BEFORE WE JUMP IN, AS ALWAYS, I JUST WANNA SAY REAL QUICK, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR ANY AND ALL AFFILIATE LINKS THAT YOU MAY USE THROUGHOUT THIS POST.  I APPRECIATE MORE THAN YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SUPPORT THE BRANDS THAT HELP TO SUPPORT THIS LITTLE BLOG & OUR LITTLE FAM!!

ALSO, A HUGE THANKS TO WALMART+ FOR SPONSORING TODAY’S POST AND for helping get us primed, prepped, and ready for summer!

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Well.  It happened.  My baby officially graduated pre-school today and will be heading into elementary school in the fall.  😩😭  I know they have  to grow up, and trust me, I love watching it, but man, I’m gonna miss these years.  **Cue the tears,  bring the tissues, save the children bc right now I’m squeezing them extra tight.**

Okay, now that we got the sappy part over with, I can share the real reason behind this post.

I freaked out earlier this week when I realized that a pre-school graduation ceremony was also indicative of the fact that summer break is HERE!!! Ahhhh!!!  That means I am now the entertainment, the teacher, and the full-time cook (not thrilled about that last one 😏).  So I went into beast mode and started searching ALL the things to make sure I could keep the kids not just entertained, but LEARNING this summer….well….at least not forgetting what they’ve learned this past year. 😂😂 I set the bar high, I know.  HA!

Summer Activities for Kids & where you can shop it all

Seriously though, I’ve rounded up some really great summer activities that are both educational AND affordable!  I’ve broken them down into categories to make it easy if you want to mix things up and focus on a different “subject-area” each day/week.  They are: Reading & Writing, Creativity & Art, STEM, Outdoor Play, and Tech.  Obviously some of the activities could overlap categories but you get the idea.

Walmart+

Also, ALL the items I’m sharing today (with the exception of the tech items…I share that caveat later) can be purchased through your Walmart+ membership for under $25 AND with FREE SHIPPING!! Y’all know how much we love our Walmart+ membership!  I mean, how could we not!? Mobile Scan & Go in the stores, Free Delivery from your local store ($35 minimum, Restrictions apply), Free Shipping from Walmart.com with no order minimum (excludes Freight & Marketplace items), and Member Prices on Fuel.  I mean, there are soooo many benefits!  Each one making it easier and more affordable to get the items we want and need!

So after the panic set in that I was completely unprepared for a summer with two small children, I took a breath, poured a glass of wine, and then looked into my Walmart+ account and started to order all the goodies to get us summer-ready!  And I didn’t have to worry about my orders arriving on time because as a Walmart+ member, the items I ordered qualified for FREE 2-day shipping (side note: 2-day shipping is not a Walmart+ benefit, but I just happened to share items that qualified for it 😉)!  Everything would arrive with 2 days to spare! 😂 #momwin #I’llTakeTheLittleVictories

READING & Writing

Alright, so I know this category is pretty self-explanatory, but I just wanted to share some books that we love in our house and that my kids can read over and over again.  There are of course some classics included, some new ones that the kids today are loving (I’m told 😂), and some great options for the new reader in your life!  We’ve been told by so many educators close to us that 15-30 minutes of reading a day can make a HUGE difference for kids!

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Creativity & Art

I’ll be honest, growing up, I never considered myself to be very creative.  My parents are very right-brained people and I totally think I got that from them.  It has served me well in many cases but it has also helped me to realize just how important it is for kids to be creative!  They need to be allowed to make messes and just CREATE!  We need to make sure we are setting aside time, not for them to be right or wrong, but to just be!  To let their imaginations run wild!!!  So, you can bet we will be setting aside lot of time to do these (and more) creative and artsy projects with them this summer!!

Here are a few suggestions for creative/art projects that I thought would be so fun to do with kiddos!  In fact, we even tried one this past weekend that was a hit!  The DIY foam sidewalk paint…kept them entertained for hours!! I linked supplies that you’d need to complete these below. 😉

DIY Foam Sidewalk Paint: Get the recipe & instructions HERE from The Tiptoe Fairy

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I also totally plan to do some fun tie-dye activities with the kids…like this awesome DIY rainbow shoe project!! Get the instructions HERE from A Pumpkin & A Princess

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Another art idea that I love is water gun painting!! You pour some paint into a water gun, then add water to dilute the paint.  Then you just shoot a canvas or watercolor paper to create your own masterpiece!  So simple and so cute!

And lastly, there’s always bubbles!!  This is a fun spin on normal bubbles thought!!  You add food coloring (or maybe a little washable paint if you’re worried about food coloring) to some bubbles, and then blow them onto paper/canvas to creat some super cool bubble art!  Take a look at this example from Broogly.

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STEM

This category is a HUGE hit in my house.  Building and destroying and rebuilding not only keeps those little hands occupied, but it also encourages imagination through creation!  We of course use legos a ton during our STEM time, but we also have some additional sets (like magnets, sticks, pegs, etc) that we use to build!  Changing it up keeps it fun and exciting for the kids!  Here are some of our faves that come highly recommended from the minis in the house.

 

Logic & Brain Teasers

I have a whole other blog post dedicated to this category so you can check that out HERE if you want more detail on the brain teaser games we love.  But basically, there are tons of puzzles in the game that the kids have to solve!  Again, it’s very hands on because they’re using little pieces/characters to solve the problems.  Matt and I even play these together when the kids go to bed.  😂 They have puzzles for all different ages and skill levels.

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OUTDOOR PLAY

This is another category that is pretty self explanatory.  There are of course your go-to kinda “field day” games: three legged race, potato sack race, water balloon fights (we also did these this past weekend and I’m convinced that if we wouldn’t have run out of balloons, those kids would STILL be playing with them! 😂) etc.  But, if you’re wanting to shake things up, here are some crazy fun yard games that the whole family loves!  If you haven’t heard of Kubb by the way, it’s AWESOME!!!! You have to try it!  This is us playing below.  We’ve introduced it to so many people and they always end up buying it for themselves! So fun!

Another great outdoor (or you could totally do this indoors) activity is a scavenger hunt!! If you have any extra plastic Easter eggs lying around, you can stuff them with little toy animals, for example, and hide them around the yard for the kids to find!  You can make it an educational game by having them find them in order of size or color!  Or, you can skip the eggs all together and instead of hiding them inside something, you can just scatter them around and then give the kids clues to finding the correct animal (ex. Go find the animal with a very long neck and brown spots). Here’s a set of toy animals that would be great to use; but of course you can use whatever you already have lying around at home!

And here are some other really great yard games, both for the kids and for the whole family.

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Tech

Alright so the reality is, kids love tech (and so do we sometimes) so I did think it was important to include some EDUCATIONAL tech options/games as well for those rainy days, or those “mom-needs-20-minutes-to-herself” moments (we all have them).

The caveat here is that it’s pretty hard to find good tech for kids for under $25 so these options sadly don’t fall into that bucket…sorry guys! I tried! Now, having said that, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend each and every one of these options!  We own them and they are WORTH EVERY PENNY!! The kids have so much fun playing with them that they don’t even realize they’re learning!

All the tech options I’m sharing are on the Osmo platform.  If you’re not familiar you can check out my The Best Educational Games for Kids blog post.  I go into way more detail there, but basically Osmo is THE BEST!  It’s not just fun for the kids, but they learn so much!!!  Math, Art, Spacial Skills, Problem Solving, Coding, Critical Thinking, Reasoning, Imaginative Play, Literacy, I mean, you name it!!

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Check Out All The Other Ways We Use Our Walmart+ Membership

Well that about wraps it up!  Hopefully you found some great ideas to help entertain and educate your littles this summer!  And don’t forget, everything I linked here for you guys can be purchased directly through your Walmart+ Membership!  As a member, you can benefit from their variety of quick shipping and delivery methods so you can keep the fun going all summer long! You won’t have to stop your games or projects to make your grocery runs, Walmart+ can deliver them right to your door from your local store ($35 minimum, Restrictions apply)!  Or, if you’re not in hurry then you can use Walmart+ Free Shipping from Walmart.com with no order minimum (excludes Freight & Marketplace items); and sometimes they can arrive as quick as next day!!  I’m telling you, it’s sooooo worth it!! I can be sitting at soccer or gymnastics, place my Walmart + order, and it will arrive at my house before we’re even done eating dinner. LIFE SAVER!! No lie, it has allowed me to stress less about all the things I HAVE to do, so I get to do more of the things I WANT to do…like spend time with my ever-growing babies!  If you haven’t signed up, do it!!  I’m telling you, you WILL NOT regret it!

If for some reason, you still don’t believe how totally and completely worth it the Walmart+ Membership is, you can go check out my other blog posts: Easy & Affordable Spring Home Decor Refresh,  This Year’s Very Unexpected & Not So Traditional Thanksgiving and Give The Gift That Keeps On Giving, where I rave even more about what a game changer it’s been for our family.

Talk soon Buddies,