Summer Vacation Ideas for Kids

It's already April and I know most of the school kids are now enjoying their summer vacation. My kids have already been enjoying their vacation for about 3 weeks now. The last time we went to school was when Janel had her moving on exercise and Kristel had her Kindergarten 2 Graduation ceremonies.

Janel is now promoted to Kindergarten 1.

Kristel will be Grade 1 next school year.

Now that all of my kids are with me at home most of the time, I always have my hands full and don't get to enjoy much peace and quiet. I know that all they want to do is to play, play, play. However, I'm hoping that their summer vacation could be a little more productive. Here are some summer vacation ideas and activities that I'm thinking of for my kids to do and hopefully enjoy.

1. Arts and crafts project - My 3 little girls like to do water color painting and most of them also like drawing. I just let them do some of these activities when they are in mood. We also have a set of arts and crafts book which I could ask them to choose from a project they would like to make for this vacation. Some of the art and craft projects include creative lettering, collage, paper folding, origami, clay modeling, handmade card making, beadworks and more.
2. Book reading and online learning program - Just like last summer, I would still like my children to continue developing the habit of reading instead of just playing their Wii games all the time.  I am also thinking of enrolling Janel in the Headsprout online reading program. The less than 30 minutes a day she will spend in Headsprout will go a long way in helping her read. All of her kuyas and ate went through the program which helped them a lot in their reading fluency and comprehension.
3. Short summer courses - If time would permit, when we go to the Philippines for vacation, I would like to enroll some of my kids who have interest in learning short term courses like a piano lesson or a sports clinic focusing on swimming or basketball. Going to Vacation Bible school is also nice for them to join in so they could meet new friends and learn about God at the same time.
4. Helping with the house chores - I'm not so sure if they would enjoy this but I think summer vacation is the perfect time for them to continue learning the value of hard work. I give them schedules to wash the dishes, hang the laundry clothes or do the vacuum cleaning. I also teach them how to prepare and cook some easy snacks like this bread pizza. They actually enjoy helping with this one and the eating part.
5. Going out just to relax and play - Summer vacation will not be complete without spending some time out as a family. I don't actually think about the expensive summer vacation destinations but we can go out more during this time because there are no school work to think about. Also, since we're going to the Philippines, I would like my kids to go and see some of the places in the Philippines that they are only learning about in school and books. I'll hopefully share about these in future blog posts.

I'm sure, they cannot do all these things I'm thinking of. There are times that it's better to be spontaneous in doing enjoyable activities. But if they could accomplish just one or two of these this summer, then it would make summer vacation a time well spent.  How about your kids? What activities are they into as they enjoy the summer vacation?