Seems like not long after school starts in the fall, kids (and some parents) are already asking “how long until school is out?”….then when school is out the countdown begins for how long until school starts. The beginning of summer can be rough trying to find the perfect balance of keeping the kids busy, but also allowing down time as well. I mean isn’t that what summer break is all about? As a stay at home mama with mostly stay at home mama friends we are always trying to come up with ideas on keeping the kiddos busy and burning energy. As a mama of boys, if my boys are home too long and bored, the fighting begins. Must. Keep.Them.Busy.
Here are a few ideas…
Indoor Playscapes: Jumpoline {they have 2 locations: North and South Austin} is a great place! My kids {all 3 of them} LOVE going there with friends. It is wall to wall trampolines and they have a dodgeball section and a separate section for the littles. You pay by the hour and it can be pricey, but when we leave my kids are absolutely exhausted!!! I do find deals on Living Social and Tippr sometimes that really help with the cost. {There is also Jumpstreet by Lakeline Mall that is very similar but I have not been there}
Parks: Round Rock All Abilities Park is by far my favorite park! I did a review on it and you can read that HERE. This is also a place I can take my kids and plan on staying for a few hours, we pack lunches and hang out for a while. They also play their little hearts out and leave pooped! Plus it is FREE, can’t beat that 😉 Of course even though it may not be my personal fave, Zilker Park is awesome and will keep the kids busy, plus it is fun to end the day with a train ride.
Austin Children’s Museum is great! Depending on where you live {I am in Cedar Park} it can be a bit of a drive, but I think totally worth it. They are constantly changing the themes and have new activities all the time. We have never left the museum and my kids said they were bored. Never. Adults and kids over 2 are $6.50, 1-2 is $4.50, they have membership options as well.
The pool! We go to our neighborhood pool quite a bit or with friends to their pools. There are some great public pools as well though. The first and most Austin-y is of course Barton Springs and Deep Eddy, which is the oldest pool in Texas. I also like Stacy Park and Wading Pool in South Austin, Veterans Memorial Pool in Cedar Park, Brushy Creek Spray Ground, and the Quarry Splash Pad.
Camps are also a fun way to keep the little ones busy. I have my boys enrolled in various camps through out the summer, they are doing more this summer than ever before…we will see how we all like that. I found great camps for my boys {sports and academic} through our school district. They are only a few hours a day which the boys and I liked, plus they were not expensive either! So far they have only done the sports and loved them, the academic {engineering} is coming up soon. They are also doing a rock wall and swim camp at Lifetime Fitness with some friends. That is where a lot of my mama friends and I work out, so that is actually a perfect place! It was also not very expensive.
Most local libraries have story times for kids of all ages, plus fun activities for them to do as well. Barnes and Noble also has fun activities for the kids, including story time and Lego building…check their website for locations and calendars.
Don’t get me wrong, we do love our down time at home. My kids are not super early risers and I am eternally grateful because I am not a morning person! I love and cherish our lazy days where everyone sleeps late, we watch the old-school morning cartoons {Tom & Jerry is a Krause family favorite}, and just hang out being silly. There are plenty of things I can do around our house and neighborhood to keep them busy as well. They play in our back yard a lot, the trampoline with the sprinklers on is a huge hit, good ol’ backyard baseball is awesome too. When I need to get a work out in and burn off steam energy myself I put the little monkey in the jogging stroller and the big boys get their scooters and we set off for a 2 mile lap around the hood with a stop at the play ground.
Throw in a couple staycations, visits from cousins, and a vacation and there is your summer. It is going to go by so fast and I will be sad when it is over.
What do you do with your kiddos to keep them busy during summer?
Since most stockings are longer than they are wide, it is important that you do not purchase too many medium to large items.