Don’t guess what will make the summer awesome for your family- create a bucket list together!
When the routine of school is removed from your day, what’s left?
Without the structure of school, our summers with kids of all ages in the house can feel too chaotic. It’s hard enough to pick a family movie night show the 6, 9, 13, 15 and the 17 year old want to watch… orchestrating a memorable summer can be downright impossible! Without a little curation, summer days can devolve into tv all day or every toy strewn across a house so messy it’s hard to walk through without stepping on a lego while the kiddos whine, I’m bored!!!
I have the solution. I don’t orchestrate most of our summer days any more. Introducing: The Summer Bucket List Every child gets to put a choice or three down (mom too!). We all have to agree (ish). And just like that, a list of local fun is created so I know exactly what will make this summer awesome for my kids.
Studies show that anticipatory pleasure is often as thrilling as the experience itself so our Bucket List gives us a chance to: 1) know what the perfect summer day would feel like to each, very different, child 2) look forward to fun throughout the summer 3) discuss and address expectations & comparison 4) have a BLAST in our own, unique, quirky way!
Summer Bucket List Rules:
- Everyone in the family contributes ideas
- Ideas have be local & fit in the budget
- Most need to include the whole family
Yesterday was our Summer Bucket List day. I put out a foam core board and markers, set out a few favorite treats, and we brainstormed together. I hold the marker to make sure that the things that make it on the list are things we can actually do (that goes with rule #2). I listen to all the ideas and we don’t belittle one another’s ideas. Brainstorming and finding ways to say yes to the ideas everyone comes up with (even if I don’t say yes to the actual suggestion) is important to me. For example, Remi (6) wants to go to Disney World. We are definitely not going to Disney World (photo below of his initial reaction) but we are hitting up a water park with all our tutorial friends- I pointed out that was our “big thrill” experience this year and we all chatted about the fun we’d have there. Still thrilling. And within budget. We’re cultivating realistic expectations. Win/win/win.
We’ve had everything on our Summer Bucket List from hiking days with friends to a Star Wars movie marathon to MarioKart Competition in costumes to concerts in the park (now that we live near Nashville, the live music scene is bangin!). This year’s new addition is a Banned Books Club – books I’ve told my kids no to over the years but they’re old enough to read now. We’ll read and discuss & maybe even watch the dumb movies I’ve been avoiding for a decade. LOL Each kiddo picked a book, here’s our list: Orbiting Jupiter, The Hunger Games, Frankenstein, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson {Note: I’m creating a “Must Read Book List” post now… I don’t think most of these will make it on there but that’s TBD! If you have a book that should make my Must Read list (for any ages!), email me Howdy@HomeschoolManager.com and tell me why!}
The coolest thing about summer bucket lists is they’re as unique as your family – you’re very likely to learn a thing or two about your kiddos as you make the list together. And hopefully they’ll learn something about you, too…
You should definitely start a homeschool family Summer Bucket List today. You can take a shortcut and use our printable Summer Bucket List... but, honestly, don’t. The best part of a homeschool family bucket list is personalizing it to your fam! If the whole idea is daunting or a family pow-wow will start WWIII, feel free to print off Homeschool Manager’s basic summer bucket list (below) for starters! Have fun this summer!
