Places to Go

1. Attend an outdoor Summer concert.

2. Go see an outdoor Summer movie.

3. Visit a new park or playground.

4. Visit a farm.

5. Tour the firehouse.

6. Go to the beach. (Here are 10 Fun-Filled Play Ideas for the Beach.)

7. Visit a botanical garden.

8. Visit a museum on a Target Free Day. (Find free or reduced priced community events near you.)

9. Go Bowling (kids bowl free).

10. Go on a photo walk and take pictures with a disposable camera. Later, create a scrapbook w/ the photos.

11. Free crafts at AC Moore. (More info here.)

12. Free Kids Workshop at Home Depot. (More info here.)

13. Visit the Library and borrow a movie for at-home movie night.

14. Feed the fish at a fish hatchery.

15. Splash Pad.

16. Visit a wildlife preserve.

17. Visit an aquarium.

18. Visit the zoo (check your local library for free passes that may be available on loan).

19. Visit a cavern.

20. Attend a minor league baseball game.

21. IKEA (Kids Eat Free every Tuesday 11am-close. Free coffee & tea for IKEA Family members. More info here.)

22. See the fireworks.

23. Free story time at the bookstore or library.

24. Join the library’s Summer reading program.

25. Visit a fountain. Bring a roll of quarters and make several wishes!

26. Swim in a lake.

27. Catch (and release) crayfish in a creek.

28. Mini golf.

29. Weekend with the grandparents or other family member(s).

30. Try on pairs of sunglasses at the dollar store. Take several glamour shots.

Things to Do (Outdoors)

31. Paint landscapes on canvas at the park.

32. Backyard camp out.

33. Grow a dinosaur or fairy garden.

34. Read at least 10 chapter books.

35. Teach the kids how to play chess.

36. Watch a meteor shower.

37. Breakfast picnic.

38. Go on a nature hike.

39. Tie Dye T-shirts.

40. Catch (and release) fireflies.

41. Go for a bike ride.

42. Find a four leaf clover.

43. Play flashlight tag.

44. Living room dance party.

45. Chase butterflies.

46. Watch the sunrise.

47. Build a sandcastle.

48. Finger paint.

49. Learn to juggle.

50. Plant sunflowers.

51. Life-size portraits with sidewalk chalk.

52. Learn a campfire song.

53. Play sand bakery.

54. Potion lab.

55. Pool noodle hockey. (See 7 Creative Uses for Pool Noodles.)

56. Bird watching.

57. Sidewalk chalk roads for bikes.

58. Watermelon seed spitting contest.

59. Roller skating.

60. Pick your own fruit.

61. Music and glow stick dance party under the stars.

62. Chase butterflies.

63. Play frisbee golf.

64. Hide plastic dinos in the sandbox. Go on a “fossil hunt”.

65. Run in the sprinklers.

66. Press flowers to make bookmarks.

Things to Do (Indoors)

67. Make friendship bracelets.

68. Shadow puppets.

69. Sew a picnic quilt made from colorful bandanas.

70. Host a play dough play date with friends.

71. Learn a new art technique.

72. Build a pillow fort.

73. Potato Stamping.

74. Make a time capsule.

75. Living room obstacle course.

76. Build a village with blocks for wooden peg people.

77. Learn 10 new jokes. (See 30 Jokes Your Kids will Love.)

78. Cloud watching.

79. Make a stop motion animation video.

80. Make paper airplanes.

81. Make ice boats.

82. Family game night.

83. Organize a progressive dinner.

84. Start a Summer journal.

85. Draw still life drawings.

86. Coffee filter sun catchers.

87. Germinate fruits and veggies from kitchen scraps.

88. Make patriotic note cards and mail to a soldier.

89. Serenade someone special.

Fun Treats to Make

90. Make s’mores.

91. Make homemade popsicles.

92. Cook an entire meal made with food from the farmer’s market.

93. Homemade lemonade.

94. Make your own jam.

95. Brew sun tea.

96. Make and can your own tomato sauce.

97. Host a make your own frozen yogurt sundae party.

98. Backyard BBQ. (See Fresh Summer BBQ Recipes here.)

99. Make homemade pretzels.

100. Roast hot dogs.

101. Make smoothies.

As if the girls were not excited enough to have their room painted with Disney’s Ready Set Glow! Specialty Paint, we recently hosted a little glow-in-the-dark Disney fairy party for some of their friends with a glowing room reveal and plenty of Disney fairy magic sprinkled throughout!

Clara’s favorite Disney fairy, Tinkerbell, greeted everyone at a special table set with plenty of snacks, and crafty glow-in-the-dark activities.

Our guests enjoyed popcorn, cheese & crackers, and trail mix on a table decorated with pretty flowers and twinkle lights. So festive!

The kids’ place settings were waiting for them with colorful picture frames to be re-used later to showcase their artwork or photo.

As an ice-breaker activity, our guests colored pictures of Tinkerbell as they waiting for the other guests to arrive.

A big party hit among our little friends was the “build your own strawberry shortcake” dessert — so yummy! And so easy for me to prepare. Yay for simple party fare!

Next, it was time for the room reveal — Emily was quite excited to take our guests to her room, along with a flashlight, to demo the Disney Ready, Set, Glow in the Dark specialty paint to her friends! I had stenciled Clara’s and Emily’s names on separate walls along with several stenciled and free-handed stars — so pretty! [Tip: A quick and easy way to paint glow-in-the-dark stars using this paint is to dip the opposite end of a paint brush into the paint and apply dots to the wall.]

A few of things I love about the Disney paints:

* Low odor and No VOCs.

* Easily washable.

* Ultra-durable paint.

I also appreciate that the Ready, Set, Glow in the Dark paint glows for a maximum of 5 minutes, so it doesn’t interfere with our bedtime routine, but provides just a bit of magic as the girls drift off to sleep. And that it easily gave the room a new look without having to re-paint the entire room!

The girls are quite happy with how their room turned out, and several of their guests remarked how they would like the Disney Ready, Set, Glow in the Dark paint for their bedrooms too! We even got to give away a $50 WalMart gift card as a door prize, so maybe they will! I recommend this paint, and plan to use it on the walls of our creative studio as well.

Once the room reveal was done, our guests returned to complete a few glow-in-the-dark craft activities — door hangers, and glowing bracelets!

Everyone had such a great time!!

To learn more about Disney’s specialty paints and finishes, including painting tips and inspirational decorating ideas, click here.

Disclaimer: Compensation and products for review were provided by Glidden via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are my own and are not indicative of the opinions of Glidden.

The kids enjoyed coloring their own play money for a pretend grocery store! Wummelbox even includes project ideas for the box it comes in — in this case, a cash register is made from the box. Yay for crafting with recyclables!

We found the materials to be from well-known brands, and they were high quality. Wummelbox is sure to include everything needed to complete each project, down to the glue dots and scissors! Many of the materials can be used for more than one project (like the markers, scissors, and fabric crayons) so this is a great option if you are looking to stock up on craft supplies, or if you like the idea of having everything you need in one convenient box that’s shipped directly to you. The directions for each project are clearly illustrated and easy to understand.

We found the projects were “big” enough for both of the kids to work on. In our case, they each colored some of the play money, sewed some of the play food, colored the diy board game, and each of them decorated one side of the apron with fabric crayons. If you have more than 2 kids, you may want to consider adding additional boxes to your subscription.

Here’s a short video loop showing what came in the box:

The projects and activities in this box included:

* Opening a pretend grocery store to sell handmade fruit and vegetables. Recycling the Wummelbox to turn it into a cash register!

* Becoming a head chef and writing a cookbook. Decorating and personalizing an apron.

* Coloring and playing a board game and learning which foods grow on trees or in the ground. Additional resources are on the Wummelbox website!

* Conducting a food experiment. Making paste for art projects out of potato starch.

This Wummelbox in particular was such a hit with my kids, since they are such BIG fans of pretend play! They could not wait to open up their store, and spent a long time preparing their grocery props, setting up the store, and then playing — taking turns being the store clerk and customer.

Wummelbox subscription packages include:

Try a Wummel, a 1 month subscription priced at $34.95

Little Wummel, 3-month subscription priced at $24.95 per month (perfect for a camp-at-home this Summer)

Big Wummel, a 12-month subscription priced at $19.95 per month.

Now the FUN part –

One very lucky Inner Child Fun reader will win a Wummelbox (retail value $34.95)!!! To enter for your chance to win, leave a comment on this post sharing what you love most about crafting with your kids! Giveaway is open to US residents only, and winner will be chosen at random. This giveaway ends Saturday, May 18th at 6:30pm EST. (See official giveaway rules.) Please note: box theme request cannot be accommodated.

To learn more, visit Wummelbox.com or the Wummelbox Facebook page.

Good luck!!

Disclosure: I was given a Wummelbox for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own. Full disclosure policy here.

1. Kick Ball Croquet — Repurpose some old pool noodles to make your own kickball croquet obstacle course for plenty of active outdoor fun!

2. Outdoor Color Match — Going on a color hunt is a simple activity that can be done on-the-go to help take notice of nature’s subtle color differences that might otherwise go unnoticed.

3. Sponge Bombs — If you are on water restrictions, or are looking for a mess-free alternative to water balloons that can be used over and over again, try making your own sponge bombs! Here’s a short video tutorial explaining how to make them. Dunk them in water, and use for a bucket toss game for plenty water play fun!

4. Pick Your Own Fruit – A classic Summer activity, we love to pick peaches and then bribe my husband to make his famous homemade peach ice cream with them!

5. Solar Powered Lunch — Every time we do this activity, the kids think it is almost magical to have their lunch cooked using only the sun’s solar energy. Make pizza, and then s’mores for dessert using a pizza box to make a solar powered oven.

6. Breakfast Picnic — To get some fresh air outdoors before it gets too hot outside, try a breakfast picnic. Added bonus points for picnicking in pajamas!

7. Mega Bubbles — One of our all-time favorite Summer activities that just never gets old. The bubbles are easy to make, and the kids always have such a blast with this! LOTS of smiles!! Here’s a short video showing the bubble making process.

8. Nature Discovery Lab — Even if you have limited access to the outdoors, most of the items in this nature discovery lab can be found at your local dollar store. Kids can practice sorting and classifying their finds. My kids eventually turned this into an afternoon of pretend play as they mimicked working in a nature museum and preparing samples for exhibits!

9. Water Pistol Target Range — All you need are some paper cups, and a water pistol!

10. Build a Fairy Garden — Use natural materials that can be found in your own backyard, or inexpensive unfinished wood items from the dollar store to make your own fairy garden and add some whimsy to your outdoor space!

11. Lemonade Stand — My kids look forward to opening their lemonade stand every Summer. My daughter Emily even shared her top 10 tips for a successful lemonade stand on this guest post she wrote!

12. Sidewalk Chalk Stencils — Do you wait until the last possible moment to decorate for Memorial Day or 4th of July? Here’s a very simple way to add some patriotic flair to your sidewalk or driveway using sidewalk chalk star stencils!

13. Geocaching — Up for an exciting adventure? Do you like to explore new places and look for “treasure”? Then you may enjoy geocaching as a family activity.

14. Bird Watching — Grab your binoculars, go for a hike, and try bird watching. Try to identify as many different species of birds as you can!

15. Visit the Beach — If you’re lucky enough to live near a beach, try taking a trip there. Here are 10 fun-filled play ideas for the beach!

16. Make Ice Cream in a Bag — My kids could not believe how COLD this was, and the process seemed like magic! Add a few ingredients, shake the bag, and before you know it, you have your own homemade ice cream. Get the full “how to” here, and then get out your gloves because this bag will get cold!!

17. Outdoor Mud Pie Kitchen — Designate a space in the yard especially for mud pie making.

18. Make Your Own Bird Feeders from Recyclables — I shared a simple bird feeder made from an empty milk carton on the Stonyfield blog. Get the full “how to” here.

19. Story Time at the Park — Pack up a picnic blanket and plenty of your favorite story books. Go to the park and read books together!

20. A Day of Messy Art — Dress the kids up in play clothes, and save bottles of almost empty paints for some outdoor splatter painting fun!

Have fun!!

Free Printable

Please sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter (it’s free!) and after signing up, you’ll be sent a link to a free printable list of 100 Rainy Day Activities for Kids — exclusively for our lovely newsletter subscribers and just in time for Summer! To sign up, click here.

Begin by inviting your child to roll out the oven bake clay with the rolling pin, similarly to how you would roll out a sheet of cookie dough. Roll to about a 1/4″ thickness. Emily loves anything that involves the use of a rolling pin, so this was a big hit with her!

Next,  use a large empty yogurt container to score a circle mark in the clay.

Use a butter knife or a plastic knife to cut the clay the rest of the way.

Next, use the alphabet stamps to write “Mom” along the edge of the clay circle!

Flip over a muffin tin, and fold the clay circle over the top of one of the domes to shape the jewelry dish into place. Place the entire muffin tin and clay into the oven and bake according to the package’s instructions.

Allow to cool completely. These can be painted, if desired, or left without paint. Either way, Mom is sure to love this precious (and useful) jewelry dish!

 Have fun!! For more handmade gift ideas the kids can make for Mom this Mother’s Day, click here!

(Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Melissa & Doug. Don’t forget to download the Ultimate Rainy Day Activity eBook — it’s free! There are a ton of other kid-friendly crafts, activities, and creative play ideas on the Melissa & Doug blog, so be sure to check out their blog too! All opinions are my own. Disclosure policy here.)

To make your own Spring baskets, you will need: a paper plate, a colored stamp pad (we love the Melissa & Doug stamp pads because the color is quite vibrant and they are washable!), and a stapler.

Once I laid out the supplies, Clara could not wait to get started!!

Flip the paper plate over, and invite your child to stamp thumbprints along the outer edge of the plate. I love how kids’ little fingerprints look like colorful confetti on these!

Tip — to keep your stamp pads looking like new, start with the lightest color ink. Use a baby wipe to clean fingers before moving on to the next color.

Next, flip the plate back over, and fold the plate as shown in the photo below.

Tighten up the folds, and staple into place.

Fill your Spring baskets with treats, party favors, or your favorite snack!!  We filled our Spring baskets with homemade trail mix by combining the last bits of leftover crackers, cereal, and some dried fruit from the pantry. Yum!

Have fun!!

(Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Melissa & Doug. Don’t forget to download the Ultimate Rainy Day Activity eBook — it’s free! There are a ton of other kid-friendly crafts, activities, and creative play ideas on the Melissa & Doug blog, so be sure to check out their blog too! All opinions are my own. Disclosure policy here.)