Back in early February, I was preparing for a week-long visit with three of our grandchildren. One result of that preparation was a list of 30 Winter Season Things to do with your Grandchildren that was shared on the blog. With summer now quickly approaching and all of us with desperate need to get outside, I thought I would share some ideas of activities to do with your grandchildren in the summer months.
1. Play with bubbles and chalk.
2. Teach your grandchildren to play hop scotch.
3. Run through the sprinkler.
4. Go on a scavenger hunt. There are lots of scavenger hunt lists available on the internet. (Lists can be created in picture form for those too young to read.)
5. Catch lightning bugs (fire flies).
6. Make s’mores.
7. Swim.
8. Tour a fire station.
9. Have a reading party under a tree. Spread blankets or sit-upons and eat a snack.
10. Make lemonade and set up a lemonade stand.
11. Build a dirt city. Then play in it all day with cars and trucks.
12. Eat a picnic lunch on a sheet or blanket in the yard.
13. Go to the park.
14. Fly kites or paper airplanes.
15. Tie dye shirts.
16. Visit the library for “story time” and to check out some books.
17. Ride bikes.
18. Roller skate.
19. Play croquet or mini golf in the back yard.
20. Set up your own obstacle course.
21. Make popsicles. 
22. Start a garden.
23. Put on a play, puppet show, or magic show.
24. Play Hide and Seek.
25. Build a blanket fort outside.
26. Explore the yard with a magnifying glass.
27. Go fishing.
28. Climb a tree.
29. Look for four leaf clovers.
30. Play toss.
Okay, that’s more than thirty! Hopefully an idea or two on this list are just the thing to get you excited about spending some time outside with your grandchildren this summer. Or perhaps some of these ideas will jog your memory about others activities you remember enjoying as a child or a parent, and you can add them to your own list.
If you do come up with other ideas for grandparent/grandchildren activities that aren’t listed here, please add them in a comment to this post. The larger our resource– the better, as we use it to intentionally make time to enjoy and invest in our “grand treasures.”
