We are a homeschooling family. Thus far we've only done preschool with Kindergarden starting in the fall. We tend not to do a real formal "school" day but instead just try making learning part of our daily routine {minus all the paper work}. I know this will change a little in the coming yer but let me encourage you to use Summer as a fun learning time for your littles.

Here are a few things we've already done and then some we are hoping to do soon.

Outside Educational Activities

• Zoo
• Nature Walk
• Animal Observation
  
  
• Water Play
• Parks
• Learn new skills
  • swimming
  • ride a bike

Indoor Educational Activities

• The Wonder Place
  
• Museum
• Board Games
  
• Library Story Time
• Cook/Bake
• Make Playdough, Clouddough, Slime
• Learn new skills
  • tie shoes
  • tell time
  • new sight words
  • play the piano {if you're a writer & interested in doing a review of FreePianoLessons4Kids here on aJig, email me! Must have a child 5-years-old or older as well as internet and piano access.}
  • using the potty
    

For more ideas for an educational summer, check out my Pinterest board,
"The Ones about Homeschooling"! There is also a blogger in this series devoting the entire 5 days to summer learning; check it out!

The rest of the week includes:

Monday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Entertainment

Tuesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Food

Wednesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Rest

Friday-- 5 Days of Summer: Summary & a GIVEAWAY

I think some times we forget among all the fun that things can only stay fun for so long with littles until someone needs a nap or poops themselves.

Today is gonna be short and sweet. In honor of talking about rest, I {the tiered prego one who has been running littles around all week in the name of fun} will be going to bed on time tonight; even after taking a good nap today 😉

When traveling with littles from babies to preschoolers, keep in mind their routine nap time. If you're going to be out for that time, make sure to take comfort items {fav blanky, paci, sleeping buddy, music, etc} as well as prepare ahead to have a place for them to rest {comfy carseat, stroller, pack-n-play} all at a comfortable temperature or your toast. lol

Check out this post series on sleep.

Babies {infant-1 year}

Thankfully, infants are one of the easiest "little" ages to travel with. Most require very little effort to get to sleep when its time. Many times, traveling can even help. Now that I have older ones as well, the option to not travel doesn't always work well, some do learn to sleep in the car or stroller, but honestly, if you push it too far with this age, nobody's happy.

Suggestions for comfy car riding:: carseat wings & lap blanket

Toddlers {1-3 years}

Unfortunately, I don't know many ways around lots of travel and running with tiny babies that involve good rest/sleep, so I've always tried to limit the running with this age. This is the hardest age to travel with. They are now very aware of things around them yet still in desperate need of real sleep. Most of my children at this age {early end} still took 2 naps so it felt like there was really not good time to do things.

Suggestions for comfy car riding:: neck pillow, lap blanket, and possibly travel DVD players

Preschoolers {3-5 years}

Lots of children at this age are fighting naps, have "given up" naps, or have convinced their mamma not to stress the nap. The good thing is, at this age, it is less crucial that they get a nap every day. Although, running them like crazy will make naps an even more important part of their day.

Suggestions for comfy car riding:: seatbelt pillow {tutorial coming soon}, lap blanket, possibly travel DVD players, and Leap Frog Tag books/pen & headset

Even if your child isn't napping,think of some down-time activities to help them slow down and rest.

• Take a sabbath
  make sure you are taking a day of rest every week as a family
• Use movies
  even though I like the idea of avoiding screen-time, this has been a life-saver for this exhausted pregnant mamma
• Read books
  of course reading with your child is awesome but consider giving them audio books {you can make these} or a Tag pen to help you rest
• Snackseating should be restful and not rushed

Reminder:: when things begin to get me stressed during what was planned to be a fun summer activity, more than likely, its me who is being selfish and inconsiderate of what is really best for my child in the long run.

• Plan to take lots of breaks.
• Take snacks.
• Work in rest/nap time.
• Try to limit fun outing to 1 a day

Pinterest...and Sleep 😉

The rest of the week includes:

Monday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Entertainment

Tuesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Food

Thursday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Learning

Friday-- 5 Days of Summer: Summary & a GIVEAWAY

Food in the summer can be a tricky topic. Especially being pregnant. When you are hot, you kind of loose your appetite. I have to remind myself of this when I get frustrated with my kids when they don't want to eat after playing in the 100+ degree humid heat. Our solution?

Cold Meals

Its kind of hard trying to find cold meals that kids will eat as well as their parent counter parts. Mine would eat PB&J every day and not complain. My husband and me...that's another story.

• Fruit Salad
• Cold Cut Sandwiches
• Green Leafy Salads {my middle daughter LOVES "salad", aka lettuce}
• Cold Hot Dogs
• Pasta Salads {doesn't go over well in our house}

Insider Scoop:: there are some a posts scheduled at the Homemaker's Challenge in the next couple weeks that I can't wait to read!
18th - "Three easy and refreshing summer recipes"
24th - "Cool Cooking for Hot Summers"
26th - "Beat the Summer Heat with Homemade Popsicles"

Snack Meals

This is the number one go-to for my family! When we've had a long day of travel, activities, heat, and have not time to fuss with a "meal" we through together "snack meals". This may or may not happen outdoors, in the car, or in front of a movie. 😉

• Rolled Cold Cuts
• Pretzels
• Fresh Veggies
• Gold Fish
• Fresh Fruit
• Animal Crackers
• Sliced/Cubed Cheese
• Crackers
• Rolls {slightly warm...or not}
• 100% Juice Fruit Snacks

Most of the time we try and do finger foods but others we'll through in no-fuss, of-course-I'll-eat-that-with-no-gripping foods.

• Yogurt
• Apple Sauce

For more ideas, check out Snack Time.

Cook Out/Grill Meals

Grilling never results in "cold food" but it does make everything more fun and thus more enticing for littles! Add a fun desert & you're money!

• Hot Dogs
• Cheese Burgers
• Steaks
• Potatoes {of all forms}
• Veggies

For stress free outdoor cooking, read THIS Homemaker's Challenge post and to know how to make your crockpot your best friend when Camping, read THIS!

Summer Time DESSERTS

• Strawberry Sorbet
• Cantaloup/Popsicle
• Summer Time Drinks
• Rice Krispy Treats
• The Sommore!

Although they do require oven time, there are certain desserts that are just yummy year-round.

• Cookies {try no-bake: they just require stove-top}
• Brownies
• Cupcakes

3 Steps to eating a cupcake the 'proper' way:

1. Remove Paper
2. Pull Cupcake in half {frosting covered top 1/2 & just cake bottom 1/2}
3. Place cake 1/2 on top of frosting 1/2 and Eat with little to no mess!

Another Insider Scoop:: a post is scheduled at the Homemaker's Challenge for summery desserts too!
26th - "Beat the Summer Heat with Homemade Popsicles"

For even more summer food ideas for littles, check out my Pinterest board, "The Ones about Yummies"!

The rest of the week includes:

Monday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Entertainment

Wednesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Rest

Thursday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Learning

Friday-- 5 Days of Summer: Summary & a GIVEAWAY

This week I get to be apart of the "5 Days of..." series again!

I think the number one thing most people think of when they hear "Summer" is OUTSIDE.

Being outside in the warm {or cooking HOT} weather is involved in most "summer" activities: swimming, BBQ, beach vacations, swinging, lake trips, sports, slides, sprinklers, camp-outs, and so much more.

With my littles being 5 {this Saturday, sniff sniff}, 3.5, and 2.5-years old, we can't spend the entire day outside without heat exhaustion, sunburns, and major meltdowns BUT we do spend tons of time outside. Especially since in the past we haven't had a place to play outside but the this year we are staying in a house that has a huge deck AND we will be moving into our new home that has a BACKYARD in the next few weeks!!! Here are some of the things we have been doing outside and a few more we plan to do:

Permanent Outside Toys

Toy box {basket/tub}:

• Chalk
• Bubbles
  
• Sports Equipment
• Stilts {homemade- how-to coming soon}
  
• Goggles
• Trampoline {we have a small "exercise" one now but plan to get a larger one when they're a bit older}
• Riding Toys
  
• Dog {entertaining all year round}
• Bug Nets
• Swing Set {coming soon!}

Occasionally Setup

• Swimming Pool
  Although my kids do love swimming, for my and my littles, there's a lot less stress with a baby pool. Which ends up being used as a "water table" along with their water toys.
• Water Toys
  Anything that can be used to fill, dump, strain, measure, float, splash, etc, we consider a "water toy".
  
• Corn Box
  We do corn instead of sand to avoid being the neighborhood litter box & for easier kids clean-up. We also keep it in one of those flat "under-bed" plastic lidded tubs for easy access, clean-up, usability, and cleanliness.
  
• Sprinkler
  We have a simple round lawn sprinkler that hooks to a water hose. This is more than entertaining placed on the ground but if you want to switch it up you can make a shower-like contraption using a rack.
  When we move to our new house, my husband is also going to build us a PVC pipe sprinkler that the kids can run under adding creative games like "car wash" to our list of outdoor games.
• Play in the rain.
  This is something we do in "non-stormy" rain. ie: no thunder/lighting
  
• Paint
  We haven't tried washable paints but that could be fun as well naked or in a manageable place. Right now, using water to "paint" has been just as fun. Add some wet sidewalk-chalk & there's some color
• Kites
  We don't leave these out all the time...mainly because they're a booger if the kids get the string strung everywhere. But with supervision, its oober fun.
  
• Parks!!!
  Take advantage of FREE public parks. Try them all in your area.
  

Now, for those days where it's storming outside or just too stank'n hot to brave the heat, we have plenty of indoors activities as well.

Indoor Fun

• Dress-up
• Baking/Cooking
• Coloring
  
• Painting
• Playdough
• Crafting
• "Pillow Pile" Movie Time
  
• Fort

For more awesome SUMMER Entertainment, check out my Pinterest board, "The Ones about KID Stuff" where there are tons of other super creative mom's and their ideas!

The rest of the week includes:

Tuesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Food

Wednesday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Rest

Thursday-- 5 Days of Summer {little style}: Learning

Friday-- 5 Days of Summer: Summary & a GIVEAWAY