a nice, long nap.

I really love how having a weekly topic and activities to go along with it help keep Riley occupied during the day. Free play is great and Riley enjoys it, but I know she needs some direction even at this young age. While trying to think of some fun things Riley and I could in the hot months ahead, I figured I'd join in the "      (insert a random number) Free Things to Do With Your Toddler This Summer" fun and list what I hope to do with Riley in the upcoming weeks. When I think of summer, I think of 9 weeks, so we'll try to do about 2 a week.

• play in the sprinklers
• pick wild flowers
• feed the ducks in the neighborhood pond
• climb a tree
• do a color scavenger hunt outside and inside
• go look at cows in a local pasture
• fly a kite
• walk on the beach and collect shells
• blow bubbles
• draw with sidewalk chalk
• practice church at church
• go on a picnic
• bake cookies for a friend and surprise them by dropping them off
• have a dress up tea party
• swing at the park
• wash the cars
• play at a splash park
• make and play in a sensory bin like this one
• walk around our little downtown area
• catch bugs or butterflies
• play dress up

Some of these things we have done (sidewalk chalk, blowing bubbles), but we've slacked off a little bit from doing them since we've started our preschool crafts and activities.

If you have older kids or need more ideas for things to do with your kids this summer, check out this great post from Digital Reflections listing 100 free things you can do with your kids this summer.