The Easiest Summer Ideas With Kids

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I love the Summer. I look forward to it every year. I love the long lazy nights, melting popsicles on a hot day, playing in the sand and surf, ice cream, bike rides, swimming, camping, vacation, and mostly having my babies with me allllllll day. I truly miss them during the school year.

However, summer can be stressful for that same reason. Kids get bored and want to be entertained. Mom’s sanity sometimes gets pulled to a thin cord trying to keep everyone from bickering.

So, in order to both keep kids happy, and mother’s sane, I’ve come up with some ideas of things to do during the summer that will make everyone happy.

Summer fairs. Look for your local fairs that typically come around during the summer months. We are excited to visit the San Diego, Orange County, and L.A. County Fairs. It highlights all the best parts of summer in my opinion. Good food, beautiful summer nights, lights, and family fun. Many cities also put on smaller versions of these larger fairs. We attended one last year and it was amazing! Rides, food and even fireworks!

The beach. I know that some people aren’t the biggest fan of the beach, but I have to say to them, “you people are crazy!” No really, to some extent, I get it. You have to haul a lot of crap when you go with kids. And trek across sand. And then sit in the sand. Then bring the sand home inside every crevice it touches. I get it. But, in my mind, it is all worth it because you get hours and hours of outside fun. Every single one of my kids love the beach. They play for hours on end. Happily screaming, and digging and running from waves; never even thinking of screens. I get to sit and relax in the sun and watch my family happily playing. (One day I’ll get to close my eyes or read, but for now I am content to watch). I mean, it’s a win-win. But, let’s say you want more from your beach day. Let me recommend ” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener” aria-label=”bike trailer (opens in a new tab)”>bike trailer! We bring ours along with us to ride along the boardwalk between Newport and Huntington. Then walk the pier or head down Main St. to get lunch while watching surfers. I know Balboa has a great place to ride; as well as the fun zone right near the water. You can also enjoy a ride on the ferry to get to the island. There you can walk along the harbor, enjoy the beach atmosphere of the beach, without “the beach“. You can do some exploring of sea life in the tide pools at Crystal Cove. Or check into The Ocean Institute for some fun and education (and tide pools) at Dana Point. A favorite beach destination of mine is in La Jolla (San Diego) where you can hang out at the sea caves with sea lions.

Or plan on going for the evening to watch the sunset and enjoy a bonfire (at the beaches with pits). I mean if roasting hotdogs and s’mores just doesn’t epitomize summer, what does? There are more options then just sand and water. That’s really the beauty of the beach.

Water parks!

I love a good water slide; and apparently I love a good mud slide too!

I could do them all day long. It works out perfectly for me that I look like a fun mom going on them with my kids, when selfishly I enjoy them just as much as they do. There are a lot of fun waterparks in Southern California, and even more splash pads, that there is no way I could list them all. But some of my favorites are: Raging Waters. This reminds me of my youth. We had season passes growing up and would spend many days running around playing with friends . Last year we found one closer to us. We had just had a small baby and knew we didn’t and couldn’t be outside for too long. So, we got a Groupon for The Cove Waterpark in Jurupa Valley. It’s a smaller park near to us, but a lot of fun. It has a sister park in Perris, CA; both great for families! Speaking of smaller water parks, we have enjoyed places like Castle Park in the past too. It makes for a great day mini golfing then playing in the water. Currently we have passes to Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Soak City. We are excited to explore this larger water park and use our food pass in there as well. It’s a pretty spectacular deal adding this on in the summer to our regular pass. And, can you even talk about great water parks without mentioning The Great Wolf Lodge; which I could do a whole post on itself? It’s a hotel/water park and guaranteed fun for everyone. The Great Wolf Lodge is the Disneyland of waterparks and I definitely think everyone should check this place out at least once. It would make a great stay-cation during the summer or all year round. And the best part……..it’s all indoors, so no sunscreen needed!!!!

Kid’s movies! Many theaters offer GREAT deals for kids in the summertime. I would definitely recommend looking into your local theater. I mean air conditioning and a movie on a hot summer day is pretty tops! Some of the major theaters I am aware of that are offering deals are: Regal who is offering $1 movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. AMC who has a great $4 deal for a movie, drink and popcorn every Wednesday. Harkins Theaters has a movie pass for $5 to watch 10 movies (the same movie is played every day Mon-Fri for the week). You can buy a single ticket the day of too. Dos Lagos in Lake Elsinore has FREE movies. And Cinemark has $1 movies or 10 movies for $5. We are also big fans of the drive-in movies during the summer. With restless little ones it works well that they can move and snack and not bother others. And most of the time they simply fall asleep while the big kids and adults enjoy. Plus, double feature, so…..

Nature walks and hikes are a great way to spend a morning or evening as it cools down. I wrote a whole post dedicated to some of our favorite family friendly hikes here. Some of them are located near a beach; so, you could potentially start the morning with a hike and relax at the beach for the rest of the day. Or you could just hang out near your home and put together a scavenger hunt of small easy things to find while you walk the neighborhood. Nature walks are a great way to get outside and enjoy the day.

Field Trip! Who says field trips are only school activities?! We try to incorporate learning through play a lot around our home. And there are so many places that work with you to provide fun hands on learning experiences. Some of our favorites are: setting up a fire station tour with friends. Museums. I wrote about some favorites here and here. The library is one of my favorite summer tools. Not only do my kids love a visit to the library; but we look forward to the summer reading program, free lunch some locations provide, and year-round we attend “story time” at the library for crafts, books and more. There are also many aquariums to visit, local farms, indoor play areas, and so much more. I would definitely recommend taking field trips during the summer. We have even thrown in a worksheet or activity at home first (thanks to Pinterest) so my kids gain more from the experience. And it keeps them busy and dusts off the old brain cobwebs that accumulate during the summer.

Other free activities: Pool days, flying kites, playing board games, painting with pudding (and yes, I mean let kids paint paper or even themselves outside with good ole’ chocolate pudding). There are so, so, SO many fun parks all over Southern California. The Huntington Adventure Playground is the perfect place to let kids get messy and, well, be kids. Summer also has a lot of fun free food days we take advantage of each year. Like “Cow Appreciation Day” that Chick-Fil-A puts on each summer. Dress like a cow for free food… you know we are on top of that! And on July 11th (7/11), the convenience store 7/11 gives out free Slurpee’s! on June 7th each year it’s National Donut Day… don’t mind if I do Krispy Kreme. IHOP always has a cheap short stack deal in July as well. Watch for fun free things that are constantly happening. And if you go to kidsbowlfree.com kids can get 2 free bowling games every single day of the summer!!! What a deal!

One of my all time favorite things to do in the summer also happens to be free. I guess I should say 2 of my favorite things, but they are so similar I just lump them together. And it is summer park series. Whether it be concerts in the park, which most cities have… some do them at numerous locations; or movies in the park. Both are free. Both provide entertainment for the whole family in a wonderful summer environment! I would definitely try these things out if you haven’t yet!!!

There is just so much fun to be had in the summer. The few months we have just isn’t enough time!

I have included a FREE pdf of some of our favorite summer activities here on the blog. Subscribe and the pdf will be sent to you. We make it into a game with some friends and see how many points we can “score”. You can compete with friends for prizes, do it just for fun, or maybe set a goal with an ice cream or candy bar reward if you reach a certain number. The emails will also include a lot of other fun things to do in the Southern California area! You don’t want to miss out!!!