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What to Do This Summer

Things to do this summer if you have

  • an hour (see below)
  • a day
  • a weekend

    • This summer, if you have an hour:

    • Roll down a big hill
    • Paint rocks
    • Spray each other with seltzer
    • Play flashlight tag
    • Roast marshmallows
    • Catch (and release) fireflies
    • Bake mud pies in the sun
    • Toss a Frisbee
    • Start a grass fight
    • Look under stones near a pond
    • Run through the sprinkler
    • Read bedtime stories in the hammock
    • Organize a Crazy Eights tournament
    • Make a daisy chain
    • Smack a tetherball around
    • Snap a family picture at dusk
    • Weed (i.e., pick dandelions)
    • Challenge friends to a watermelon seed–spitting contest
    • Catch (and release) minnows
    • Jump rope with the hose stream
    • Work on your cartwheel
    • Launch foam rockets
    • Skinny-dip
    • Take a pj's walk

    This summer, if you have a day:

  • Take a hike — make a display for the next hikers with the treasures you find
  • Write and stage a play
  • Create a rock garden (for inspiration, read On My Beach There Are Many Pebbles by Leo Lionni, Harper Trophy, $7)
  • Build a raft and set sail across the creek
  • Sell lemonade
  • Say yes to a trip to the zoo or amusement park
  • Put on your bathing suit and wash the car (and the toy cars, too)
  • Sip smoothies poolside and give each other manis/pedis
  • Volunteer at a working farm (find one at localharvest.org/csa)
  • Take a long bike ride with lots of stops (for ice cream, cloud watching, flower picking . . .)
  • Rent a boat (and row gently down the stream)
  • Tour your town's playgrounds
  • Go to a minor league baseball game (check minorleaguebaseball.com for schedules and tickets)

    • This summer, if you have a weekend:

  • Videotape the grandparents telling stories from their childhoods
  • Start building a treehouse (thetreehouseguide.com)
  • Have that yard sale you've been contemplating (for advice on planning, visit yardsalequeen.com)
  • Head to a music or food festival (for listings, see festivalnet.com and foodreference.com)
  • Build a robot (kits at robotstore.com)
  • Book a suite at a hotel with air-conditioning and a pool (bonus if you can find an all-you-can-eat buffet)
  • Check out an endangered historic site (see a list and links at preservationnation.org)
  • Hang a hammock and tree swing
  • Swap houses with friends and explore their hometown
  • Pull a Tom Sawyer: Get kids to help you paint the fence
  • Host a soccer tourney (with cookouts and prizes at the end of each day)
  • Organize a block party or a backyard carnival
  • Make a mini water garden (for tips, visit familyfun.com)
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    Wondertime